Angie Huffman was born and raised near Dallas, Texas. She graduated from the University of North Texas with a BFA in Drawing and Painting in 2010. Huffman has been a resident of the Cedar Rapids area since 2014, and serves as an Iowa Pop Art board member and secretary of the fellowship program Our Future. Her work has been included in solo, juried, and invitational exhibitions throughout the United States. Pieces can be found in the permanent collection of the Yellowstone Art Museum, and in private collections in Iowa, Illinois, and Texas.
Published on March 3rd, 2024. Artist responses collected in months previous.
What are you working on these days?
There are a lot of directions I want to pursue, but I have still been focusing on building my continuing body of photoreal work to fulfill show obligations I have already committed to since they are scheduled so far in advance. I have completed some smaller pieces and have been jumping in and out of working on a larger one that will be the second in a mini-series. I am hoping to get that one completed soon.
What has been going well for you in your art career and life recently?
Painting for me is a massive time-suck, and it has always been a struggle to have a day job that can balance with it at all. There is some change in motion with my day job that has already had a massive impact, and I look forward to seeing how things improve on the art front and the general life front going forward. I am very grateful to have had two solo shows this year that I did not apply for and to have had work in a number of group shows in regional institutions. I used to spend more energy searching for opportunities, and it is really cool to have gotten the ball rolling to the point that I am aware of several of them without always actively spending time searching. I appreciate there being so many great places out there doing there their thing.
What is something new that you have discovered this past year that is meaningful or helpful for you?
I brought a considerable number of plants into my painting room and they have been adding vibrancy to the space. The room tends to be crowded and I would not have thought there would have been space for them, but with the right furniture it turned out there was. Caring for them brings me into the room more frequently, and softens being there when I may be frustrated with something on the production side of things. I’m happy when they’re happy.
Briefly walk us through your process of making art or thinking through a new project, focusing on what's most important to you as you create.
With photoreal work, the spark starts with a compelling source image. I crop it if needed to enhance the composition, often weighing multiple options before fully committing. Then I decide what scale would make the impact of the piece the strongest while taking into consideration how high the resolution of the source material is. The higher it is, the more detail it will offer to be brought into a larger scale piece. I also take into consideration if there is a certain time window work needs to be completed within as larger pieces naturally take longer to execute. The way I work through covering a canvas has changed over time. My current process is to start with whatever part of the composition seems the most straightforward or defined (often the figure) and render it to the best of my ability. Then I move to the next most defined part, and so on. My underdrawings always leave a lot to be desired which makes a lot of the process a puzzle solving exercise. When the canvas is covered, I circle back and do a final pass (or passes) until I am satisfied or at a loss of how to improve further.
Is there anything else that you would like to share with our readers?
I hear a lot of people comment essentially that they cannot make art. “I can make good stick figures” is a common refrain. I am sad to hear these things. “Art” is a hugely broad term that encompasses essentially any medium, all skill levels, and all subject matter. With so many options and a potentially low barrier of entry, I wish people did not feel the need to shut themselves down. Some argue that the best artists are those that can create work without adult concerns, tapping into the raw ability to express without preconceptions as they assert children do. I think this theory encompasses both the problem and the solution. Adults grow self conscious that what they create will not be “good” enough. But, they probably in reality still have the physical skills needed to create on a similar level to what they had when they were young, if nothing else. It is good to create for a multitude of reasons, and everyone will have a different opinion of what is valid or “good”. If everyone took a stab at creating every once and a while, it would be pretty cool. And what is wrong with stick figures anyway?
What are you working on these days?
There are a lot of directions I want to pursue, but I have still been focusing on building my continuing body of photoreal work to fulfill show obligations I have already committed to since they are scheduled so far in advance. I have completed some smaller pieces and have been jumping in and out of working on a larger one that will be the second in a mini-series. I am hoping to get that one completed soon.
What has been going well for you in your art career and life recently?
Painting for me is a massive time-suck, and it has always been a struggle to have a day job that can balance with it at all. There is some change in motion with my day job that has already had a massive impact, and I look forward to seeing how things improve on the art front and the general life front going forward. I am very grateful to have had two solo shows this year that I did not apply for and to have had work in a number of group shows in regional institutions. I used to spend more energy searching for opportunities, and it is really cool to have gotten the ball rolling to the point that I am aware of several of them without always actively spending time searching. I appreciate there being so many great places out there doing there their thing.
What is something new that you have discovered this past year that is meaningful or helpful for you?
I brought a considerable number of plants into my painting room and they have been adding vibrancy to the space. The room tends to be crowded and I would not have thought there would have been space for them, but with the right furniture it turned out there was. Caring for them brings me into the room more frequently, and softens being there when I may be frustrated with something on the production side of things. I’m happy when they’re happy.
Briefly walk us through your process of making art or thinking through a new project, focusing on what's most important to you as you create.
With photoreal work, the spark starts with a compelling source image. I crop it if needed to enhance the composition, often weighing multiple options before fully committing. Then I decide what scale would make the impact of the piece the strongest while taking into consideration how high the resolution of the source material is. The higher it is, the more detail it will offer to be brought into a larger scale piece. I also take into consideration if there is a certain time window work needs to be completed within as larger pieces naturally take longer to execute. The way I work through covering a canvas has changed over time. My current process is to start with whatever part of the composition seems the most straightforward or defined (often the figure) and render it to the best of my ability. Then I move to the next most defined part, and so on. My underdrawings always leave a lot to be desired which makes a lot of the process a puzzle solving exercise. When the canvas is covered, I circle back and do a final pass (or passes) until I am satisfied or at a loss of how to improve further.
Is there anything else that you would like to share with our readers?
I hear a lot of people comment essentially that they cannot make art. “I can make good stick figures” is a common refrain. I am sad to hear these things. “Art” is a hugely broad term that encompasses essentially any medium, all skill levels, and all subject matter. With so many options and a potentially low barrier of entry, I wish people did not feel the need to shut themselves down. Some argue that the best artists are those that can create work without adult concerns, tapping into the raw ability to express without preconceptions as they assert children do. I think this theory encompasses both the problem and the solution. Adults grow self conscious that what they create will not be “good” enough. But, they probably in reality still have the physical skills needed to create on a similar level to what they had when they were young, if nothing else. It is good to create for a multitude of reasons, and everyone will have a different opinion of what is valid or “good”. If everyone took a stab at creating every once and a while, it would be pretty cool. And what is wrong with stick figures anyway?
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