The Creative Commentary: Cierra Fountain
Hey yall!
Thanks for all of the love with my first A Thousand Words post. While I work on the next post, I wanted to introduce to you, my second series The Creative Commentary. This is where I interview a variety of creatives about their careers, goals, and struggles. Some are in the adolescent stage, some are more mature, and some are on the cusp of blowing up.
The first artist hits close to home because we share a home (our parents). Cierra Fountain, my sister, is a college student who runs a commission based business through her Instagram. Although versatile in her mediums, her main focus is painting. Although in the infancy of her professional career, Cierra has been a creative for many years. So, we start by throwing it back to 2011.
What’s your background/history?
- My history, in terms of art, is pretty normal. I drew a lot as a kid, found that I had a passion for it in high school, and ran with it.
Because she is my sister, I have the privilege of being able to elaborate on this. Cierra started drawing in 2010 when she began middle school. One of her first showings was at the Douglas County Cultural Arts Center. In high school, she started with the composition class and quickly had a hunch that painting would become her medium of choice. Cierra’s painting. In 2015, she interviewed for the Governor's Art Program. GHP is a summer program that sends students from high school to live on a college campus for four weeks. It is “is designed to provide students with academic, cultural, and social enrichment necessary to become the next generation of global critical thinkers, innovators, and leaders”. It’s kind of a big deal here in Georgia. She didn't make it into the program the first year. She got in her junior year and attended the program in 2016. Her senior year, after honing her skills, Cierra showed work at the All-State Art Symposium where she placed fourth. Six weeks later, Columbus State bestowed upon her a full ride scholarship. And that is where we are today! Cierra just finished her first year of college.
*Click for more photos*
2. What does your work aim to say?
- Right now, my work just speaks for whatever I’m feeling at the time. I’m still focused on process rather than the message.
3. What’s your creative process?
My creative process is all about exploration, trying anything, and loving the process or journey of a painting despite the output.
4. How do you measure the success of your work?
I measure the success of my work by my grade, I’m in art school. lmao jk, it all just matters if I had fun doing it.
*Click for more images of artwork*
Now, here’s the thing, having fun is all good and stuff, but like she mentioned, it is school and you do get grades. So I asked about how grading works in a program full of subjective subjects.
As for grading, it really depends on the area. Like for drawings, it’s mainly about the end product, but for sculptural work, I am graded on things like creativity and risk-taking and innovation ( for my process and final product).
Now that I have talked about processes, I wanted to know about how some of the weird stuff pops up in her process.
5. How did you learn to take risks?
Without risk, you won’t make it far in art. I don’t know if I learned it or just naturally picked it up in the process of creation, ya feel?
6. What do you know today that you didn’t know when you started?
Art is a process, not a product.
7. How has your idea of art and painting expanded over the years?
I take up a new kind of painting everytime I paint. It’s just a natural expansion that you don’t realize?
I wanted to end the interview with an understanding of where her headspace while she does her art thing.
8. Who are your biggest influencers? How do you stay connected to influencers in your field?
I have a lot of influencers, but a few of my favs are Robin Clonts, Joshua Lawyer, and Annabelle from Catcreature. I use social media and youtube, of course, to stay connected.
9. What trends are you following?
There’s a certain color scheme coming back into art. I love it. I use it. The whole retro thing just like in clothes, trends, and stuff are coming back. Also, burnt oranges, mustard yellows, burgundies, and whatnot.
10. What books are you reading?
I’m on a classics run right now. I just finished 1984 and I’ve recently started Fahrenheit 451.
11. What is something that you can not live without that helps with your career?
My sketchbooks, it’s like a journal but for artists lmao
Now, a perfect interview would end with a cute anecdote, but when I asked my sister for a fun story, she said that what happens in studio stays in the studio. Also known as NSFW. *Insert looking eyes emoji*. So since I couldn’t get a fun story, I asked for the weirdest piece of art she has made. Cierra delivered with this Snapchat image.
If this has warmed your little artist heart to look into painting, even as a hobby, here some lasting advice.
12. Advice to someone whose getting started?
To anyone starting out, have patience. It might not click at first but at some point it will.
If you wanna check Cierra out, you can find her on Instagram under @_cicijanelle. She has some cool time-lapses and, if you want something cool, DM her for prices on custom art.
Photos courtesy of Cierra Fountain
Sources: https://gosa.georgia.gov/governors-honors-program