Text of Interview edited to fit website and without photos - Kate
Interview for "The Art is Alive Magazine"
Founder: Cindy Mich
Interview conducted by: Faith Kohler, J.D.
Can you share an overview about your background, career path and journey as an artist?
When I was 12 years old, I started dabbling in oil painting but never attended any art classes. After graduating from high school, I bought a one-way ticket to France. I had planned to attend French language classes at the University of Lyon, but this was the “Sixties” and soon found myself living off campus with a group of street artists and vendors. I married one of the artists, an oil painter, and was his assistant, painting the backgrounds for his paintings and going from marketplace to marketplace to sell. We split up and I returned to San Francisco. I continued with oils. My painting was instinctual and emotional. I only have one photo of a painting left during this time-about 1970. I painted it after I read Herman Hesse’s Steppenwolf. It represents the dark and bright as well as enlightened portion of our spirit and the chasm that can come between them.
Although I continued painting oils – family and work occupied my time until I was in my fifties when I finally took an art class: Art for People Who Can’t Draw a Straight Line from at University of California Extension. My job at the time required lots of procedures and rule writing. I felt as though I was losing my creativity. This class opened my eyes to the transference of art to everyday tasks and changed the way I viewed my job –I started considering each blank page I wrote on as a canvas where with words I could “paint” bridges and pathways or walls.
I continued with periodic classes at Artworks and City College Continuing Education. But my real breakthrough was when after retiring, I started taking watercolor and mixed media classes, as well as the Business of Art class from Gayle Rappaport Weiland. She is a master at teaching folks to “go with the flow.” And, joining Artspan a non-profit organization that sponsors SF Open Studios; offers resources like workshops on the nitty gritty details about art, the business of art and how to present yourself; provides networking opportunities; and, shares information on where to exhibit and Calls to Artists.
The decision to go “public” was difficult. So much of what an artist does is about the expression of their soul and spirit. And so, it is and was for me. My first show was in 2015. What surprised me the most was the joy others also felt as I described the process I followed, and the journey I travelled for each painting. Whether when describing how in “Simplicity: Iris Dancing 1,” I sketched the borders of the flowers, then dropped in watercolor to make a kind of bubble and retain the surface tension until it dried (If the surface tension broke, then it would be a different painting.); to describing the joy in creating “Happy Day Bouquet” with watercolor on plastic wrap; to the soul searching journey and thoughts of nature and our man made environment, in “Nature Prevails” which started as a watercolor but ended up and mixed media piece using yarn, paper, watercolor, pastels, oil pastels, and more; to finally, how I repurposed my art into greeting cards, thus creating a new art piece.
I now participate in the Artspan Open Studios annually and participate in our Ingleside community craft shows and paint regularly.
Paint, ink, fabric…do you have a favorite medium, and if so, what makes it your favorite? And if you love “all of the above,” can you share what you enjoy about each?
I love all of the above – Watercolor because they can’t be controlled, and the artist must move with the paint and the image.
Mixed Media because the possibilities are limitless. Many of my mixed media pieces start off as watercolor as a base and then I build on that direction.
Oils and full-bodied Acrylics because they are rich in color, body and sensuality.
Fabric and yarn because of their meditative qualities: the healing that needle and thread can bring when sewing fabric together creating something new or repairing a loved piece, hum of the sewing machine, the clicking of knitting needles and the rhythm of the loops in crochet.
Ink and specifically alcohol ink for the vibrancy and unpredictability.
Photos to capture moment in time. I focus on local photos and places that are not the usual staple for scenes of San Francisco.
In what ways does your work keep you connected, or keep your community connected with you?
The underlying foundation of my art is community, our connections to it and the circles of life around it. I have been a part of the broader Ingleside District, located in the southwestern part of San Francisco for most of my life and have benefited having wonderful neighbors, a diverse and vibrant community, and, fresh air and cool fog.
To complete the circle, and now that I have “retired,” it is my turn to return my benefits to the community. I do this by through volunteering and my art. My volunteer time now centers on community building activities in the neighborhood along Ocean Avenue especially involving the Oceanview, Merced Ingleside – Cultural Participation Project (OMI-CPP) a non- profit community organization. The mission of the OMI-CPP is to create and sponsor artistic, cultural, social, educational, and community building events that celebrate the diversity of our community. I have been and am currently involved in many Ocean Avenue groups to improve the quality of life in our neighborhoods. Ocean Avenue is a key element in this effort knitting together our diverse communities. And I donate the proceeds of my art to OMI non-profit community-based organizations.
In what ways do you use color to draw your audiences and evoke emotions when they look at your work?
I also like to use eye catchers – alcohol ink is a great medium for catching the eye. These are some examples of alcohol ink on non-porous tile and a ceramic light switch.
Simple themes characterize my work: one tree, a singular point at a beach, a bouquet or a bright spot in the universe. I use vibrant colors to catch the eye, with the intention to create a pause in the viewer's life, to soothe, to cause a smile, to allow reflection, to create a space for change, find a way or a path, whether in life, or, just the moment.
The following collections inform my work:
What generally sparks your creativity, and has that changed as you’ve evolved as an artist?
Nature, life, and the journey!
Nature inspires me – So much of my work involves trees and the ocean where I find both strength and solace. I cannot describe the joy when doing watercolor paintings or alcohol inks and colors collide and create the opportunity for a new vision. What was planned is not where I end up. In each piece I find myself changing direction moving to the motion of paint – it is for me a symbiotic process.
Changing the Equation 2018 is Alcohol Ink on Yupo Paper. I used brush and cotton swabs as well as stamp pads to get many different effects. For Vacaville Oak at Twilight 2018 Mixed Media - While travelling west on Highway 80 near Vacaville just as the sun was going down completely, I noted how the light almost created a mosaic with the oak tree. The tree is watercolor and ink as are the hills and foreground. The sky and green are paper. Mendocino Blue, Mixed Media 2013, black lava, gold mica, gel medium, alcohol and acrylics used as watercolor inform this piece – a wave in motion. To create Hugging the Coast 2018 Mixed Media I used a rolling motion of my favorite brush 16 Round drenched in yellow ochre. White oil pastel creates the texture and a light wash with purple dioxide.
Over the years my art has evolved from an inward process where I was searching for a meaning to life and living to an outward expression and teaching moments. The trilogy: The Idea, Finding the Path, and Trajectory kind of explain this. Idea is bright and not fully formed, like when a person has that burst of energy to form an idea…the next step to bring the idea to fruition requires a path way, and finally the trajectory when a person can take off with the idea in form.
In every painting I feel that I have gone on a journey and when I have finished, I am not the same person who started. Whether I am working on a problem or find joyous moments the process of creativity.
Out of all your works, do you have a favorite piece and if so, what is it and why? (Ok, mine…Mountain Waters…oh, the vibrance! Thought I’d share that to get you to re-visit all your past work…)
Every piece is a favorite piece, for different reasons. As I said each painting is a journey - Mountain Waters is one of them – what I love about this piece is that it was totally unplanned. I was painting Moonlit Poppies at the time. I had extra paint on my 16 Round, specifically, Hookers Green and Titanium White with a little Hansa Yellow. The canvas had texture from previous attempts. I had painted gesso over fiber paste mostly but also some Black Lava. You can see this throughout the painting. I rolled the brush over the lower left-hand corner and I was smitten – I started working upward with lots of energy. In a previous painting, I was thinking about purple mountains using full strength purple dioxide. Using full paint and acrylic used as watercolor it took hold. This was the third painting try on this canvas – I was elated with the results.
The lesson – sometimes you must go with your instinct!
What wisdom or advice can you offer aspiring artists?
Follow your inspiration, connect with organizations such as ArtSpan, do not be afraid to show your art, be bold, always remember that your work makes a difference.
Anything else you want our readers to know about Kate Favetti, the artist?
An important component to my art philosophy and my art, is that it be affordable. I show primarily in the community and to the community. Many of my customers are students and people on a fixed income. Their living spaces are not large. To hear a customer, say, “I can afford this! Thank you!” “This will be so special in my space and it is an original!” assures me that my mission in completing the community circle has succeeded. To know that the proceeds in my art help fund a free book give away event as part of OMI CPP’s community building efforts again assures that my art helps to complete the community circle, that my art makes a difference.
Interview for "The Art is Alive Magazine"
Founder: Cindy Mich
Interview conducted by: Faith Kohler, J.D.
Can you share an overview about your background, career path and journey as an artist?
When I was 12 years old, I started dabbling in oil painting but never attended any art classes. After graduating from high school, I bought a one-way ticket to France. I had planned to attend French language classes at the University of Lyon, but this was the “Sixties” and soon found myself living off campus with a group of street artists and vendors. I married one of the artists, an oil painter, and was his assistant, painting the backgrounds for his paintings and going from marketplace to marketplace to sell. We split up and I returned to San Francisco. I continued with oils. My painting was instinctual and emotional. I only have one photo of a painting left during this time-about 1970. I painted it after I read Herman Hesse’s Steppenwolf. It represents the dark and bright as well as enlightened portion of our spirit and the chasm that can come between them.
Although I continued painting oils – family and work occupied my time until I was in my fifties when I finally took an art class: Art for People Who Can’t Draw a Straight Line from at University of California Extension. My job at the time required lots of procedures and rule writing. I felt as though I was losing my creativity. This class opened my eyes to the transference of art to everyday tasks and changed the way I viewed my job –I started considering each blank page I wrote on as a canvas where with words I could “paint” bridges and pathways or walls.
I continued with periodic classes at Artworks and City College Continuing Education. But my real breakthrough was when after retiring, I started taking watercolor and mixed media classes, as well as the Business of Art class from Gayle Rappaport Weiland. She is a master at teaching folks to “go with the flow.” And, joining Artspan a non-profit organization that sponsors SF Open Studios; offers resources like workshops on the nitty gritty details about art, the business of art and how to present yourself; provides networking opportunities; and, shares information on where to exhibit and Calls to Artists.
The decision to go “public” was difficult. So much of what an artist does is about the expression of their soul and spirit. And so, it is and was for me. My first show was in 2015. What surprised me the most was the joy others also felt as I described the process I followed, and the journey I travelled for each painting. Whether when describing how in “Simplicity: Iris Dancing 1,” I sketched the borders of the flowers, then dropped in watercolor to make a kind of bubble and retain the surface tension until it dried (If the surface tension broke, then it would be a different painting.); to describing the joy in creating “Happy Day Bouquet” with watercolor on plastic wrap; to the soul searching journey and thoughts of nature and our man made environment, in “Nature Prevails” which started as a watercolor but ended up and mixed media piece using yarn, paper, watercolor, pastels, oil pastels, and more; to finally, how I repurposed my art into greeting cards, thus creating a new art piece.
I now participate in the Artspan Open Studios annually and participate in our Ingleside community craft shows and paint regularly.
Paint, ink, fabric…do you have a favorite medium, and if so, what makes it your favorite? And if you love “all of the above,” can you share what you enjoy about each?
I love all of the above – Watercolor because they can’t be controlled, and the artist must move with the paint and the image.
Mixed Media because the possibilities are limitless. Many of my mixed media pieces start off as watercolor as a base and then I build on that direction.
Oils and full-bodied Acrylics because they are rich in color, body and sensuality.
Fabric and yarn because of their meditative qualities: the healing that needle and thread can bring when sewing fabric together creating something new or repairing a loved piece, hum of the sewing machine, the clicking of knitting needles and the rhythm of the loops in crochet.
Ink and specifically alcohol ink for the vibrancy and unpredictability.
Photos to capture moment in time. I focus on local photos and places that are not the usual staple for scenes of San Francisco.
In what ways does your work keep you connected, or keep your community connected with you?
The underlying foundation of my art is community, our connections to it and the circles of life around it. I have been a part of the broader Ingleside District, located in the southwestern part of San Francisco for most of my life and have benefited having wonderful neighbors, a diverse and vibrant community, and, fresh air and cool fog.
To complete the circle, and now that I have “retired,” it is my turn to return my benefits to the community. I do this by through volunteering and my art. My volunteer time now centers on community building activities in the neighborhood along Ocean Avenue especially involving the Oceanview, Merced Ingleside – Cultural Participation Project (OMI-CPP) a non- profit community organization. The mission of the OMI-CPP is to create and sponsor artistic, cultural, social, educational, and community building events that celebrate the diversity of our community. I have been and am currently involved in many Ocean Avenue groups to improve the quality of life in our neighborhoods. Ocean Avenue is a key element in this effort knitting together our diverse communities. And I donate the proceeds of my art to OMI non-profit community-based organizations.
In what ways do you use color to draw your audiences and evoke emotions when they look at your work?
I also like to use eye catchers – alcohol ink is a great medium for catching the eye. These are some examples of alcohol ink on non-porous tile and a ceramic light switch.
Simple themes characterize my work: one tree, a singular point at a beach, a bouquet or a bright spot in the universe. I use vibrant colors to catch the eye, with the intention to create a pause in the viewer's life, to soothe, to cause a smile, to allow reflection, to create a space for change, find a way or a path, whether in life, or, just the moment.
The following collections inform my work:
- Simplicity and Seasons - primarily watercolors inspired by nature.
- Bright Spot in the Universe - mixed media on canvas and always looking to the skies above us.
- Nature Prevails - mixed media on paper or canvas using recycled paints and palette paper, paper, yarn and other found and re-purposed materials, comments on the changing world, climate and stresses in nature.
- Changing the Equation - alcohol inks on non-porous materials because when using this medium, I broke through many of my established painting routines - and that reflection in everyday life. and
- Floral Whimsy - Just fun watercolor and mixed media
What generally sparks your creativity, and has that changed as you’ve evolved as an artist?
Nature, life, and the journey!
Nature inspires me – So much of my work involves trees and the ocean where I find both strength and solace. I cannot describe the joy when doing watercolor paintings or alcohol inks and colors collide and create the opportunity for a new vision. What was planned is not where I end up. In each piece I find myself changing direction moving to the motion of paint – it is for me a symbiotic process.
Changing the Equation 2018 is Alcohol Ink on Yupo Paper. I used brush and cotton swabs as well as stamp pads to get many different effects. For Vacaville Oak at Twilight 2018 Mixed Media - While travelling west on Highway 80 near Vacaville just as the sun was going down completely, I noted how the light almost created a mosaic with the oak tree. The tree is watercolor and ink as are the hills and foreground. The sky and green are paper. Mendocino Blue, Mixed Media 2013, black lava, gold mica, gel medium, alcohol and acrylics used as watercolor inform this piece – a wave in motion. To create Hugging the Coast 2018 Mixed Media I used a rolling motion of my favorite brush 16 Round drenched in yellow ochre. White oil pastel creates the texture and a light wash with purple dioxide.
Over the years my art has evolved from an inward process where I was searching for a meaning to life and living to an outward expression and teaching moments. The trilogy: The Idea, Finding the Path, and Trajectory kind of explain this. Idea is bright and not fully formed, like when a person has that burst of energy to form an idea…the next step to bring the idea to fruition requires a path way, and finally the trajectory when a person can take off with the idea in form.
In every painting I feel that I have gone on a journey and when I have finished, I am not the same person who started. Whether I am working on a problem or find joyous moments the process of creativity.
Out of all your works, do you have a favorite piece and if so, what is it and why? (Ok, mine…Mountain Waters…oh, the vibrance! Thought I’d share that to get you to re-visit all your past work…)
Every piece is a favorite piece, for different reasons. As I said each painting is a journey - Mountain Waters is one of them – what I love about this piece is that it was totally unplanned. I was painting Moonlit Poppies at the time. I had extra paint on my 16 Round, specifically, Hookers Green and Titanium White with a little Hansa Yellow. The canvas had texture from previous attempts. I had painted gesso over fiber paste mostly but also some Black Lava. You can see this throughout the painting. I rolled the brush over the lower left-hand corner and I was smitten – I started working upward with lots of energy. In a previous painting, I was thinking about purple mountains using full strength purple dioxide. Using full paint and acrylic used as watercolor it took hold. This was the third painting try on this canvas – I was elated with the results.
The lesson – sometimes you must go with your instinct!
What wisdom or advice can you offer aspiring artists?
Follow your inspiration, connect with organizations such as ArtSpan, do not be afraid to show your art, be bold, always remember that your work makes a difference.
Anything else you want our readers to know about Kate Favetti, the artist?
An important component to my art philosophy and my art, is that it be affordable. I show primarily in the community and to the community. Many of my customers are students and people on a fixed income. Their living spaces are not large. To hear a customer, say, “I can afford this! Thank you!” “This will be so special in my space and it is an original!” assures me that my mission in completing the community circle has succeeded. To know that the proceeds in my art help fund a free book give away event as part of OMI CPP’s community building efforts again assures that my art helps to complete the community circle, that my art makes a difference.