Marshall Borland
Can you tell us a bit about your company OFTHENIGHT? How did that get started?
I started OFTHENIGHT to create clothing that I myself would want to wear. I work to create clothing that I personally find hard to come by around NL. Clothing companies that I like the most usually exist in places like the states, or the UK, and I find shipping costs and exchange rates too high to be practical.
Do you find any challenges in balancing between your work for school and managing your business? How are they connected?
I find it very difficult balancing my business and my school work. Mostly because I always want to be in the studio printing. I have found ways to integrate my products into my school projects and that has helped with time management a lot. I’ve always sort of had the same graphic drawing style that I use now in my product designs. Even looking back at my first semester in first year of the VA program, some projects were almost foreshadowing the brand that I would eventually create.
How do you get ideas for your artwork? Tell us a little about your art practice.
Basically, I just take notes of imagery and cliches that come to mind, and I write them down immediately so I don’t forget them. They’re all just ideas though, not all of them make it to being printed. I tend to be most interested in imagery that’s fairly dark, but also very playful.
What is the greatest challenge you face as an artist working in Newfoundland and Labrador?
Two things mainly, I find it very hard to expand my work out to different places other than NL. Even though I’ve just started, it seems to be growing slower than if I were somewhere else in western Canada. The other hardest thing is finding the right supplies for products I’m making. Specialized art supplies are very hard to find anywhere other than online.
Do you have any plans for the future after school?
Not really. I like to plan things as I go along. I imagine that I will continue to make things and purchase some more screen printing supplies of my own. But as for expanding, I’m not really sure. I guess I’ll have to see where it takes me.
Want to check out Marshal’s OFTHENIGHT products? Have a look at his Instagram page: @ofthenightofficial
Kristen Thornhill
BIO:
Kristen Thornhill is a student in her final year at MUN’s Grenfell Campus, focusing mainly in the areas of painting and photography. Kristen grew up in the small town of Winterland, and currently resides in Corner Brook. She has exhibited locally as well as in British Colombia and Harlow, England, during her three month study program there.
Though she often does commission work, her personal art tends to borrow from an interest in film and pop culture. Faces and food are her most common subjects. Her work can be found online at www.kristenthornhill.wix.com/artwork , or on Facebook as Kristen Thornhill Artwork.
1. Where did you first realize you were interested in art?
I’ve been drawing since before I can remember. It didn’t develop into anything serious until maybe junior high or high school, but it was always there.
2. What mediums are you drawn to and why?
Paint is my main thing, acrylic and oil. I think it’s the texture, kind of goopy and gross. I also really like ink. I want to get into tattooing, actually; I used to be into special effects makeup and body art but my skin can’t handle the products anymore. And there’s something I like about the permanence of tattoos, like it represents one specific moment in your life, even if the tattoo is just something you thought looked cool. Also a big fan of film photography for the same reason, it makes me be a lot more careful and thoughtful than digital.
3. How do you get ideas for your artwork?
I’m influenced by really mundane things. I paint things I see often. I don’t really consider myself to be that creative, I just recreate things that are already there, or stitch them together in a way that I think is cool.
4. What type of artists do you find influential and why?
I’m a huge fan of horror. Charles Burns’ “Black Hole” seriously changed my life. At the same time, I love art history. The Pre-Raphaelite’s, Watteau, Bosch… I like things that can be interpreted a bit darker I guess. Maybe those things aren’t always meant to be seen that way, but oh well.
5. What are the “big” themes you are drawn to in artwork?
Insecurities are something I deal with a lot, but I’m not in a way that’s obvious to the viewer. I just work through my own problems through the stuff I paint. To anyone else, it just looks like a self portrait or an ice cream sundae or whatever but it’s usually more personal than that. That said, I don’t think everything needs to be complicated and deep all the time. I also just paint stuff because I want to.
6. What do you think is the greatest challenge an artist working in Nfld & Lab faces?
We have a great arts community here, but there’s a bit of a pressure to either fit in as a contemporary artist or a traditional artist. There are limitations around both, I find. There also isn’t much appreciation for photography here outside of landscapes and portraiture, at least not that I’ve found.
7. What do you think is the best thing about working as an artist in this province?
There’s so much support here, not just from other artists but from the province as a whole. Not to mention inspiring. This place is beautiful and full of interesting people.
8. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
A high school art and English teacher (after my BFA I plan to get a teaching degree), also a tattoo artist, with like seven Boston Terriers, spending 75% of my time in the back of a bright orange camper van.
9. If you werenʼt an artist, what sort of art-related things would you be interested getting involved in?
If I weren’t an artist I actually have no idea what I’d do. Everything I do is related to art in some way. Maybe I’d make movies or something. That’s still art though. Maybe a critic or something. I’d be a horrible critic though, I love everything.
10. If you could have one wish granted, what would it be?
I’d like to have the ability to freeze time. But realistically, I just want someone to take me on as a tattoo apprentice next year.