Artists’ Corner: Tara Roskell & Sandra Busby

Today at the Artists’ Corner, we have not one but two, artistically inclined friends Tara Roskell who is a graphic designer and Sandra Busby, a painter. They successfully run a fun filled website ‘Kick in the creatives‘ (a site about which I have mentioned in different posts frequently) together, with podcasts on various subjects relating to art and interviews with artists as well as blog posts on art related topics. The cherry on the cake is a cartload of online challenges for artists and writers to undertake, right from January to December- yes, the whole year round! They are all listed out with optional prompts so that one can never miss any of those challenges! Instagram is a great platform to come in contact with many such inspirational artists who are kind enough to grant an interview. I keep repeating this because I feel so overwhelmed and touched by their kind gesture. So, let us get to know these friends and their artistic pursuits!

Q. Hello Tara and Sandra!! Please introduce yourselves to the readers.

Tara: Hi Shilpa. I’m Tara Roskell, I’ve been a graphic designer for about 25 years and I now work freelance from home. I’m based in a village in Northamptonshire in England.

Sandra: Hi Shilpa. I’m Sandra Busby and I’m a Painter from East Sussex in the South of England. I love to capture the playful light in glass and other Still-Life.

Q. How did you recognise the art in you and realise that this was the path you would want to follow?

Sandra: I’m what you might call a ‘late bloomer!’ Although I was always drawing as a kid (I think we all do), I pretty much stopped at about the age of 15 and I didn’t pick up a pencil again until I was in my late 20’s. I was actually in my early 30’s before I started taking it seriously again and I’ve never looked back.

Tara: I always knew that I wanted to do something to do with art from a very young age. I was constantly drawing when I was a child. I stayed on at school to do A Levels including art and then went on to Art College. I absolutely loved the first year of art college it was so creative, but the second year was not so good. I really wasn’t sure which direction to take my art and one of the tutors suggested I might like to study Graphic Design. I’m still not sure if that was the right path, or if I should have studied fine art or illustration instead.

sandra coll1 — Sandra’s realistic paintings

Q. How did both of you come together to collaborate? How did the venture Kick in the creatives happen? Please tell us about your friendship story.

Sandra: Tara contacted me following an interview with me, which she had heard on another Podcast. She asked if I would be willing to be a guest on her own show and of course I agreed. Tara made me feel instantly at ease and we just seemed to hit it off straight a way! A connection had been made… I had finally met someone as bonkers as I am!

We kept in contact and over time we discovered that we have a very similar sense of humour, so a conversation between the two of us became quite an uplifting experience! After a while she invited me to co-host one of her ‘Idea Medic’ podcast episodes. One episode led to several more and in time we became genuine friends. We where texting and chatting over the phone about all things creative and sometimes not creative at all!

During a previous podcast episode that we had done together, we had set each other various creative challenges and we had a great time doing them. I think we were both a bit sad when they ended. One day during one of our conversations we began talking about how great it would be to create a site where people could find all of the most popular challenges under one umbrella, along with lots of brand new ones which we could host ourselves. We decided that a great way of doing this would be to have various challenges going on for each month. This way it gave people lots of choice. This was around early Autumn and we worked our socks off to launch it in time for the new year! The work involved for the two of us was phenomenal, but we managed to do it!

Along with the site and blog, we launched our own ‘Kick in the Creatives’ Podcast and we have a lot of fun with that too. And then came the Facebook group which has become very popular in a very short space of time.

We have a lot more plans to develop the site further, so watch this space!

Q. What do you do at Kick in the creatives?

Sandra: Tara and I share the load and the great thing is, we are each good at different things. What she is good at, I am not and what I’m good at Tara doesn’t enjoy so much! Tara is particularly good at the ‘techy’ stuff. I’m good at producing content. For that reason alone, we make a great team!

KITC aims to get people out there creating, even when they think they don’t have the time. It’s about making people accountable. It also offers a platform where all of the participants can cheer each other on and where they can share the work they produce for the challenges. The Facebook group has been particularly good for that.

Q. What are the different media that you work with?

Tara: For graphic design work, I do everything digitally. For the art I create by hand, I am experimenting at the moment. I find that I enjoy media where I can draw with colour directly rather than using a brush, for example, wax watercolour crayons and watercolour pencils. Then I can apply water afterwards to create effects. I have also been enjoying using collage. Sandra and I are very different in the way we approach art. Sandra has already discovered what she loves to paint and a method she enjoys. She paints beautiful, highly detailed paintings, whereas I like to draw/paint quickly and more experimentally.

Sandra: I personally work with oils when I’m painting, but usually when I draw, I use a 2b pencil and that’s it! I’m not one to experiment a great deal. Tara is much better at that!

Q. Where do you derive your inspiration from?

Sandra: I’m inspired to paint, usually by shiny or reflective objects. For this reason, glass features heavily in my work. My sketchbook however seems to be full mainly of faces and figures! Maybe it’s because I don’t paint them… I just love drawing them!

Tara: Everywhere. For example, I’ve have created little cartoon characters by photographing everyday things and drawing over the top of them digitally. Ideas for cartoons also come from silly things that I notice in everyday life. Inspiration can also come from other artists or people suggesting things to you. For instance, Sandra recently suggested I try using Inktense crayons and then spraying them with water, a technique I hadn’t tried before.

Q. How has being in constant touch with art developed you?

Tara: I had really lost my love for creating art by hand for many years. It was only through connecting with Sandra and the two of us trying out some creative challenges that really got me enjoying creating art again. So if we hadn’t had “met” virtually speaking, I probably wouldn’t be drawing or painting now, apart from the odd digital cartoon.

Sandra: It’s actually very hard to be in ‘constant’ touch with art. Life tends to get in the way, doesn’t it? And this is where taking part in some of these challenges has been so helpful to me. There is rarely a day that goes by when I don’t draw at least something, even it only takes five minutes! Since creating the site with Tara, drawing is now a daily part of my life because through the challenges I have found a great way of fitting it in.

Q. Any piece of advice that you would like to give other artists?

Sandra: Yes, absolutely! Draw something every single day! Even just five minutes a day can greatly improve your skills over time. If you are not that self-disciplined then take part in some of the challenges… It’s a fantastic way of getting inspired!

Tara: If you are lacking creative mojo, think back and try and remember what it was that you used to love about art. Join a group or a challenge with other artists that will encourage you along the way. Experiment with different media and most of all enjoy it.