The Queen in the Spotlight...

Lorrie features a variety of artist interviews on her blog from time to time, along with her bright and beautiful art and tips on how she creates stuff. I was honored when she asked me to participate this month.

Check it out here !

Another Interview With Myself ?!?

So I came across this Marcel Proust questionnaire on two sites this morning, here at Judy Wise's blog, and here, in an interview with Christine Miller, that Leah at Creative Everyday posted a link to. I don't know why I like this interview stuff so much. I know there are some people who really hate them, like my husband. He is always worried about getting the answers wrong ! ;-). Maybe it is because I really like to share things about me, to let people get to know me. I am a pretty open book type of person. I also love to read other people's answers to the same questions. It is like a little door opening to let us get to know each other in a kind of safe, uniform way. Whatever... here is yet another interview with Moi !

Questionnaire by Marcel Proust, a French writer who believed that people must know and understand themselves before they could know or understand others. He developed a list of subjective questions that he felt would help reveal to people their true selves and the inner personalities of those around them.

What is your greatest fear?
Dying before I figure it out

What is your current state of mind?
contemplative, mellow

What is your favorite way of spending time?
Painting or collaging in my studio, talking and playing with girlfriends, just "being" with my husband

What historical figure do you identify with?
Helen Keller

Which living person do you most admire?
J.K.Rowling

Who is your favorite fictional hero?
Harry Potter

Who are you're real-life heroes?
My friend Andrea, my husband David, my sister Natalie

What is your most treasured possession?
Family photos, especially rare ones like those of my grandmother

When and where are you happiest?
Just before sleep when I am in David’s arms and we are snuggling and chatting
Or
In a gathering of my family, laughing, dancing and sharing time together

What is your most obvious characteristic?
My creative eye

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
My lack of self-discipline

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Inconsideration or cruelty

What is your greatest extravagance?
Expensive, high quality cotton sheets and a great mattress

What is your favorite journey?
Any path that leads to the ocean

What do you most dislike about your appearance?
My Buddha Belly

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
selflessness

On what occasion do you lie?
To avoid hurting someone's feelings.

Which words or phrases do you overuse the most?
"It’s all good.”

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I wish I would make promises to myself and keep them.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
The close, unconditionally loving relationship I maintain with my family

Where would you like to live?
Somewhere close to the ocean with a lot less winter, and my family near by

What is the quality you most admire in a man?
Determination and compassion

What is the quality you most admire in a woman?
Empathy, acceptance of their own femininity

What is it you most dislike?
Inconsiderate people

What is it you most value in friends?
Humor, understanding without judgment, openness

How would you like to die?
Old and in my sleep, at the same time as my husband

If you could choose an object to come back as, what would you choose?
A piano

What is your motto (words that you live by or a mean a lot to you)?
It’s all good.

Who has been the greatest influence on you?
My parents, for the good and the bad.

Interview With The Artist - Part II

Interviewer :So Kim, what is your biggest fear ?

Kim : That someone will read this interview and send in the guys with the white coats !!!!(laughs heartily)

Interviewer : No really, what is it ?

Kim : (long pause) For a long time I have felt like my biggest fear is dying, but I have come to realize that it not the dying that scares me so much as the thought of a wasted life. That is it. My greatest fear is a life wasted.

Interviewer : Do you feel like you are wasting your life ?

Kim : Yes, sometimes. I think I waste a lot of my time worrying. Worrying about how I can feel fulfilled, worrying about losing the people I love or having to watch them suffer, worrying about my own health, worrying about the environment and how we have ruined it beyond repair, worrying about having enough money to live well, worrying that the boogie man under the bed is gonna get me somehow !

Interviewer : That's a lot of worry !

Kim : Ya, I know !!! It sucks !! That is why I turn to my art so much these days. Why I think it is the answer for me. When I am creating, I don't worry. I just am. I get into the moment and play with color, ideas, techniques, the textures. There are two things in my life that really help me when I am worrying too much. One is my art and the other is my loving relationships with my family and friends. When I am with those sweet, funny, caring, complex people who really get me, I am not wasting my time worrying. I am just there, enjoying the experience, sharing the time doing whatever we are doing. Like I said, those are the two things that keep me sane.

Interviewer : "Mostly sane" is what you said

Kim : Ya, mostly sane. I think the best people, the most interesting people, the people I want to be around, have a certain element of "craziness" to them. I think totally sane would be boring !

Interviewer : So Kim, to wind up our interview, I am going to ask you a couple of questions I like to ask all my guests.

Kim : Go for it ! I love it when Oprah does it on her celebrity shows !

Interviewer : Okay. Favorite Color ?

Kim : Green

Interviewer : Favorite food ?

Kim : Raspberries in summer. Oh, and rare roast beef with all the fixings ! Sorry all you vegetarians out there ! That was the feast from my childhood.

Interviewer : When was your first kiss ?

Kim : Oh, Peter, the red headed class clown, in the fifth grade !

Interviewer : Favorite luxury item ?

Kim : Expensive high thread count cotton sheets ! I change my bed twice a week just to enjoy them even more ! I am worth it !

Interviewer : How would you like people to remember you ?

Kim : "She always said yes when you asked her to come out and play !"

Interviewer : Thanks for sharing, Kim, and for being so open.

Kim : You're welcome. It was fun !

If you would like to know more about Kim Mailhot and her artistic life, check out her blog "Queen of Arts" on Blogger.

Interview With The Artist

(This is a journal page dedicated to my most favorite and dear place on Earth, the balcony at the Cottage on Lac Bibitte, Mont Tremblant, Quebec. Can't wait to get there !)

So Julie at The Land of Lost Luggage does this brave, wonderful, revealing thing. She posts an interview she did with herself ! Even in the interview itself, she says how she thinks that people who read her blog don't really "get" her and yet she goes out on limb and puts herself even more out there for people to get. So very cool and gutsy ! A real artist thing to do !
It gets me thinking ... could I do that ? Would I want to do that ? Why would I want to do that ? Would people "get" me ? Should I care ? Would Julie be insulted, flattered, mad if I follow her lead ? Am I a copy cat artist ? Should I seek counselling for thinking so such ?

Then the common refrain from my hubby comes into my head "Don't think ! Just do !"
Okay, okay, so here I go :

An Interview with Kim de Broin Mailhot, Artist
Interviewer : Welcome Kim.
Kim : Nice to be here, thanks for having me.
Interviewer : So what brings you here today ?
Kim : Well I read the interview you guys did with Julie, liked it and I thought I would give it a try. I guess you could say I was inspired by her to be here.
Interviewer : What about Julie's interview inspired you ?
Kim : I think I admired how she took a risk and put herself out there.
Interviewer : Is is common for you to take risks, to put yourself "out there" as you say ?
Kim : Part of me, the artist part of me, is a risk taker. I love trying new things, trying not to worry about the end results, just experimenting and seeing what comes of it.
Interviewer : Do you worry about whether or not people will like your art ?
Kim : Not really. I mean, I love it when people appreciate what I do, and oooh and ahhh over it. I also love making things for people I know and love. A lot of what I am creating these days is just for me, just to get the ideas out, to express something inside of me. It is definitely the heathiest form of therapy I know, and the cheapest !(laughs).
Interviewer : So you think you need therapy, Kim ?
Kim : Shit ya ! Who doesn't in this mixed up, scary, hard, confusing world we live in ? My therapy, my art, and my important relationships with people I love are the things that keep me at least mostly sane ! They both let me see the beauty in life, know what is important, sift through the crap I worry about and let me know that I am here on this planet for a reason.
Interviewer : What reason ? Why do you think are you here ?
Kim : Very philosophical inteviewer, aren't you ? What magazine is this for again ? Hmm...I don't really know the reason yet. I haven't got it all figured out !!! Maybe the reason we are here is to figure out the reason ! How is that for philosphical ???
Interviewer : Going back to an earlier response, you said the artist part of you is a risk taker. What about the rest of you ?
Kim : Ah, now you go for the soft spot ! No, I don't think I am really a risk taker in general. I think I worry about things a lot. I think I am afraid a lot of the time.
Interviewer : So Kim, what is your biggest fear ?

(to be continued...)