Saturday, March 10, 2007

An interview with Ahna - one of my favorite Etsy Dark Artists








I'm hosting some of Ahna's creations in my eBay shop: Indiscretion's eBay Store


I’m a Capricorn, born Jan. 9th, 1970 in Stanford, Ca. but I was raised in Santa Cruz, Ca. I’m of German, Latvian and Mongolian descent. From early on, art has been a part of my life; from drawing and coloring with my father, learning to paint boats with my grandfather, to taking pictures with my first camera at the age of 12. In grade school, I was either in a music class, art class or photography class; art was always a part of my childhood and adolescents.

I’m now 37, still a Capricorn… am happily married to another artistic person named Jimi. We live way out in the mountains of Northern Ca. with our 11 cats, 2 dogs, Bearded Dragon and Sulcata Tortoise. When I’m not creating some form of art, I really enjoy gardening; roses, by far, are my favorite flower. But I like to really work in my garden and have put in a small pond as well as built an awesome rock wall in the shape of a very large circle; that’s good Feng Shui for the garden.

Here’s the part where I’m supposed to describe what inspires me to create my art. Absolutely nothing! I guess I’m one of the lucky ones because art just flows from me. I don’t need to connect with nature or dream designs… they just come to me when they are ready. I will say this, my husband’s designs inspire me. In fact, I’ve reproduced some of his drawings into stained glass and into jewelry.

I like color, vivid and dark colors. I like art that stands out and says “look at me”. I’m always looking for words to describe my style but I really haven’t found any that are right on the mark. I guess my style is gothic in nature, I like skulls, roses and crosses but those could also be categorized as biker. Yet I have a collection of more delicate work, more organic and pretty. Not sure what to call that either. I also consider myself to be a hippie; a hippie-goth best describes me, maybe Bohemian as well.

I hope when people look at my work, they do notice that it is dramatic and that I pay close attention to detail. It’s the little things that sets my work apart from the rest. And that my personality is in my work, I’m not just assembling things but putting a little part of me into it.







Artist Resume:

Ahna has attended the following schools:
Aptos High School, Aptos, Ca.
Soquel High School, Soquel, Ca.
Monta Vista Christian High School, Watsonville, Ca.
Rio Lindo 7th Day Adventist Academy, Healdsburg, Ca.
Cabrillo College, Aptos, Ca.
California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, Ca.
The Art Academy, San Francisco, Ca.
Adult Education, Morgan Hill, Ca.
Butte College, Chico, Ca.


Art Created started in 1996 but was called Shattered Glass after Ahna had taken a course for beginning stained glass and fell in love with the medium. “I found that I could apply my photography skills into glass design. When I was attending CCAC, I took an insane class about color and light; which now, I’m so glad I did.”, says Ahna.

In Jan. 2006, both Ahna and her husband, Jimi, took a beginning metal-smith class at Butte College, where again, Ahna fell in love with the medium. “I don’t know what it is exactly about metal work that drew me in, all I know is after my first piece, I was hooked. Jewelry and I just ‘clicked’ instantly. For the next 6 months, I entered a Zen-like jewelry state of mind and produced about 20 different designs; all this was done at a small table in my bedroom”, Ahna explains. “Ahna was obsessed with jewelry and I couldn’t believe how much she was producing”, says Jimi. “I went through all of my old art drawings and all of Jimi’s old art drawings, where I found lots of designs to play with”, says Ahna.

Besides jewelry and stained glass, Ahna also creates with the following: painting, sewing, silk screening, photography, candle carving and rolling, perfume blending and stone cabochon making (lapidary). Put these all together and Art Created by Ahna was born.

http://ArtCreated.com
http://Ahna.Etsy.com




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