FAQ last updated January 15th 2009


About My Art

What kinds of materials do you use?

The majority of my pieces are done in acrylic paint, with anything from metallic ink to charcoal to paper and fabric added in. Basically, if I can get it to stick to the painting I’ll use it (feathers, buttons, etc.) Everything is finished with matte varnish.

I like to use a lot of layers and textures, I tend to throw paint at things (you’ll see my quasi-signature paint droplets and splatters in many, many pieces) and be generally experimental in my techniques just to see what will happen. I suppose my style falls somewhere in between abstract and illustration.


What is the difference between “board” and “wood”?

Board is 1/8” thick art board, it’s a sturdy painting surface that holds up well with a variety of mediums. I use this for most of my art, including the entirety of the tarot deck.

I'm transitioning to work on mostly cradled board, that has fun wrap-around edges that can also be painted and results in pieces that are ready to hang as-is.

Wood is lumber picked up at my local hardware store and cut into painting-sized pieces, then primed and painted on all sides. These are usually about an inch thick. Though I haven't been painting so much on wood lately because of all the sanding and priming involved.


So you don’t paint on canvas?

The last painting I did on canvas was walked on by the kittens who put little puncture marks through it with their claws. So yeah, no more canvas. I like having a sturdier surface to work on anyway.



About Purchasing My Art

How do I buy a painting from the website?

Anything in the available gallery is for sale, with the price listed. E-mail me at phantomwise@gmail.com and let me know which piece you’re interested in and we can work out payment and shipping details.

You can also buy prints and originals at my Etsy shop: http://phantomwise.etsy.com.

I am in the process of transferring all sales over to Etsy, but that will likely take awhile.


What do payment and shipping details normally entail?

I prefer to be paid through PayPal, though I will accept personal checks. Payment must be received before the piece is shipped.

Shipping within the US is included in the painting cost unless the piece is huge. International shipping varies by painting size as well, a 5”x5” might cost $3USD to ship, whereas a 16”x20” would be around $20USD. I ship via USPS.


Do you do prints?

Prints of select pieces are available at my Etsy store. You’ll need an Etsy account to purchase them, but signing up is easy and Etsy is awesome.

There are two types of prints:

Open Edition prints which are $25USD, signed & titled.

and

Limited Edition prints which are $33USD, signed, titled & numbered. Each edition is 100 prints.

I will occasionally be doing Special Edition, limited-time only prints. Really, I suggest checking out Etsy fairly often and see what's up, cause Etsy is awesome, did I mention that?



About Custom Art

Note: I am only doing custom work on an extremely limited basis as of 2009. Please inquire if you are interested in a custom piece and I'll see what I can do.

Do you do custom paintings?

I have done 2 types of custom work in the past.

1. These custom squares that need a cute name but I haven’t come up with one yet. Essentially, you give me a subject, or a concept, or a favorite word or color or Shakespearean quote and I do a 8”x8” painting on wood based on that prompt. They will never look the way you might expect, but often they look very cool. I will work with reasonable restrictions like “No pink” and “I hate spiders.” There are lots of examples of these in the custom gallery and more information here.

As of 2009 I am no longer doing these custom squares.

2. Larger, more specific custom pieces. I can take more information and detailed requests. You can choose the size and the general colors and subject and things like that. They still won’t look the way you expect. Pricing ranges according to size and complexity, but starts at $200 for anything 8”x8” or larger.

All custom work will take at least 4 weeks to complete, unless I’m really busy or spectacularly not busy.



About Projects, Past & Present

What’s the star odyssey?

The star odyssey was an interactive art project that ran from 2006-2007, in which I sent 6 paintings of stars out into the world to be photographed in various locations and then passed along. Their journeys are documented here on LiveJournal and here on Flickr. The stars went to all sorts of exciting places, though some of them did end up getting lost along the way and in the end everything sort of fizzled and I got sick of harassing people via e-mail. I might do something similar in the future, but it will likely be run differently.


What’s the deal with the tarot deck?

I’ve read tarot for several years and always kind of wanted to design my own deck. Something that blended traditional Rider Waite style with my own sort of vaguely gothic whimsicalness with a bit of Wonderland thrown in for good measure. I decided to do it in only black & white paint to give it a cohesive visual style. The cards have been taking on a life of their own, I often don’t have plans for how each one will look and then the design just sort of appears.

I started painting it in October 2006 and the Major Arcana were completed in June '07. The minors should be done by mid 2009. There is a gallery for the minor arcana in progress here.

Hopefully it will be publishable when it’s completed, I’ve had a lot of positive feedback on it and I’m very pleased with how it looks so far.

There is a Limited Edition deck of the Majors available thanks to the fabulous Adam McLean. You can see images of the deck and purchase it from him here, on his tarot website.


Can I buy your art, say, surrounded by silver wire and shiny objects?

Yes you can! I do the occasional collaboration with the wonderful Kythryne Aisling of Wyrding Studios. We did a Wonderland series in '07 and for '08 we did a very limited series of the Major Arcana of the Phantomwise Tarot.

The Wonderland series is no longer available but many of the tarot pieces are, you can find them here.


Working on anything else lately?

2009 is the year of finishing the tarot minors and writing a lot. I'm also working on expanding my Etsy store to include more originals.



About Me

So did you go to art school, or something fancy like that?

Nope. I graduated from Smith College with a major in Theatre a minor in Studio Art. I took everything from sculpture to photography to calligraphy. I fingerpainted with latex paint in drawing class and never really settled on anything as my medium, which is likely why I’m so fond of mixed media now. I’m not very disciplined, I don’t understand color theory, and I treat acrylics like watercolors and watercolors like acrylics. I know what I like, though, and I’m getting better at making finished paintings look the way they do in my head.

My most indispensable art schooling was a class I took when I was about 9 or 10 based on Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. I still use techniques and tricks I learned from it.


But you do this full time?

Yes. I spent a few years after graduating from Smith wandering aimlessly through office jobs trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life (I’d decided theatre just wasn’t the right thing for me), and I ended up painting again. And people liked my paintings, and then people started buying them, so I started my website and painted more and more and then made a gigantic kite.

I was able to quit my office job in Summer 2005, and have been doing the art thing ever since.


Where do you paint?

I paint at home, which as of September '07 is a beautiful apartment in Salem, Massachusetts. I finally have my own studio/office and there is a lot more room for art here than there was in our previous teeny apartment in Boston's North End. I do miss the pumpkin tortellini, though.

But Salem is wonderful and it's nice to have trees outside the windows for a change. We're still settling in but it should be fabulous for both us and the future of the art.


Who is we?

Me, my husband, and our two very fluffy kittens.


Can I see pictures of the kittens?

But of course:

This is Bucket:


And this is Tessa:


They are flopsy and cute and now you understand why it is kind of tragic that most of my wardrobe is black. They like to participate in the art, too. Bucket is on a paintbrush chewing kick again, sigh.




Anything else?

Not that I can think of. But if you have any questions or comments or just want to tell me you like my art or my kittens, you can e-mail me at phantomwise[at]gmail.com

FAQ last updated January 15th 2009