Deb Grossfield, Artist

 

Hello and welcome to the 60th 3 Art Questions With Jackson interview! This time I interviewed Deb Grossfield who I both recently discovered and recently met. She's great! The thing I really enjoy about Deb's art is that it is unlike anything I have seen before. I really enjoyed her answers and I think you will too. Thank you for reading! (All images courtesy of the artist. Instagram: @debgrossfield / Website: debgrossfield.com)

Jackson: When did you first become interested in visual art? Did you have a specific experience?

Deb: I've a strong memory from when I was about six. I was playing with watercolors when I was introduced to my aunt who was visiting from out of town. She asked to use my brush and drew a portrait of me with the paints. It was a huge moment for me. It was like an immense door opening to a new world. It was a moment when art materials were no longer toys to me but instead became tools. 

Jackson: When I met you recently you said you had stopped making art for awhile. What led to you beginning again? Has your process changed?

Deb: I never stopped making art, but I did stop engaging the art world. I don't know any artists who really enjoy the business side of being an artist and for me, it requires a draining amount of energy. I am not a natural self-promoter. I had to steel my nerves and work up the gumption to approach curators and gallerists.

Then about 20 years ago, my family obligations increased quite a bit and I was working full time as a controller/bookkeeper for several small businesses. Something had to give and that was the work involved in finding galleries, maintaining my website, and entering juried shows. Over the last year, I've been able to shift my time away from accounting to focus on the art world. 

My process has not changed much over the years but my artwork is always evolving. The biggest difference now is being able to follow my ideas through without interruption and I have more time to experiment.

Jackson: If you could meet any artist living or dead, who would it be and why?

Deb: Sometimes you can love a person's work and find out that they are a terrible person. Sadly, the work you loved is tainted and you can't ever see it the same way again. That is a risk. 

I'm from Minneapolis and I started going to MIA sometime during grade school. I'd make regular visits and sit in front of my favorite paintings as if they were friends. While I didn't speak out loud to them, these encounters were important to my development as an artist. 

There are several pieces in the MIA collection that I admire, but my first real love was Vincent Van Gogh's "The Olive Tree." I collected postcards and books of his work. A lot is known about Vincent Van Gogh and my understanding is that he was a very gentle person who had bouts of self-destructive mental illness. I finally had the opportunity to visit the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam a few years ago. This may sound silly, but my eyes welled up with tears as I walked from one drawing or painting to another. If I could, I'd hang out with Van Gogh for a while and watch him work. I'd give him a big hug and thank him for making such beautiful paintings.