thomas fernandez


	collected from studio visits and misc conversations 1. Do you sell this stuff? It's my ardent wish to be a self sufficient professional artist so, yes. 2. Who are your favourite artists? Now: Caravaggio Will Eisner Chardin George Pratt Phil Hale 2002: Francis Bacon Jime Dine Dave Gibbons Kent Williams 1999: Robert Rauschenberg Jime Dine Frank Miller Richard Diebenkorn 3. What's next for you? Now? Find some means of steady income to continue making, surround myself with energetic and challenging people, never stopping. 4. Why do you need music as background noise? For me the music is a mental exercise or as entertainment. If I want to focus I practice tuning it out. If I want to relax then I just listen while waiting on paint to dry. 4. Why teach? Well, like I said I enjoy challenges and the setting of an art department can provide great opportunities for that if people are interested. I consider myself very much a student. I just want to get better and sharing in a classroom can help me just as much as others. 5. What materials do you use in your mixed media? Acrylic Spray Paint Crystal Clear Acrylic Sealant Charcoal - home made and store bought Crayons Chalk Pastels Lumber Crayons Ink Polyurethane Paper - collage Lipstick Pencil Recycled materials and anything else that's around. 6. Do you have a favourite studio snack? In the summer I love lemonade (no sugar) with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. In the winter I love chocolate milk and a nice burrito or chilli. 7. Why don't you frame anything? To frame a portrait would imply it will last longer than intended. The object that is the portrait will last about as long as the person that it is a portrait of. You can try to help it last longer but it will disintegrate. My intention, regardless of it being understood, is to present the portrait as a fragile temporary thing, just like the time it took to make it. 8. What do you mean by immediacy, intimacy, and reliability of drawing? To draw something you simply take another thing and make a mark with it. Pine cones on concrete, pencil on paper, finger in wet sand, or any other thing. A drawing for me is very intimate in its production, especially when drawing a portrait. With paper held close, sitter in close proximity, and the world fading away from the two of you. As for reliability, I see it having the least variable for final product. Cameras have so many working parts, many sculpture media are very process oriented, or even print making with its process. You make a mark and it's instantly ready for scrutiny. If you want further clarification or have any other questions, please contact and ask.