Erin was born in Milwaukee, Wi. She grew up mainly near the cornfields and lakes near the border of Illinois. She studied Fine Art with an emphasis on painting and sculpture at a university in her community; University of Wisconsin Parkside. Since 2006 she has lived in the small town of Caledonia right outside of downtown Racine.
1asked by william secombe
Who are you most inspired by?
I would have to say…Everything around me inspires me, from the magazines sitting on my desk to the grass growing to the old man singing and the young rocker girl making a fashion statement….but most of all i would have to say God and my peers inspire me continually to reach further and dream bigger and to make it happen.
2
What do you want to most convey in your work?
I want to convey an eclectic mix of romanticism and emotionalism with a twist of fashion and simplicity of line…i want the viewer to relate with the lines and the movement which happens in a single piece..
3
When did you first realize you are an artist?
I think I first realized I was an artist when i began drawing on everything…growing up my parents were very supportive of my gifts and would encourage those things to come out at a very early age…I remember my sister and i would draw all over our legs with markers and pens and we thought we were so cool until our parents found us.! And we were like 12 and 13…what?!
4
Why do you choose the subject matter you work with?
I have been intrigued with our bodies for as long as i can remember>!!!they are amazing….i love to people watch..short, tall, fat, skinny,all colors and shades..beautiful..beautiful!! I know this isn’t part of the question but i will put it in any way. With the material that i use….Right now i am obsessed with rough pieces of wood for some reason (specifically square ones)..love the texture and the way i can work the lines and grain into a piece….I currently am using acrylic and oil paints…and eclectic mix of markers and pens and crayons and chalk and pastels..you name it i probably have it in a piece….mixed media for sure.
5
Where do you go when your well of inspiration is running low?
i sit in front of my easel and look at my sketch books and get back ideas that i may have put down earlier. It definately works for me…I page through magazines …art history books..i think about it…and then i always get something…..
6asked by michael anthony lynch
What is your greatest artistic weakness?
I tend to paint woman all the time .. ..but i am facinated with how our bodies are and it intrigues me to paint and draw who i am…I have however gone on a “building trend”, town setting, with almost an 80’s feel to it. somehow i find the lines perfect….but i always return to painting woman…and another weird thing that i think is a weakness, is that i do not have a single piece of my work on my walls, only in my studio..odd..i am the worst critic to myself but aren’t we all.
7
How would your life change if you were no longer allowed to create art?
ahh..the thought frightens me…i don’t know exactly what i would do….prob have an extreme void in my life.. i would probably focus on writing or reading…and somehow find a way to express myself.
8asked by dayvin hallman
What situations in life have left their deepest impressions on you?
I would say… Getting married…realizing that God loves me and does not hate me….I thought that for a while!! umm..My brother Kevin Hammond getting signed to a record label in LA, this month!!! yeah Kevin.. super duper excited and that will probably change our lives alot…..we are moving there soon to join him….other than that….reconciling with people who i hated and forgiving them.
9asked by kathy berg
What/who gave you the extra push to “go public” with your work?
It has always been my dream to be an artist and an actress..so both of those are very public. I always was aware of what i wanted and how to get it.
10asked by alex sheehan
Do you make a choice and then justify it? Or do you visualize something and then create it?
I would have to say both..it depends on what it is..sometimes i have to justify it so perhaps some people understand what i feel and why..other times i feel more free in what i visualize so it is easier to just create…Depends on the subject.
11
What ways do you find your life influences your work?
Well I do alot of modeling and acting…so in that way..movement and pose inspire me and the emotions i have to create sometimes really help in the color schemes and line of my pieces…Other wise everyday life gives me ideas….sometimes dreams inspire me and conversations i have..
12asked by david geisler
How do you know when you are finished with a work?
when i sign the piece i know i am finished.
13
What new artists or works excite you?
Goodness..so many..let’s see..I went to college with a girl named Kayten Schmidt and she inspires me….i loved her work…we were so similar yet so completely different…it was great to feed off of one another. I really love the graffiti artist who no one knows who he is, or no one has seen him( technically speaking) I can’t believe i forgot his name, I am ashamed…he draws rats in the big cities and does alot of controversial pieces..on sides of buildings and walls, he uses stencils..for some reason i just am attracted to his pieces. Larry Rivers is wonderful and my friend Justin Leach, who is a sculptor…He is amazing at it, very inspiring….oh I sculpt too!!!
14asked by 716
Who do you think you are?
I think I am a girl who has green eyes and sometimes doesn’t know what she is doing…other times I’m on top of the world.. I am being shaped…..i find new things out about myself everyday..I love to paint, I love being warm.! and i love being barefoot!!
15
If you could ask another artist anything, what would it be?
What do you want to try in your art work but have not yet?!
