Claudine Intner is participating in her first ArtOMatic and she says that she is completely overwhelmed by the size and scope of it!  “I live in Annpolis where the art tends to be very traditional and done in watercolors or oils.  As a mixed media collage artist, I don’t exactly fit in, so an exhibit like this is a welcome change.  It is amazing that ArtOMatic is completely run by volunteers!”

Once she decided to participate, Claudine knew that new, larger works would be needed for her exhibit, and she pushed from recent 8″x10″ pieces to 24″ x 36″ canvasses.  She also decided to create a theme.  “A lot of my recent work deals with women and children and I wanted to play with the image of the stay at home mom.  So I created a series of pieces exploring the every day life of moms.  For the past 11 years, I have stayed home to raise my three boys and at times I have been very frustrated by people’s perception of moms.  So I took a playful look at the stereotypical duties such as washing clothes, doing the dishes, and gosspiping on the phone.

You can find Claudine’s work on the 3rd floor, space 122.  “Look for the purple wall!”

As to where to start your journey through ArtOMatic, Claudine says, “The third floor rocks! and is sometimes overlooked because it is a middle floor.  I think the third floor is home to a lot of great work – not just mine.  Be a trendsetter and start on a middle floor!”  [ed note:  as someone who is on the 2nd floor, I can tell you that the third floor is not that long a walkup.  You can get there and start viewing while people who came in long after you are still standing in the elevator line!)

How long have you been making art?

I have been making art forever and working specifically in collage for 20 years.  I was always told that I would never make enough money with art so I tried a bunch of jobs including inner city school teacher, preschool wrangler, graphic designer and Mom.  Now that my boys are in school, I am embracing my art full time.

Tell us a bit about your materials and techniques.  

I work with mixed media collage.  I like to build layers in my work with found and decorative papers, acrylic paint, markers, and more.  I enjoy making backgrounds using various techniques including stamps, paste, stencils, and such.  I love the process.

As a first time ArtOMatic artist, what you have you learned?

It was a little overwhelming to be given a whole wall.  I was a little timid about how to create my own space.  I chose a bright color but wish I had pushed the look of the wall

more.  I have been really inspired by the artists that create an environment for their art like Yelena Rodina , Matt Sesow, and Leo Lex.  I will aim for something more like that in future exhibits.

Claudine finds inspiration for her work in a lot of places.  If she finds herself stuck, she takes her sketchbook and finds a place to sketch in Annapolis where she lives.  She also loves the internet.  There, she can look up and work ideas from artists from around the globe.  She draws specific inspiration from Frida Kahlo, Hollis Sigler and Cindy Sherman, and likes the bright colors of Romero Britto.

Favorites at ArtoMatic on the floors she has covered so far include Eric Celarier, circuit board quilts, Joanna Knox Yoder, tin types, the artist who painted the donuts on Behr paint chips on the 11th floor (whose name she doesn’t know), Eileen Olsen, abstract expressionism, and Shanthi Chandrasekar.

Tell us a bit more about who you are.

I grew up in New Jersey, studied art at Connecticut College, and now live in scenic Annapolis, MD with my husband, three boys and a neurotic dog.  One of my sons has autism.

You can find Claudine and her work in the following spaces:

web site:  http://www.claudineintner.com
Etsy Shop (for originals and prints)  http://claudine.etsy.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/theartofclaudineintner/
Twitter:  http://www.twitter.com/claudineintner

To read more interviews and see more photographs from ArtOMatic 2012 and earlier ArtOMatics, go here.