Summer 2026 Artist Mini-Interviews
To give artists a chance to talk more about their process and craft, or just to give us a little more insight into their piece, we provided them with a list of questions from which they could pick one to answer. We hope you enjoy this peek behind the curtain!
Robin Young
“The Last Voyage of the Pickinic Basket”
Q: How did this piece begin? What was its seed idea?
A: My collages always start with me not knowing exactly where I am going at all, until I pick the first part of an image or texture. I saw the shadows and detail of the sail on a boat in a magazine, cut it out, and scanned another magazine for what to do next. I saw some black-and-white water bubbles and ripped them out of another page. I found curtains with a cool sort of green design, so I grabbed those.
I decided I could use the textured curtain for the boat under the sail and then put just a bit of water at the bottom. At this point, the design did not feel finished—it needed some movement—so the fish was next. Keeping the shadow around it when I cut it out helped to make him look like he was jumping in the waves. Cropping was the last part of the process, and the title for this one was my husband's idea.
Anita Dime
“Crows”
Q: What is your favorite part of this piece?
A: Surprise in finding I subconsciously may have had more to say about my personal political search for moderation and taking a stand.
I’d started with the idea of making a murder of 20 crows, a chosen family, team, each with the same stenciled form but varying “environment” in color and shapes, each within a 5x7-inch frame to be hung as a collection on a coffee shop wall somewhere.
In stepping back on this one, the primary colors began to take on symbolic meaning for me and the single tiny shadow of a single crow that has joined others, like a Transformer Combiner, into a bigger crow, collectively they all stand together. With hope that Blue and Red will together, finding moderation, move forward, leave Yellow behind.
Susan L. Pollet
“Three Cups”
Q: How did this piece begin? What was its seed idea?
A: I was thinking about things in threes and painted these three cups. Here is what I thought about:
Ruminations On The Number Three
Is three really a crowd, the
dynamic perilous
Is having three children an
issue for the middle child,
feeling bereft of attention
Bad things in superstitions,
beginning with ancient folklore,
are said to come in threes
And yet—there were
three graces in
Greek mythology who
radiated joy and creativity
coming from unity
There were three wise men
and the Holy Trinity in
Christianity
We have heard the expression
that the third time is a charm
Creating a composition
with three objects is often
visually pleasing
Maybe it is all a matter of
luck whether three is a
number to be feared or elevated
Ann Petroliunas
Q: What do you do when you’re stuck or have a creative block?
A: This question makes me smile because I think of myself as a writer first, so my answer is making art. Particularly collage. The pieces you see here in Peatsmoke were born from either actively avoiding or getting stuck on in-progress creative non-fiction essays. Most of the time my stuckness comes from overthinking and judging my own writing and ideas. Collage helps me get out of my head and play around creatively. I think play is the key word here. Sometimes I give myself a prompt or constraint—like set a timer for 25 minutes and make a blue collage. Sometimes I play around with a new technique like tape transfer where I can’t possibly be too precious about the piece because I am doing something I’ve never done before. Making art for the sake of play reminds me that it is supposed to feel good and so sometimes I can direct that back into my writing and enjoy the process without judging myself on the product that doesn’t even exist yet.
Matthew Fertel
“The End of Innocence”
Q: How did this piece begin? What was its seed idea?"
A: "The End of Innocence" is part of an ongoing series I have spent the last year and a half developing. The project captures the wear and tear on a shipping container currently serving as the back wall of a temporary welding facility at Sierra College. Visiting the site multiple times a week, I photograph the same views over and over as they evolve over time. My goal is to explore how the changing light, seasons, and weather—intertwined with the daily activity of the welding students—alter the colors and mood of a fixed space. It is, in essence, an industrial homage to Monet.
Cal LaFountain
Q: What do you feel is the hardest part or best part about creating art?
A: The best and hardest part about creating is the inherent instability of the path. To approach each day in perpetual and voluntary risk, knowing there's a likely outcome where none of this adds up to any tangible success. It's the hardest part, but it makes it the best part. Acting in faith while understanding there are infinite potential realities you sever by pursuing this one. Accepting it may all amount to a pile of spent years with no external milestone markers of achievement. Bearing that downside full on, no blinders. It's the only way.