DM: Sebnem, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to our viewers! Can you tell us what is your artistic medium?
SE: Painting! Painting is one of the best ways to express myself. I am stone painting and on glaze porcelain painting artist.
DM: When and how did you first become interested in your medium?
SE:: Drawing and painting has been my biggest passion since childhood, I expanded and began to work with charcoal drawings and oil paintings up until I started the university. I have memories of drawing and painting even on my school desks in my high school days!
Even though my inner dream was to study fine arts; I ended up going into business administration. After I graduated from the university, I started working in the office environment and have worked in various management positions for over 15 years, with these types of jobs being stressful, I had to take a long break from my painting passion.
Eventually, in 2008 I embraced my painting passion again by listening to my heart and my inner MUSE!
DM: Once you decided to pursue your art, how did you start off, trial and error, books, classes, videos, formal schooling?
SE:: with my porcelain painting and decoration medium, I attended a wonderful porcelain painting and decoration art course in 2008-2009 at Caferaga Medresesi (traditional Turkish Art school which was built 450 years ago by Sinan the Architect beside the famous Hagia Sofia). I still work with traditional Turkish decorative tile painting and free-style painting techniques.
I also collect various kinds of porcelain, ceramic and pottery art books. My area is well known for a wonderful era of Ottoman and Anatolian Iznik Turkish pottery and tile art designs. I also have an interested in China painting and Meissen techniques.
As for my stone painting; I am a self- taught artist, one day, I decided to paint a stone I picked from our local seaside and I ended up painting a sleeping cat ! My inner muse fired my passion for stone painting, and I decided to continue painting stones. Some of stone painting artists I’ve found via internet have also fueled my inspiration! I have invested in some stone painting books and improved my technique.
DM: Sounds wonderful, you seem to be expanding your talents to cover more and more area!
DM: Out of what you have tried, was there any particular thing that you would recommend to someone just starting out?
SE:: If you have a passion, you can definitely achieve it! If you really want to be a stone or porcelain painting artist, follow your passion and your inner muse. Go with the flow, in the end – you will realize that you are on the right path.
DM: What do you enjoy most about working with your medium?
SE: Painting stones and blank white porcelains is like an illusion, I revive their spirits with my colorful brush strokes. I really enjoy working with these 2, stone and porcelain, it is a joy to see the end results, the creativity, imagination and passion transforms every one of my pieces into a one-of–a-kind work of art!
I also have a real passion for custom orders, when my customer’s see the finished product, it makes me feel so feel so good! My customer’s satisfaction is very important for me!
DM: What do you find the most frustrating?
SE: Each painted porcelain item is kilned at around 600 – 850 degree Celsius for permanency of painting. It happens rarely but sometimes a fired item can be damaged, the paints pale etc and it can be very frustrating, sometimes you feel like you work and your effort has been totally wasted.
DM: Where do you find your inspirations for what you create?
SE: I get inspired from nature, animals and spiritualism for my stone creations! I like to paint 3D (three dimensional) animals on rocks, especially cats! I have a 10 months old kitty son named Pasha, he gives inspiration to me a lot!!
For my porcelain designs, I hold the porcelain object in my hand before painting, I close my eyes and my inner muse whispers in my ear … and I visualize the final painted work in a few minute. I get inspired from my inner muse for my porcelain creations!
DM: Have you ever experienced artist block and how did you overcome it?
SE:: Yes, if my mood is down, my inner muse runs away! Especially, when my mood is down and I have a lot of things to be done and a very limited time period to finish them all, I can get stuck and feel blocked.
Whenever I feel like this, I put everything behind me and try to meditation. It makes me relax and I return back to my work again with a fresh spirit!
DM: What is the biggest mistake you have ever made as an artist? What did you learn from it?
SE: Actually I don’t have a definite answer for this question. As we human, we always make mistakes and we always learn day by day, moment by moment..
DM: Would you please tell about your studio set-up?
SE: There is no space left to set up a working area in my house. On the other hand, it is impossible to paint porcelain because of thinner at home. Recently I rented a very small place as my working studio; this place is approximately 2-3 square meters and I have all my paints, brushes, materials, books there. I usually go to my studio 3-4 times a week, and I find myself spending some very long hours with my muse :)
DM: When is your favorite time to create?
SE: I usually create in the day time, especially in the early afternoons, but there is no limited time for my imagination, a brilliant idea could suddenly swoop down on me at any time and just about anywhere.
DM: What advise would you give someone starting out in this medium?
SE: Actually, I am going to say the same thing as I mentioned above.
If you have a passion, then you can definitely achieve it! If you really want to do stone or porcelain painting, follow your passion and inner muse. Go with the flow, in the end – you will realize that you are on the right path.
PS: If you would like to be a porcelain painter, you will end up suffering “thinner smelling”, because thinner is one of the main side materials for porcelain painting!
DM: Are there any artist that inspire you or that you admire?
SE: A lot, for example; recently I made a reproduction of some of Alphonse Mucha’s artworks to tile wall panels with porcelain painting technique. I also work with my sister Sule and we both work on porcelain painting art , she is very talented and can create perfect porcelain painting artwork! In my website and in my etsy shop some of porcelain creations belong to her!
DM: Tell us a bit about yourself.
SE: My name is Sebnem Ergun, I live in Istanbul. My past career was on IT – Internet sector. I have a 10 months old kitty son “Pasha”! I really love him as my own son! I also like to care and feed homeless cats and doggies.
My horoscope is Pisces, I reflect most of characteristic of my horoscope – even though I do not take horoscopes seriously : - ) …. I like animals, sea, sun and nature, even all creatures! I like walking at the seaside, making short trips to nature and I have some hidden paradise places close to Istanbul.
DM: Anything else you wish to share?
SE: If you would like learn more about me and my work, please visit my
website , or my
Etsy shop and you can follow me on
Twitter,
Facebook, or
Friendfeed
I have more pictures on my
Flickr page and will soon start writing on my
blog, but I have not posted anything yet.
DM: Sebnem, this has been a most interesting interview, I am sure all our readers will enjoy learning about your art and your work !
Till next week … keep creating !
Tina AKA Daily Muse
14 comments:
Really great !
I love her job , well done with love and care...
Thanks for sharing
Cheers from Paris
Feyza
www.ikabags.etsy.com
www.madamehoux.etsy.com
www.hobbytime.etsy.com
Thank you so much Tina! I am honored to be featured artist on your blog! loves from Istanbul
great work and wonderful painting!!
they are all beautiful..
http://www.etsy.com/shop/sergun
wonderful!!!
Thank you so much for sharing this lovely article. I love her design...
best of luck with your art:-)
Kristin
proud of you my sweetie sister, you are very talented artist. I love all of your design and I am your biggest admirer.
Sule
I like very much your all designs, let your muse and luck be everlasting...
These are so beautiful Sebnem! Congrats for the great interview and lovely art :)
wonderful design and designer Sebnem
It's a real art form...Congrats for the wonderful interview...It's my chance to see this lovely work in here...
Wish to see your beautiful work anytime !
www.Ayca.etsy.com
What a talent you have, I love all the pieces has been posted here, I am one of your fan, great work!
Demet
Wow, beautiful art work! I love those stones and they are fantastic! Thank you for sharing the interview with us and I enjoyed very much!
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