Monday, January 25, 2010

Interview with Vivienne and Matte

The upcoming February 12 art opening at Schmancy is featuring Vivienne Strauss and Matte Stephens in the show "Opposites Attract" (perfect for the month of love). Anywho, I've interviewed the couple to get the latest scoop just for you!

Schmancy (S): Where is your most favorite place to get inspiration? Do you remember the first time you went there thinking this place could change your life?
Vivienne (V): I guess I would have to say my mind rather than an actual physical place. I get a lot of my inspiration from old college annuals from the 1920s and 1930s. Just an interesting looking face or an odd sounding name can inspire an idea or a whole story that leads to a painting.
Matte (M): At home I love changing our place around to make it more inspiring.

S: What is your favorite movie and/or book? - AND what would be the "new" ending you would add to it if the ending could change?
V: I have so many favorites it is hard to pick just one. One of my favorite movies of all time is Harold and Maude, I would say I'd prefer that Maude not die at the end but I wouldn't change it because it wouldn't have nearly the impact it does now. Happy endings are not necessarily the best endings to a good story.
M: I like so many movies it would be hard to name just one.

S: Give us a preview of your Schmancy show!! We can't wait to see it, so describe some of it to us now!!
V: The painting I've done for the Schmancy show is titled Frank and Florence spend every Sunday in bed reading their favorite books. This idea has been floating around in my head for quite some time and it felt great to finally execute it.
M: A wool felted Uncle Rutherford.

S: What is the song/artist you keep playing over and over in your iPod (or cd player?)
V: Lately it has been Andrew Bird.
M: I have my radio tuned to the same NPR station all of the time :)

S: If you could open a restaurant what food would you serve and why?
V: Probably one that had a huge selection of different soups, salads and sandwiches so I could eat there and not have to cook.
M: I would serve southern food and the name of the restaurant would be cloresteral.

S: Do you have any exciting news/events to share for 20-10?!
V: I have one thing in particular I'm very excited about but it isn't final so I'm afraid of jinxing it by saying something too soon
M: I'm working on lots and Lots and lots of paintings

S: Everything upcoming sounds terribly exciting and let's hope it works out for both of you, everyone please come join us for beer and wine on February 12, 2010 to celebrate the opening of “Opposites Attract” with Vivienne and Matte (and the Schmancy crew!)

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Hey Joe (Vollan) whadda ya know??

Hey Schmancy Fans!! Joe Vollan will be having a solo show in the store from January 8 - February 11!! Don't forget to stop by during the month to check out his work. *There will NOT be an opening on the 8th, and the store will just be open regular hours (11-6)* But drumroll please!! Huck Gee will be honoring Schmancy with his presence on January 22, 2010 from 6-8pm for a signing session. More to follow!



On with the interview....

S: Joe, will you be making any new year's resolutions?
JV: Today one of my co-workers said that being nicer should be my resolution, so I'm going to give that a shot.

S: How did you come up with the new show, that will be at Schmancy this month?
JV: My wife bought me a bunch of really nice looking frames, so I got wood panels to fit them. so all the paintings are smaller then usual for this show.

S: What is your favorite underwater animal?
JV: I would have to say definitely a squid.

S: You live in Seattle and seem very inspired by the city. Do you have a favorite place to sketch or come up with ideas?
JV: Seattle is a very inspirational and beautiful city, I like to walk around downtown a lot, also gasworks park makes me happy.

S: Any upcoming events or updates we should know about?
JV: My website (joevollan.com) should be up and running, hopefully within a month. Im very excited about that.

S: Thanks for talking with us Joe, and we look forward to seeing your work!