Jane Kim interviews this LA based artist who just wrapped up a show this fall at New Image Art.You may know her for her comic books, her handmade wallets, her paintings or all of the above. With misfits, embroidery, yetis, tiny industries, enjoy and explore the world made by Megan Whitmarsh.
I never know how to answer this question.
I live and work in Highland Park, an old neighborhood in Los Angeles full of hills and dirt roads and canyons and coyotes as well as graffiti and trash and way too many 99cent stores. My studio is in my house.
I don’t have one—or it is always changing. I like combinations-- like pink and red.
I like breakfast in the morning.
I am very clean and organized. I cannot work if it is dusty or disordered. I have a wall of little cubbies to put everything away so I can see everything. I have a drawing table, a sewing table, a computer table and a chair. It is very simple and everything is wood and handmade for me by one of my brotherÂ’s. It is sunny and bright and has windows opening onto my back garden. It is very small however.
I have tea and toast, walk my dog, water the garden and maybe check email. Then I work from maybe 10 to 2, and then make lunch. Then work till about 6pm. Then either make dinner or my husband will cook. Then I often work again till 10 pm or so and sometimes watch a movie while I sew. I like to watch old b+w movies from the forties that my neighbor loans me. I mostly work. I try to take Sundays off though.
I like the El Matador Beach in Malibu and the Yuba River in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Water and sunshine and heat.
No, my mom embroidered when I was a kid and I thought it was boring. I started sewing on my paintings in grad school. I feel like I am a painter still—not an “embroiderer”.
They are a surrogate figure for humanity I guess—the misunderstood misfit.
There are also grey and black ones—they are not supposed to represent specific ethnicities or genders. I just think “That one live in the Arctic” or “”He is from Tibet”
I have always liked tiny things and details. It is my natural scale to draw and work in. I don’t think about perspectives—everything is more like an icon--- somewhat interchangeable and telling a story together.
I usually use polished cotton. I like bright, flat colored fabrics.
They are very strong! I have a new muscle in my forearm from sewing—I imagine it is the muscle someone who plays tennis or something would have. I call it my Super Sewing Arm!
Yes and so is my husband and lots of my friends.
It depends on the size. I am pretty fast at sewing but still a larger one can take months because I get so into the details—- like little necklaces or watches or earrings or something. I am always adding more details.
No—I have a giant multi-colored thread ball that I pull threads out of. I use single strands to sew with.
I am inspired by a desire to be optimistic about the future of humanity. I like to combine the everyday and the junky parts of modern life with the iconography of the supernatural and fantastic and thus transform the mundane into something magical feeling.
No I am not- I only like to look at a few things a day so I find museums a little overwhelming. I like dusty and approachable museums like the Museum of Jurassic Technology though. They have a beautiful tearoom with a Russian samovar and free cookies.
I like to garden and cook and eat and play with my dog and hang out with my husband and read and go away on little trips to nature and family.
What did 0 say to 8? Nice belt!
For more on Megan, check: tinyindustries.com
Watch here film "The Life of a Yeti"
Megan just wrapped up a show at New Image Art in LA- DETAILS
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