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Mobile Art – APPart Interview with Poetic Medium

Poetic Medium is an artist that I have long admired and I have often featured her work within TheAppWhisperer.com. Bobbi McMurry our editor for our APPart column has interviewed her and indicates, as we know that all artworks undergo countless metamorphoses. Poetic Medium demonstrates that her creative juices continue to flow and present an understated, symbolically elaborate and meticulous craft.

It’s with great pleasure that I publish this interview today. Many thanks to Bobbi McMurry and Poetic Medium…(foreword by Joanne Carter).

“If you’ve visited our AppArt feed on Flickr, you’ve no doubt been taken aback by the mysterious Poetic Medium’s beautifully crafted and thoughtful creations. Each and every time I see her work I want to crawl inside and explore, for it seems there is always something speaking directly to me. I know you’re going to enjoy this interview, Poetic Mediums answers are as direct, intriguing, and as succinctly clear as her artwork”.

‘In the Flesh’ – ©Poetic Medium

Would you tell us more about your art background and transition (if appropriate) to working with mobile hardware, i.e. iPhone, iPad, tablets.

Box of crayons. Dad’s old Leica @16. Tri-X and drug store processing. University. 35mm and 4×5. B&W. Darkroom. Degree in “Design & Communications”. Award winning career as graphic designer and art director until my health gave out, all the while abusing Polaroid SX-70 cameras and film. Short attention span, square format and no darkroom. Focus on fine art, drawing and photography. Multiple group and solo shows of drawings, polaroids, and digital pics. First point and shoot and Photoshop opened up new possibilities. Then, first iPod w/camera and apps. Heard the angels singing!

‘Flora’ – ©Poetic Medium

Please describe your style of art and your portrayals.

Graphic. Experimental. Quirky. Pushing boundaries. Happy accidents. Inanimate objects, nature, and the ordinary. Texture, line, shape, etc. Trying not to bore myself. What if? Stay focused, edit. Delete. Edit. Shoot. Explore.

‘Possess(ed)’ – ©Poetic Medium

How are you inspired, motivated and nourished in your work?

The poetry of modern living. The familiar and the unfamiliar. Music (member of a noise band). My brain has a mind of it’s own. Always searching. Running in the background, more ideas. Where’s my iPod/iPad? Create. Post. Repeat.

‘Collage’ – ©Poetic Medium

How often do you create images? Do you feel under pressure to produce more and more or do you not subscribe to this? If yes, does this sense of urgency help you in your creation process?

Mental or digital. Daily creation. Posted multiple images to several sites in the beginning. Got off the treadmill. Less is more.

‘Produc(ed)’ – ©Poetic Medium

Do you adapt a similar ‘routine’ to creating your images or do you change and vary your process depending on the piece?

Tried the “one voice” thing and finally decided it was crippling my creativity. Broader horizons = more possibilities. Comfort zone, mood, resources all play a part in my process for creating. Desired result usually dictates process. No guarantees. It’s a journey, not a destination.

‘Possess(ed)’ – ©Poetic Medium

Do you have a particular methodology in your work? Do you allow a specific time frame to complete an image? Do you need to work in a certain creative environment?

Time and place for everything. One day things flow, the next day it would be easier to hire someone to do this “art” thing for me. No deadlines. Did that for years professionally. New idea, old image, different result. New image, old idea, different result. Keep mixing. Keep exploring.

‘Collage’ – ©Poetic Medium

Do photographic images feature in your work, what form do these take?

Photographic images that maintain some or most of their original integrity. Still lifes. Organic. Inorganic. Constructing and/or deconstructing images.

‘Flora’ – ©Poetic Medium

Do you use any additional hardware to help you create your art, such as a stylus? Can you also tell us about any other hardware you use including, software, accessories including batteries, chargers, lenses, storage. Do you have a favorite tool?

External battery. Tripod that I keep meaning to use (not very spontaneous). Occasionally a stylus. 250+ apps. No favorite tool. Several favorite apps.

‘Produc(ed)’ – ©Poetic Medium

Where do you share your images within social media channels? How do you manage social media, sharing, learning, competitions etc., vs creating art?

Flickr, a few on Instagram. Not looking for likes or friends on social media. No Facebook, twitter, etc. Just private and keeping a small footprint on the web. Web = information, inspiration. Knowing there is a whole creative community out there is a huge comfort, moving this “new” medium forward. TheAppWhisperer is a lifeline.

‘Produc(ed)’ – ©Poetic Medium

Are you motivated by competitions/competitiveness or does your satisfaction come from within? How do you involve yourself in competitions, shows, challenges and what are your reasons for doing so?

Competitions can be expensive and a distraction. I’ve done a few “calls” with some good results. Always a nice surprise to have an image featured. Satisfaction comes from doing good work.

What causes you to pause and take stock of your existing work? How has mobile technology and connectiveness changed the way you see? This can be both literally how you see, and how you see yourself and your work. creative people were more isolated, in the past, and had to deal with less intuitive tools, digitally and in natural media.

I now have a camera, video recorder, darkroom, synthesizers, recording studio, and the “information highway” in my pocket. I can do more with my iPod/iPad than I can with any of my computers. And, I’m mobile/spontaneous. Creative momentum. My art and music just keep expanding. More possibilities than I have the time or energy to fully take advantage of.

There’s no going back now.

‘Produc(ed)’ – ©Poetic Medium

How has TheAppWhisperer.com helped you with your art?

Again, a lifeline. The looking glass. A community. An angel.

Many thanks to you and Joanne for this opportunity.

– Poetic Medium

Bobbi McMurry received her BFA from Arizona State University where she focused on painting, drawing, and printmaking. After graduating, she spent many years as an Art Director for custom and newsstand magazines. She has recently rekindled her passion for creating personal images and has gravitated to the world of mobile art. Her work has been accepted into numerous juried exhibitions, and has been recognized in mobile art competitions including The Third Wave and the Mobile Photo Awards. Additionaly, her work is part of the current iPhonic Art Exhibit at Markham Vinyards in California. She has been featured on mobile photography blogs, and recently became a columnist for The App Whisperer. Bobbi lives and works in Phoenix, Arizona.

11 Comments

  • Diana Nicholette Jeon

    Always liked your work! Nice to see you here, in this format. Interesting interview, and heck, a quick read, too. TOTALLY JEALOUS of your equipment/studio!! Thank you for sharing your story with us.

  • liliana schwitter

    again discovered a deep different interesting quality in works, while seeing this choice of pictures. had fun with your vivid thoughts and interview.. see you liliana

  • Carolyn Hall Young

    Poetic Medium, I have been intrigued by your work, since saw it first, here, on the AppWhisperer, and then had to follow the link to Flickr. Of course, the more I see, the more I love. I have wanted to know more about you, as a person, since then. Reading this has been a real gift, for me. Your words, your works, your creativity, your skill, and your perspective, inspire. Thank you!
    I am grateful to Bobbi McMurry and Poetic Medium for taking the time to make this interview, and many thanks to Joanne Carter, for creating this forum. I concur with all Joanne has said, in the forward, and and what Poetic Medium has said, in the closing. The looking glass! Yes, there is poetry in this!

    • Carolyn Hall Young

      I am sorry about my errors. This is a little better:
      Poetic Medium, I have been intrigued by your work, since I saw it first, on the AppWhisperer, and then had to follow the link to Flickr. Of course, the more I see, the more I love. I have wanted to know more about you, as a person, since then. Reading this has been a real gift, for me. Your words, your works, your creativity, your skill, and your perspective, inspire. Thank you!
      I am grateful to Bobbi McMurry and Poetic Medium for taking the time to make this interview, and many thanks to Joanne Carter, for creating this forum. I concur with all Joanne has said, in the forward, and and what Poetic Medium has said, in the closing. The looking glass! Yes, there is poetry in this!

      • Poetic Medium

        What errors? Many thanks for your kind and thoughtful comments.
        Would like to think this interview has hit a few notes & sparked creativity.
        Inspire, yes!

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  • Gwen McClellan

    This was a brisk, fervid delicious clear interview. As we move along in life, how we unfold and then settle into who we really are. How we pare down into some essential self that keeps paring down. Thankyou for asking these honest insightful questions. Thankyou for the remarkable pieces, and the view of your process. Here we all are.