by Mary Kate Teske
What kind of shoes do you prefer? You've gotta have one pair you dig wearing everyday, right?
In terms of preference, I like my Doc Martens the best. My favorite ones have a print of the 1796 painting "Fishermen at Sea" by J. M. W. Turner, printed on this leather that is supposed to intentionally crack and fade, like a painting naturally deteriorating over time. I like those ones the best. I have some plaid Prison Break style Vans and some polka dot Stan Smith style Adidas that I’m proud of as well.
Billings is pretty small. Do you ever have anyone recognize you for your artwork?
Sometimes, yes! As I've grown over the months, I'll see random people around town or at my work, and they'll get all excited and be like "Yo! Chamber of Goo!" It's a little surreal to be honest, and sometimes I can't help but feel a little bad that they know me but I don't know them.
Do you show your work anywhere in town?
I have like, nine pieces at Kirk's Grocery right now, and like, five pieces at Rockets. I did an art walk this year in April, but haven’t gotten the chance since. *cough cough* so if anyone needs someone to show art for an art walk... *cough cough*
What kind of equipment do you use when making illustrations?
Mixed media paper, sometimes marker paper, my 5H pencil, a gum eraser, Copic markers, sometimes Prismacolor, sometimes Micron or Pigman pens, and typically anything by Sakura.
You draw a lot of characters. Do you ever see yourself getting into animation?
I would like to see my characters get animated, yes! I personally am not too great with animation, but the idea of being a character designer for a project of some sort sounds like a lot of potential fun.
Have you been drawing for forever, or did someone or something get you into it?
Yeah, I've pretty much been drawing forever, but I got "good" at it like, two years ago. I have my inspirations of course, but I don't know if any of them made me have the direct thought of "oh, I want to draw characters and stuff," I think it just sort of happened by chance.
Tell us about the strangest day, or chain of events, that you've ever experienced.
I'm honestly not sure. I did have one pretty spontaneously wacky night this summer though: I had gone to Mazevo to draw and get a coffee a bit before they had closed. My friend, Emily, had been working and she already had friends there. We had all decided to stay until she had closed, and then we were going to go to her house to play some Super Smash Bros. When we all got outside, we had decided to skateboard a little bit beforehand. I was in the process of going down this hill, when my friend, Will, had taken two steps on a board, and immediately fell. When we all saw that his arm looked all fucked up, and he was in a bit of physical shock, we had immediately carpooled to the ER. We had stayed with him the whole time and found out that the poor guy had broken his radius in his right arm, and had to wear a cast for a month. We got to the ER around 11, and left a bit after 2 in the morning. We stopped at Albertsons on the way to Emily's house and bought kombucha and frozen pizza, and we proceeded to play Smash until about 4 in the morning. I had to work at like, 8 the next day, but I didn't care; I genuinely enjoyed the spontaneous adventure that I got to have with my friends. Too bad Will broke his arm though...
Three movies that basically sum up your entire being would be?
Three movies to describe my life? Okay, these aren't explicitly my favorite movies, but here goes: Frankenhooker (1990). If I was to describe this movie poorly, I would say that a guy really wants a relationship to work out, but in turn, general fuck-uppery and comedy ensue. I'm sure every single one of us has had at least one situation in which we can relate our mood to this movie. The Last Laugh (1924) is about an elderly employee at a big hotel. His job is essentially his pride and joy, and when he loses that job, the movie becomes a look at his inner turmoil and depression. I suppose this resonates with me in the sense that I would probably lose my will to live if i wasn't able to do any of the things that drive my happiness and motivation, i.e drawing, photography, etc. Coffee and Cigarettes (2003) is essentially a collection of shorts from the director about various people just sitting around, drinking coffee and talking bullshit. Socially speaking, I feel like my life has kind of dissolved into this lifestyle. Thats not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s definitely relevant to my life right now.
Are there any artists you're particularly interested in these days?
Yes, there is! Kazuo Umezu has specifically piqued my interest recently, he has a fantastic, and creepy art style. Hirohiko Araki has been a big inspiration of mine sinse about 2016. I just bought a nice big book of R. Crumb comics. Other artists on Instagram, such as Motohiro Hayakawa, and Amber McCall, have also been tickling my fancy recently.
