Congratulations to Angela Redmond for earning her place as a Finalist in the Boynes Artist Award 10th Edition!

Who are you?

I am Angie Redmond Artist. I am the youngest daughter of Stanley and Pamela Redmond (with two older sisters and a younger brother). Inheriting my creative spirit from my mother, I am an oil painter and figurative artist from the suburbs of Chicago, IL. I have loved making artwork, particularly capturing faces, for as long as I can remember. When I was a young girl, I used to draw celebrity faces from various magazines and then share my drawings with my family and friends. I loved drawing people because of the emotions and characteristics each person brought.

Growing up and throughout college at Albion College in Michigan, I was often a quiet person. My artwork became my voice; boldly expressing my messages through vibrant colors and thought-provoking imagery. The older I got, my passion for creating art grew. However, due to fear of living the “starving artist” lifestyle, I did not think being a full-time artist was a feasible career. Thinking I needed to have a career in commercial art, I pursued a Master of Science degree in Digital Art (going against my undergraduate painting professor’s advice). After six years of working within the digital art field and not being very successful, I realized that my passion remained with oil painting. With the advice of my undergraduate art professor, Michael Dixon, I returned to school and in 2021 I obtained my Master of Fine Arts degree in Painting from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, IL.

Currently I am an award winning artist who has exhibited my artwork in various galleries, universities, and museums throughout the United States; including New York, Miami (during Art Basel), Michigan, and Illinois. In 2020, while displaying my paintings at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry, I won “Best in Show” during the annual Black Creativity exhibition. I was also recently selected to display my art in the 38th Chelsea International Fine Art Competition group exhibition in New York City.

What inspired you to utilize painting as a medium?

 During my senior year of undergraduate school, I discovered the medium that captured my heart…oil paint. I took an oil painting class and the thick textures, vibrant colors, and lucious brush strokes provided by the medium inspired my creation process. I wanted to create as many paintings as I could. 

How would you describe your ARTwork?

My artwork is a reflection of the people I see. As a close observer of my surroundings, I take notice of the human experiences and interactions happening around me. Through referencing my friends, family, and community members, I create oil on canvas figurative paintings focusing on the daily lives of individuals. Acting as a storyteller of my environment, my paintings capture special moments of the lives of the people around me. Taking hold of your senses, along with the visual experience of the vibrant oil paint, you can almost hear the sounds of the imagery being portrayed; the laughter shared between family, the melody of the violin, of the soft plucking of the guitar strings.

I paint my subjects in fields of color with minimal to no elements of the background; bringing focus to the people. The person often extends the edge of the canvas, representing a compositional choice to parallel a boisterous element to the person; going beyond the surface they are painting in.

Serving as a continuation of those who have come before me, my art is a representation of Black figuration. Free of any political attributes, my art is about the daily lives of people with shared experiences and emotions. Serving as a promotion of peace, my artwork is a vibrant celebration of life and expressing freely!

Can you discuss the inspiration and thought process behind your finalist work?

My finalist piece is entitled, “Spider-Man Wears Green Shoelaces.” The two young men in the painting are my nephews. During that captured moment featured in the painting, the boys were at the doctor’s office with their mother. The youngest brother was afraid to see the doctor, so his older brother (who usually pushes his pestering little brother away) decided to step in and help his brother not be afraid by playing with him and making him laugh, thus easing his fear of the doctor.

The title of the piece is coming from the mindset of the little brother. We can see he likes the Marvel superhero Spider-Man due to the graphic on his shirt. In that moment, his hero was his big brother, who happens to be wearing green shoelaces.

This painting embodies the essence of my artwork. It is a captured genuine moment (unstaged and unposed) that happened in the lives of these two people. That moment is also a shared human experience and emotion between us all. I also aspire to have my paintings touch multiple senses. Along with the visual aspect of the piece, you can almost hear the laughter between the two boys.

Can you walk us through the technical steps of creating your finalist work?

I started this painting like I do all of my pieces, by building the canvas from scratch with stretcher bars, raw canvas, and gesso. After drawing out the image on the stretched canvas (which reference photo was taken with a cell phone and then printed on a regular sheet of paper in color), I applied a thin layer of burnt orange oil paint to the blank white canvas. This burnt orange color (through mixing Yellow Ochre and Alizarin Crimson) is always the first layer of paint applied to any of my new paintings because it breaks the tension of staring at a blank white canvas. I also wanted that under-paint to show through the final layers of the painting, as I often leave parts of the painting unfinished.

I like to show the different layers of the painting. Next I choose a color scheme for the entire piece, based on the colors shown in the reference photo and the mood I wanted to display in the final piece. After applying two layers of paint to the background and a thin underpainting to the clothes of the subjects and letting the paint dry overnight, I then proactively painted in the remaining elements of the composition in an alla prima style (completing the painting in one sitting). I like to include a range of brush applications (like wet into wet, dry brush, palette knife, and impasto) to show variety in the piece. Not being restricted by the reference photo, I use my artistic license to add an array of color, while also emphasizing on the light and shadows. When all of the painting was done, I added my name and date to the bottom of the canvas.

What do you hope to communicate to an audience with your work?

With my new art, I hope to highlight the beauty in our shared human experiences and emotions. I hope my artwork brings a smile to the audience and is a beacon of peace. I want my paintings to be a space for Black representation. While my artwork is a continuation of the Black figuration artists that have come before me, I want my art to show how not all Black art is about any political struggle or resilience. My current artwork is free of political attributes and are genuine captured moments of the people I see throughout my life.

Can you discuss your biggest learning experience during the process of creating your work?

My biggest learning experience for my art practice is allowing the painting to change as needed. Whenever I start a painting, I always have a detailed vision in my mind as to how I want the final piece to look. Well there was a time when I was working on a painting that I wanted to be done by a certain date in order to submit it to a last minute opportunity I was applying to, so I mixed up a color and painted in the background. The next day, the background was dry and I was set to work on the remainder of the painting, but as I stood back and really looked at the piece, the color I chose for the background was just not right. It did not look right and it did not feel right. However, if I repainted the background, I would be put behind by a day and the painting would not be done in time.

I made the decision to submit a different painting for that opportunity because I did not want to submit artwork that I felt was not at its highest quality. I decided to repaint the background and submit the completed painting to a different opportunity. I am passionate about my artwork and it is important to me to not compromise the integrity of my paintings for any reason.

Can you discuss your biggest success since starting your artistic journey?

My biggest success in my artistic career so far (prior to becoming a Finalist in the Boynes Artist Awards) is winning “Best in Show” during the annual Black Creativity exhibition at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. This moment was so important to me because I had been trying to get into that exhibition since 2012. For 3 years straight, I did not make it into the show. In 2015, my paintings were finally accepted into the exhibition and I continued to make it into the show for the years to follow. In 2020, when I won the first prize award for that exhibition, it proved to me that my paintings were getting stronger and people actually do like my art. The win furthered my belief that I could have a career as a full-time professional artist.

Can you give us the best piece of advice you have ever received?

“It's Just a Painting.” My undergraduate painting professor said these words to me when I used to fuss over starting and completing a painting. I used to be so nervous about making a mistake on the painting that I would be timid in my approach of applying the paint; afraid to experiment with color, brush strokes, or leaving parts of the piece unfinished. When I finally accepted that “it's just a painting” and I could always make a new one if I needed to, I finally loosened up and became more expressive with my art. It was at this point where my work became stronger.

What projects are you working on currently?

I am currently working on my new painting series entitled, “The Sounds of These Paintings Warms Me.” The winning piece for this award is a part of that series. At this point, this series will include 20 oil on canvas paintings ranging in size from 24 x 30 inches to 30 x 40 inches (possibly larger as I am still developing this series). So far I have 6 paintings completed.

What is your dream project or piece you hope to accomplish?

I want to get into painting murals. I want to paint large scale murals about the size of an industrial building. I've created a few murals in college along with my team and I really enjoyed the process. To see my murals on buildings throughout Chicago and other major cities would be a dream come true. I am currently in the process of including murals into my practice, as my sister is going to let me paint the walls of her garage.

As a finalist, do you have any advice for artists who want to submit to awards, competitions, residencies, etc.?

My advice is to stay proactive in your art studio and apply for everything. Even if you think your work is not strong enough to win an award, competition, residency, etc., apply away. All the jurors can do is say “no” and if they do, just apply for the next opportunity. And who knows…they might say yes!

Lastly, I like to ask everyone what advice they would give to their fellow artists, what is your advice?

My advice is to be proactive in your art practice. You should always be making art. Even if you have a “Day Job” and you are tired at the end of the work day, you still need to come home and make art. If you give 40 hours a week to someone else's dream, you must pour energy and time into your own!

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