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A Peek at My Digital Painting Techniques
Nancy explains her tools, techniques and tricks. |
GOOD READS INTERVIEW Good Reads (GR): What’s the best thing about being a writer? Nancy Guild-Bendall (NGB): The best thing about writing is the intensity of feeling you get from the pursuit and from the connection you make with your readers. And I guess from an even loftier level, I see both my visual art and my word art as a legacy. Art is big, and it enlarges us, and I am striving to pursue what takes me beyond body now and my beyond my lifetime into the future. GR: Where did you get the idea for your most recent book? NGB: All my writing is driven by my visual art. My novel “Nethermost Regained” for instance was inspired by a painting I completed a few years ago that kept reappearing in my dreams. I envisioned a magical world, and with each dream more and more elements came to mind. Finally, in my need to explore this world further, I used the young girl from the painting as my narrator, and as someone who might have journeyed to this world. Who was she, how did she get there, who does she meet? what’s her back story? why did she go to this world? what was the conflict? I fleshed out just enough of the story to start the adventure then started writing at full pace, trusting that every day I would awaken with the next chapter in my head — and it was! Ironically my only problem was in slowing myself down, the ideas were gushing forth too quickly and I would awaken even in the dead of night with the urge to continue. The process was magical and charged with excitement. I would surprise even myself by what happened next. It was like I was reading the book and writing it at the same time. GR: How do you get inspired to write? NGB: My process is different from most authors I feel sure, especially with respect to the pairing of visual and word art. But the KEY to writing in my view is the same for all writers, that is, not doubting that the story is within you somewhere and that you can and should tell it — not suppressing yourself with feelings of inadequacy. GR: What are you currently working on? NGB: I’m currently creating small books of my paintings for publication in which I take a theme and pursue a paint technique that I wish to examine further and create 20 to 25 paintings within these parameters. Each piece also tells its own story so in a way I’m writing a series of short stories in paint form, all the while waiting for the larger story to come along. GR: What’s your advice for aspiring writers? NGB: My advice is the same as all writers — keep writing all the time, whether it’s a book, or a journal or a letter. Just playing with words and phrases is joyful. Try not to measure your success by the numbers of people who might read your books. Write the book you would want to read. My best memories are not about the numbers of books I’ve sold, but about touching feedback I’ve received from those individuals who truly love my books and who want me to know. After all, Jane Austen, possibly the best writer of all time, never knew great success in her own lifetime. GR: How do you deal with writer’s block? NGB: My secret weapon is my other art pursuits. Since I love painting as much as I love writing, I use one to inspire the other. |