ARTIST INFO
People always want to know what drives my art. Where do the feelings come from? Most times they look at my work and not a sound will come from them. Just a deep puzzled look. They look for signs of darkness and anxiety within me. Especially when they see my face they wonder…where do those feelings live? My guess is because I don’t have fangs or dark circles under my eyes like Nosferatu.

But my art is dark. So they wonder. Once someone said to me: “I wouldn’t want to be in your dreams.” But I couldn’t create without my dreams. My dreams are where my art comes from. Yes, I am inspired by such greats as Salvador Dalí, Hieronymus Bosch, H.R. Giger, Odd Nerdrum, Frank Frazetta. But for the most part, I draw my dreams whether they are awake or in sleep. My dreams tell my story. A story of my feelings which are my expression and without them, my art wouldn’t be the only thing that is dark...one might even find me dark, too.

I attended FIT in New York City where I studied illustration. It was a great experience but my art was and is largely self taught. When I graduated I realized I had to make a living. I spent most of my younger days working my way up the production ladder. A career path I sort of fell into after earning not much more than a measly penny or two creating large enamel and airbrush paintings for Tower Records. I spent time at a prepress/print shop learning all there was to know about print production. (to this day that information helps me as an artist). I was soon introduced to Photoshop. Quickly, I realized this was a really cool application which I knew I could master and could certainly help me earn a lot more than pennies. Scraping together enough money to buy myself a Power Mac 8100 (hey, it was pretty top notch at the time), I learned as much as I could about Photoshop. Eventually, I ended up working for a retouching studio in Manhattan as a Photoshop retoucher, and then went on to work for one of the top advertising agencies worldwide, McCann-Erickson.

I was about 5 years into the advertising game when I realized that the corporate environment was not for me. Nothing against it, but I needed to move on, to get back to my true art, my true self. Though I still freelance as a Photoshop retoucher, I have now created my own company Graves End Underground, where I sell t-shirts, prints and work diligently on my “real” art.

I invite you to take a look at my work and make what you will of it and feel whatever you feel from it. Don’t hesitate to drop me an e-mail if you like.

Janine