Welcome to another Tap-In feature. My talented guest, Geri Centonze, is a former sketch card artist turned passionate iPhone artist and the founder of Art of Mob, a stellar, comprehensive resource for mobile artists around the globe. Geri’s work has a painterly style that is rendered in rich color, texture, layers and meaning. Meet the artist behind this thought-provoking work…
Gulliver’s Travels
What is your favorite mode of self-expression?
I derive satisfaction and joy from any form of self-expression that moves people. Whether it is by writing, drawing, painting, or photography. To have something flow from me that produces an emotional response in others is very rewarding. From 2008 until 2012 I created and sold sketch cards (2.5″ x 3.5″ mixed-media art cards). I also experimented a bit with larger pieces and created a series of angel paintings. Many of the people that purchased them told me stories of how they were drawn to a specific piece, or that the painting they purchased helped them deal with events like the death of a relative. Another person commissioned me to draw some images of a relative who had died very young. He planned to give them to members of his family to help them process their grief. Working on these projects was very meaningful.
My newest form of expression is iPhone art. I love that I am able to convert a photograph into a painterly image. With the numerous apps available to me, I can create on my iPad the kind of paintings I always wanted to produce with a brush and canvas. Creating on my iPhone allows me portability and the convenience of no messy clean-up! I love it.
Rosebud
What is the purpose of creative spirit?
I believe our need for creative expression is built into who we are. We all have the innate desire to create but many of us just haven’t tapped into it yet. Whether it be creating a work of art, music, building a house, growing a garden, launching a new technology…there are as many ways to explore our creativity as there are people. When I tap into my creative spirit I feel the most alive, the most fulfilled. I truly enter a dimension where time isn’t a factor. Perhaps this has happened to you when you are creating – you spend five, six or more hours “working” and it feels like only a few moments have passed, yet waiting in line for five minutes at the grocery store can seem like an eternity. I believe Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi referred to this state of complete absorption as “Flow.” Finding our flow enhances our lives. The saddest thing would be to die with the music “still inside us.”
Do you have any advice on how to connect to creative spirit within?
Remembering childhood may help – what did you like to do as a child? Color, draw, play in the mud, sing, dance, run? Was it Picasso who said, “Every child is born an artist, the problem is to remain one once they grow up.”? Even as a child I loved coloring in coloring books. I remember how the crayons smelled and what a sense of accomplishment I derived from completing a page. But more than that, I enjoyed the process. The means was as important and enjoyable as the end. In my teens I spent hours sketching pencil portraits and also enjoyed film photography with my first 35mm camera.
Another way to connect is to become a part of active creative communities. When I began doing my mixed-media artwork, I joined online groups and took courses. Friendships were formed and inspiration came from both the coursework as well as the artwork of other members.
The most important advice is after you find what you love to do, set aside time to do it! Schedule it in if you have to – your life will be infused with joy when you allow yourself the time you need to explore your creativity.
The Recital
The senses play a large part in the experience of being human, especially when it comes to creativity. Tell us about how you utilize your senses when you create.
I will answer this in terms of my current creative endeavor – iPhone art. The first sense that comes into play is sight. There are some scenes, some people, some objects that touch something inside (my sixth sense?) that compels me to photograph them. I’m not sure what the connection is, but my heart beats just a bit faster when this happens. When processing the images, I love that I connect with them directly through the sense of touch on my iPad. It almost feels like finger painting. Processing is where I enter the realm of “Flow”- I jump from one app to another without even thinking and then the piece begins to “speak” to me telling me what to add next. Sometimes I have an idea of what I want to do with a photograph, but often it takes on a life of its own and evolves as I create.
Watch Over You
Have you discovered any “keys” to life? What are they?
The one thing I have discovered is that everything does seem to have a reason, I just don’t know what all of them are yet. Looking back on times of my life that I thought were the most difficult, I now see they were times when I was strengthened and also made more compassionate. Once you have gone through something, you not only grow personally, but you become an example who can guide others through the same difficulties. Your heart opens up more to those around you experiencing hardship because you have “been there.”
Tell us something that is beyond cool!
For twenty-one years I was able to do what some people only dream of – I lived on a Caribbean Island. While cruising the Cayman Islands in 1975, I met a man who lived there and we married the following year. Grand Cayman became my home until 1997. Both of my sons were born on the island. Even though I divorced in 1990, the experience of living in the tropics with such a diverse population and experiencing life outside of the United States is something I treasure. It was a totally different way of life than the San Fernando Valley where I grew up – in 1975 there was no television, only one radio station and not a single stoplight on the island! I learned to slow down and enjoy simple things which took some doing for this California girl. New foods and traditions were introduced and I even learned to dance the calypso! It’s now part of who I am and I will always be thankful to the island and the people there for teaching me so much.
Purple Bag
Do you like to learn and/or teach? Tell us about this.
Now you’ve hit on my favorite subject – learning! I am a perpetual student, always looking to learn something new. While most of my friends enjoy reading fiction, I have never been a huge fan but prefer how-to books on subjects like art, photography, health, nutrition, or any of my other interests. I only wish I had more hours in the day to devote to this passion. I learn best by doing, so I enjoy books and video tutorials that explore step-by-step instructions. One of my favorite recent learning tools is The Art of iPhone Photography by Nicki Fitz-Gerald and Bob Weil.
I also would like to teach, especially iPhone art. I do a bit of teaching on my blog through tutorials, but not at all to the extent that I would like. Like most of us I am limited by time – if I could figure out a way to bypass sleeping, I probably would. A friend I’ve met through blogging is Karen Messick. Karen conducts live photography workshops throughout the country – this would be a dream come true if I could do this!
Bouquet of Flowers
If you could change one thing about the planet, what would it be?
Another easy one which is best summed up by my favorite quote,
“Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.” ~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Can you only imagine the transformative power of love if we were all to embrace it?
About Geri:
As a former sketch card artist, Geri Centonze created over 1300 original hand-drawn pieces which were sold to collectors worldwide. In 2012, Geri put aside her Copic markers to pursue her new passion, iPhoneography. Quickly smitten with the need to share as much as create, Geri started blogging and now shares featured interviews, tutorials, app reviews and amazing mobile photography from around the world on Art of Mob. Geri’s iPhone art has been exhibited in Barcelona, Tijuana and most recently at the IPA Quarterly in Santa Monica (The Recital).
Where to learn more about Geri and her work:
Art of Mob / Instagram / Flickr / Twitter / iphoneart / Pinterest
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