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I’m incredibly stoked to have this interview to post. Karen Kurycki is one of my favorite local artists. Her use of watercolor and design constantly blow me away. So without further ado, here it is!
How did you get involved in art in general? When you were growing up, what did you want to be?
I think I’ve always been involved in some form of art since I was very very little—my family used to call me “the bag lady” when I was little because I would go around with no less than 3 or 4 bags filled with crayons, markers, colored pencils, basically any art supplies I could get my hands on! I was also heavily involved in music and sports growing up—played the piano, clarinet and sang in a travelling choir that even did a couple of operas, played softball and volleyball (I actually played softball for 2 years in college). I consider myself extremely lucky because I come from a very supportive family and my parents always encouraged us to pursue things that we liked, even if it meant spending money they didn’t have or driving us around town to lessons, etc.
So when I was growing up, I think I knew I’d always be involved in a more creative profession because that’s what I’ve always been drawn to.
What drew you towards doing graphic design and illustration?
I think I’ve just always leaned toward that side of art. Growing up, I used to sit and work on that computer program “Print Shop” on our Apple IIGS (old school) making flyers and signs and wasting all of my parents’ ink ribbons because I’d print so many things out. I guess I didn’t realize I was designing at the time…to me it was just me having fun and creating things from image and type. It wasn’t until around 8th grade where I learned what a graphic designer really did—my mom had been a journalist/editor at the Democrat and Chronicle, the main newspaper in Rochester, NY, where I grew up and she had worked with tons of designers and illustrators at the paper and kind of explained to me what they did. I think it suits my personality more than the fine art side of art—I never got sucked into drawing and painting for hours and hours like most fine artists—to me I preferred the layout of information, to focus on projects and then move on to the next one. The more interesting I could make the layouts by using my own art, the better. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a huge art department at my high school because we were so small, so it wasn’t really until college that I really got into design and typography and hierarchy and everything else that goes into the field.
Describe your work. What influences you and your work? How do you get inspiration?
Describe my work…hmmm…well it’s kind of hard to completely describe it because as a designer, it’s always varying for me. I LOVE the projects where I get to combine my illustration with design because I feel like all of my heart and soul go into that project. But there are other projects that I will use type and photo without illustration and feel just as passionate about, so it’s hard to say. As a “commercial” artist a lot of times you have to adjust according to your client and what’s going to work for them, so I can’t say that my design has one specific style because I work with all sorts of clients, but my illustration style is obviously watercolor, often combined with image and type. And in my fine art/watercolor I try to use humor as much as possible, because although I’m a pretty focused and goal-oriented individual, I’m kind of a kid at heart that refuses to grow up.
I get inspiration from everywhere and everything, so it’s hard to pinpoint what I do to find it. I am very drawn to and inspired by items/things from my past. I am a HUGE vintage toy lover. I could sit for hours and look at old toys, especially specific ones from my childhood. And I love new toys that look like old toys, I think that’s why I’m so drawn to the Mighty Mugg series of toys—the flat paint and the way they are all shaped the same but all so different—so beautiful to me.
Other things that inspire me: music, humor, 80s pop culture, hardworking humble people, color, the unexpected, old school Nintendo, happy accidents, thrift stores, flea markets, philanthropy, vintage magazines, the smell of newly opened pool toys…the list is endless.
Of course I look at design blogs all the time to see what’s going on in the design scene (although I’ve been MAJORLY slacking on my blog feeds lately…haven’t had time to check in a couple months to be honest!). There are so many artists and designers out there that I’m just downright jealous of and I strive to kick ass as much as they do, and that includes a handful right here in our city. Some of my very close friends are in that mix! And I think that’s what I love about AIGA—I have come to know each and every one of those people and we support each other like a happy family. It makes me happy to have that support network.
I love your design style with the elements of watercolor. Can you explain your process a little? What draws you to this style?
Well thank you for the compliment! I actually didn’t start doing watercolor until my junior year of college. My teacher and mentor Jerry Kalback was the best teacher in the entire world. He was the one who inspired me to develop my watercolor skills and taught me so many things about illustration that I could have never taught myself. So he has been a HUGE inspiration for me, not to mention a kick-ass illustrator himself. My process varies, sometimes I’ll paint first, scan and add type on top, sometimes I’ll paint the actual type and combine with image, sometimes I’ll print directly on the watercolor paper and paint on top of that—it’s all pretty much experimental for me a lot of the time. Lately I’ve been collaborating with my friend Ashley Hazen—she’ll draw and I’ll paint, or I’ll paint and she’ll draw—I feel our illustration styles are very similar so it kind of works for us. I think I’m drawn to watercolor because it’s so unpredictable, and it breaks me out of that control I get with design, where if you want something to go somewhere on the page, you move it there. With watercolor, it’s like, “oh shit!” But then you kind of adjust to make it work. It’s unpredictability adds spice to my life.
 collaboration with Ashley Hazen for the book Things Drunk People Say. available at Urban Outfitters. Connected to your influences and inspiration, who are your favorite artists and musicians?
Favorite illustrators/designers: Such a tough question to answer since I have so many people and design groups I am inspired by, so I’ll just list a few that come to mind: The Decoder Ring, Frank Chimero, Stina Persson, Andrio Albero, Adrian Johnson, Andrew Bannecker, Design Army. And though I don’t really screen print myself, I am so inspired by the simplicity and concepts in gigposters designed by Aesthetic Apparatus , The Small Stakes, Methane Studios and my friends, the Bubble Process. I’m also enamored by a lot of the letterpress I see coming from Hammerpress, Studio on Fire, the Mandate Press and Yee-Haw Industries. Locally, I’m loving the stuff that Halftone Def and Dog & Pony are creating. And of course I love Ashley Hazen’s work as well.
Music: I have a pretty random taste in music, I try to stay pretty current with new indie stuff but will always go back to the old stuff as well—50s, 60s, Motown, the Four Tops, the Supremes, Sam Cooke, the Beach Boys, that’s my “comfort music”—music that just seems to kind of have this innocence about it, that I can feel and relate to more. I love old country too (not so much new country), bluegrass, Spanish music, anything that reminds me of my childhood really. My iTunes collection is pretty random.
How has your work with AIGA Jacksonville shaped your design, style, aesthetic, and even art in general?
I’m not sure that I can attribute my work and style to AIGA Jacksonville—I CAN attribute A LOT of things to AIGA, like my network of like-minded designers both in Jacksonville and across the country, the opportunity to give back to the Jacksonville community through hands-on activities and design. AIGA provides the forum for us as designers to discuss current design topics and be inspired by what’s going on around us in the design world, but I see my work as more of a personal thing, where I’m gathering inspiration from everything in my world, not just AIGA necessarily. But AIGA is very important to me to be a part of as a designer.
Where do you see yourself in the next five to 10 years? Where do you see your art going?
This is a great question! I don’t even know if I can give you a straight up answer to this because I’m not really sure. I’m actually about to start a new job as Senior Art Director at BroadBased, which I’m really excited about. But I’m not sure what the future holds, to be honest. I know that I’d be sad if for some reason I stopped the art or didn’t have time for it. I think it will always be a big part of my life—creating is my passion, and I could say, yeah I’d like to own my own agency one day, but do I? It seems like it would take away from my chance to create if I had to focus more on the business side of things, and right now that doesn’t interest me as much as creating. Will that change in 5 or 10 years? I don’t know. So it’s really hard to say.
What shows have you been in recently? Any planned for this year?
I recently had a piece in the Totem if you Got ‘Em show that Jack Twachtman put together at Bogda in October and I will be in the Designers in Toyland custom toy show coming up on December 2nd, during the December Art Walk, which I am also helping organize through AIGA.
Where can we see your work?
You can see my work on my website: cmykaren.com. I don’t have anything in any galleries at the moment so unless you come to my house and look at the various print pieces I’ve designed the past 5 years, just check out the website.
What are your thoughts regarding the Jacksonville art scene? Have any suggestions for improvement? Do you read any local jax blogs regularly?
I wish I could say I’m SUPER involved in the fine art scene but with my design job, freelance, illustration and AIGA on the side, this girl doesn’t get enough sleep as it is! I would love to do more collaborations with the fine artists in town, like the toy show and the artists of 229 Hogan. They are putting out some REALLY cool stuff that I’m really digging. I think the art scene has been blowing up from what I’ve seen over the past couple of years and becoming less “exclusive” in the fact that we have these collaborative shows like Chad and Clay’s skateboard art show and the toy show coming up where anyone can pretty much enter. I know that a lot of the artists in town would disagree and say we need to be more exclusive, but I think having a mix of both types of shows is awesome for the city.
Thanks again for spending some time and letting me interview you. I’ve been a big admirer of your work for quite some time. Any last parting words?
Well thank you very much, that’s very kind of you to say. Thank you for interviewing me and taking an interest in my work. I do what I do because I love what I do and when I stop loving it, I’ll stop doing it…just can’t foresee that happening anytime soon. I just want to tell Jacksonville to keep kicking ass and for the people involved in the art community to stay positive and supportive of each other because so much can grow from that positivity. Collaborations rule.
 collaboration with Sean Tucker of Dog&Pony Showprints.
I can’t even begin to express how excited I am about this show! 80+ artists showing off their toy goodness! It’s going to be a bad ass event, and I hope to see you there. I’m working on my own set of custom munnys for it.
The official flyer is below with the artists and details! (click it for full size)
AIGA is hosting their own custom toy show, Designers in Toyland, at December’s Artwalk.AIGA members and non-members are able to participate, and a portion of the proceeds will go to The Big Fun Box. It’s free, the location is yet to be determined, and it’s sure to be an awesome event!
For more details check out the AIGA website, and if you want to make a toy and submit it to the show, e-mail Karen Kurycki by November 12th. [vicepresident[at]aigajacksonville.org]
I’m passing this info along. I will be showing in it, and I hope you will come check it out or submit some work! Transgender Day of Remembrance is such a personal subject for me, and it’s something more people should pay attention to!
On Thursday, November 19, the UNF LGBT Resource Center will be hosting an event for Transgender Day of Remembrance. We will hold a memorial service in Osprey Plaza at 6:30pm and a Celebration of Life and Art Showcase at 7:30pm in the LGBT Resource Center. The showcase will also be available for viewing all day in the LGBT Resource Center.
If you are a transgender / gender variant artist or would like to contribute artwork surrounding these themes, please do! Submissions are due by November 6. They are looking for artwork, songs, poetry and slam poetry, and more.
For more information and to submit art, contact Leni at unflgbt@unf.edu
It’s been far too long since I’ve blogged. It’s been a crazy few months, but I’m back and gearing up to get this back on track!
Coming up this weekend is something very exciting, that you won’t want to miss. Toyota’s Farm to Table Tour is gracing Jacksonville with its presence at the Riverside Arts Market on Saturday. (10-4pm on Riverside Ave. under the 95 overpass) This tour celebrates the connection between local ingredients and cooks. Several Jacksonville restaurants will be setting up shop, handing out samples of their fare, as well as free herbs and test drives from Toyota. The tastings will be held between 10:30am – 2:30pm and are sure to be incredibly delicious, on top of the rest of the Ram events!
Good news! For those of you who missed last week’s Eat Up Downtown event, many of the restaurants are continuing it for this week as well! I know I’ll be hitting up Chew Restaurant for their new menu this week. Here’s the details from DVI:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 24, 2009
GOING BACK FOR SECONDS!
Select Restaurants Extend Downtown Dining Week
WHAT: Due to popular demand, the Downtown dining week, Eat Up Downtown, has been extended at select restaurants. The length of promotion varies by restaurant. Seven of the 19 restaurants will continue to offer delicious three-course dinner menus for just $25 per person. There are no coupons to clip or tickets to buy, simply view the menus at eatupdowntown.com, and make reservations with the restaurant of your choice.
WHO/WHERE:
bb’s 306-0100 (Until August 30th)
Chew Restaurant 355-3793 (Until August 29th)
Koja Sushi 350-9911 (Until August 30th)
Morton’s The Steak House 399-3933 (Until August 27th)
River City Brewing Company 398-2299 (Until September 12th)
Vito’s Italian Café 355-0064 (Until August 30th)
Wine Cellar 398-8989 (Until August 30th)
WHEN: August 24, 2009 – varies by restaurant (see above for end dates for each restaurant)
COST: $25 per person for a three-course meal, tax and gratuity not included
PARTNERS: Jacksonville Magazine and Talk Radio WOKV
MORE INFORMATION & MENUS: Visit www.eatupdowntown.com or call (904) 451-3344.
[About Downtown Vision
Downtown Vision, Inc. (DVI), Downtown Jacksonville’s Improvement District, is a not-for-profit 501(c)6 organization whose mission is to build and maintain a healthy and vibrant Downtown community and to promote Downtown as an exciting place to live, work, play, and visit.
Founded in 2000, DVI is dedicated to promoting the Downtown area, building a neighborhood Downtown, serving as a one-stop shop for information on Downtown and advocating the interests of local businesses and property owners. For more information, visit www.downtownjacksonville.org or DTJax.org on a mobile device.]
I am going to preface this review by saying that I plan on eating at the Pickled Pear Cafe again for a more thorough tasting. My first impressions however, were very good. The plus of the meal was that we were in and out and back to work within an hour.
Working in the Westside gives me good options for dining out over my lunch break, but I always yearn for something new. One cannot live solely on Moon River’s delicious pizza. A coworker had tried out the Pickled Pear and gave rave reviews, so I decided to try it last week. They offer specials daily, including a quiche, sandwich, salad, and more entree style dish. The special that day was Charleston Shrimp and Grits for about $10., and the sandwich special was Roast Beef for about $6.
I decided on “The Smokin’ Granny” sandwich. This entailed turkey, thinly sliced granny smith apples, cheddar, and a tangy deli or coarse mustard inside cinnamon raisin bread. The sandwich was pressed and served with your choice of side. I chose the Mediterranean pasta salad over the pesto pasta salad and chips. The sandwich itself was warm, the bread was toasted from the panini press, and it was definitely a winner. The thinly sliced apples gave a perfect crunch and lightness to the cheddar and turkey. For a $7, the amount of turkey was very generous. The Mediterranean pasta salad was also very tasty. Multi-colored rotini pasta, feta cheese, red peppers, and cucumbers mixed together with a vinaigrette made it flavorful but light. The pasta wasn’t bland and was perfectly cooked.This sandwich has become my new favorite for lunch and I will definitely be going back soon.
My coworker had the spicy chicken wrap. This was a tortilla stuffed with lettuce, red peppers, cheese, chicken, and a sauce that she claimed “wasn’t spicy at all.” It was a little less than stellar, and very messy from the running red sauce inside. She also had the pesto pasta salad, which was penne mixed with pine nuts and peas, and it was also not as good as my selections. At the end of our meals, and my elated mood from my lunch, she commented that our next trip to the Pickled Pear would be for my sandwich.
Along with lunch offerings, they have fresh pastries including lemon bars, butter cake, miniature red velvet cupcakes and so many more. They also had a cold case of savory offerings to take home, ranging from salad dressings to pasta salads.
Overall, we would both go back to the Pickled Pear, and are anxious to try some more of their specials and different offerings. You can find the Pickled Pear Cafe at 1143 Edgewood Ave. in Murray Hill, about a block away from Moon River Pizza.
I know I’ve been absent from blogging. I haven’t received new interview questions back yet from a few local artists, and I haven’t been to a new food joint in some time. I’m changing that very soon however, and checking out a small cuban joint off Baymeadows that I’ve been told is amazingly delicious. I did however, come across some awesome little podcasts NPR has on itunes about all things Food. They’ve taken food segments from their programs and put them into one great podcast series you can subscribe to here. (the link will take you to iTunes) They also have a link on their website for all things Food including many of the audio clips you’ll find in the series, here.
In one of these podcasts, author and former FDA Commissioner David Kessler has some interesting things to say about why we as a society overeat, how chemicals play a huge part in many of the foods we eat (processed foods of course), and opens the can of worms on all these things we call “food” but really are just highly processed edible things, or fat.
“Pick an appetizer. What’s in Buffalo wings? You start with the fatty part of the chicken. Many times it’s fried in the manufacturing plant first. It’s fried again in the restaurant. That red sauce? Sugar and fat. That creamy sauce? Fat and salt. So what are we eating? Fat on fat on fat on sugar on fat and salt.” – David Kessler
I woke up this morning with the best idea EVER. well, maybe not the best ever, but it’s a pretty sweet idea that I really want to impliment.
Who wants to be involved in a Toy Camera Photo Show?
I’m thinking anything Holga, Diana, Lomo, anything in the toy camera genre. I’d even open it up to handmade pinholes. I’ve seen this type of show done elsewhere but never in town, and I think it could be really great show. I’m also looking for venues, so if you’re interested and have ideas, feel free!
My trip to Bistro Aix the same weekend as Fu Hao Bistro, was nothing but stellar. The new menu change hit, and I couldn’t be more delighted about the seasonal offerings. My family and I sat up at the chef’s counter, as we do fairly often to chat with Chef Tom Gray and watch the action. One of the new appetizers is a charcuterie of delicious meats and cheeses. We munched on Hobbs’ aged proscuitto speck, 5 year aged gouda, Midnight Moon aged goat cheese, and Roaring 40’s Blue. My favorite was the blue. It had a nice tanginess that went well with the smoked prosciutto speck. For those who don’t know, smoked procsciutto speck is a finely marbled,Swiss-style air dried, smoked, and cured prosciutto (ham). Hobbs’ cures it for a minimum of 7 months to produce this melt in your mouth treat.
We also shared a three cheese and tomato pizza with goat cheese. I love their pizzas for the thin crust and focus on great ingredients that go splendidly together. I also can’t say enough for Chilo, who always seems to be working the wood burning oven when I go. He makes the best pizzas at Bistro by far!
Next up was salad and another new appetizer to try. I had a yellow and red beet salad with bibb lettuce. The beets were deliciously earthy and complimented with orange segments and ricotta salata. I can’t begin to explain my love for beets. I could eat them any day and surprisingly enough hated beets for the first 22 years of my life. The salad was refreshing and light, perfect for summer.
The new appetizer we tried was an eggplant and goat cheese terrine. This was served warm, topped with roasted red peppers, and served with toasted foccaccia. The eggplant was thinly sliced and appeared to be grilled, layered with creamy goat cheese. It was amazing and devoured quickly. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed both dishes and onto the entrees we went.
I had a grilled pork tenderloin with creamy polenta, grillen spring onions, and topped with some rather delicious rosemary-roasted apples. My pork was cooked perfectly to medium. It was moist, flavorful, and was exquisite with the rest of the dish. The creaminess of the polenta paired well with the crisp apples and tender pork. The spring onions were the perfect finishing touch. It was also a perfect summer meal, not heavy or overly filling.
Another hit amongst the family was the Seared Salmon with pearl pasta, asparagus, sugar snaps, roasted fennel, and tzatziki sauce. While I prefer other fish to salmon, the tangy and light tzatziki was a great high note for the fish. The vegetables were perfectly cooked and the pearl pasta didn’t leave you feelng bogged down or make the dish heavy.
When I think of summer, I think of grilling, farmers markets, and the hot (almost unbearbly humid) months Florida graces us with every year. The summer menu at Bistro Aix is full of new, enticing dishes that will tantalize your eyes as much as your palate.
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