Artist Interview — Michael Inman

Today I’m excited to interview an artist I have known and respected for a very long time—Michael Inman. Since the first time I saw Michael’s artwork, I was drawn to his creative imaginings and to his colorful  sketches. I’m honored that he agreed to stop by today and tell us more about himself and about his art.

What got you interested in Art? Can you remember the first things you drew/sculpted/painted and what made them memorable?

The earliest I can remember being interested in art was being exposed in some way to Picasso’s paintings. I loved the weird, cubist, almost cartoony style of some of his paintings and charcoals. My two all-time favorites of his are “The Three Musicians” and “Night Fishing at Antibes.” I tried to duplicate both of these pieces myself many times as a kid and the whimsical, cartoony, strange art seemed to be something I found myself appreciating more than say, Picasso’s more realistic portraits. After some time, I really came to appreciate album art in CD lyric books and came to love Beck Hansen, not only for his music but for his studio art. My father took me to a Beck art exhibit at Cheekwood [in Nashville, Tennessee], and I was just in awe at everything.

Have you taken any art classes?

I have taken many. Illustration courses, perspective drawing, painting, figure drawing, black and white analog photography, graphic design (I consider that art), etc.

What is your preferred medium and why?

My preferred “traditional” medium is acrylic paint, but my absolute preference is digital– a Wacom Tablet and a program such as Photoshop to paint digitally in at a high resolution. I can get the same effect with painting digitally as I can traditionally with a paint brush, and it is much more time efficient, hence I can produce more. Quantity is never better than quality to me, but with this medium, you get the best of both worlds. Same look, less time, more art.

Because I am an author, I have to ask: Have you ever designed any artwork for an author?

The closest I have come to producing any form of art for an author is just for a school project in which I laid out an outline of a story concept. My mother wrote the book, and I did all the illustrations. This was a children’s book called My Beloved Monster.

Cooking Through "The Baker's Man": Evelyn's Sugar Cookies

Mother, Mama, Mom, Mum, Ma—a few of the names we use for our mothers. Every mother is unique. Some are great, and we say they were “born to be mothers.” They nurture us, discipline us, hold our hands when we cry. Other mothers break our hearts, abandon us, disappoint us, and we never understand why they make the choices they do.

In chapter sixteen of The Baker’s Man, titled Sugar Cookies, Anna needs the one person who can make her feel as though even if her entire world is ending, she’s not alone—she needs her mama.

Cooking Through "The Baker's Man": Firecracker Bundt Cake

Fireworks were documented as being used in China in the seventh century. They were created to accompany festivities, and eventually, the use of these spectacular, aerial displays spread to other countries.

To me, fireworks are beautiful, resembling colorful, exploding stars–magic in the skies. Animated cartoons use fireworks to represent the excitement and passion of kisses. People describe feelings akin to “fireworks going off” when someone grabs another’s hand.

Cooking Through Fiction: Levi's Carrot-Apple Hash

One of my favorite parts of having a favorite book (or series) is finding someone else who shares the same love and devotion to the literary work, finding someone who talks about the same characters with as much excitement, irritation, and admiration as I do. This is what makes fandoms so amazing.

Fandoms connect people all across the globe so they can share their mutual love of fictional worlds. For fandoms, even after the original authors have finished the novels, even after the TV series have ended, the stories never stop. Fanfiction continues on and on as long as there are fans to read it.

Years ago, I stumbled into the world of Harry Potter fanfiction, and I’m still thankful for the happy accident. I met wonderful writers (many who are still close friends of mine), hilarious characters, and interesting people who shared my love of all things Harry Potter. Many of us still laugh about stories we read, characters who went crazy, and moral moray eels.

Cooking Through "The Baker's Man": Blood Orange Sauce

Blood oranges not only have a more vibrant, deeper color than regular oranges (such as Naval), but their flavor also is more intense as well. Blood oranges are slightly more bitter (although, at times, some varieties are even sweeter) than regular oranges.

In my opinion, blood oranges are oranges with a kick. This is one way to describe the difference between love and passion. Passion is love with a kick. And this kick can send you to the moon or send you into dark, bitter sections of yourself.

Author Interview — Jennifer Hawes

Social media, although overwhelming at times, offers great avenues to meet new people. I’ve had the privilege of getting to know today’s author via Twitter, but we follow each other on Pinterest as well, and I love seeing what new images and inspirational quotes she has for her audience. Jennifer (great name, by the way) is passionate about her writing, and I am so excited for the release of her first novel.

Quick! Give us the title and genre of your upcoming novel and a 30-word or less tagline. Free Runner — It’s an upper mid-grade contemporary/action/adventure novel with a heavy dose of mystery thriller. Fourteen-year-old Cam White is forced to exchange his SoCal life for London. He steps off the plane and into the pages of a crime novel. Only one kid can dodge bullets and bad guys and live to tell about it—the FREE RUNNER.

What lures you to write young adult novels? My name is Jennifer, and I am addicted to YA lit.

Me too, Jennifer.

How did you come up with the title of your novel? [Free running is] not only the fastest growing extreme sport in the world, but it’s the essence of the main character.

I’ve never heard of free running before. What is it about it that has captured your attention? I’ve been a runner for a LONG time, but it was my sixteen-year-old son who introduced me to free running. The art of defying gravity with the human body won me over. 

Cooking Through Fiction: Boone Crowe's Beef Stew

I learned how to ride a horse when I was young. I’m by no means an expert, but I feel okay about saddling up and taking a ride. I’ve ridden trails through the deserts in Arizona and across mountains (way too close to a ravine) in Montana. At the top of the mountain in Montana, my family and I settled in for a “cowboy dinner.”

While we ate steak and potatoes, I’m not sure how many of us actually felt like cowboys. I think we were just glad to be away from the “ravine of death” and probably thankful we could all stop praying that our horses didn’t plummet down into darkness (a.k.a. the ravine of death).