Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Grace Bishop. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Grace , appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
I think the most repeated answer to this question lies in the childhood of most artists–and I am no different. When I was little, I would spend most of my time writing stories and drawing characters. As I continued to develop my characters’ designs, so did I develop their stories. I began to draw my own comics, utilizing pencils and pens in sketchbooks. Soon, my interest developed from little characters into copying animals, flowers, and people, trying to make it look the most realistic. As I continued drawing, I began to take art classes inside and outside of high school. My work continued to strengthen and I began to delve into more conceptual artwork. My pieces started to investigate human psychology and confronting the viewer of each piece. I was anxious to apply to undergraduate Art schools as a senior in high school. At this point, it was 2020 and the Covid 19 virus has just began. Uncertainty was at the forefront of my every emotion and the thought of going into a stereotypically uncertain degree/career path caused a lot of turmoil for me at the time. My parents have always supported my consistent interest in producing art even as a kid but we did have to have one monumental conversation that led to my unwavering decision: I would make Art my Plan A. Without a safety net, all I could do was come at a career in Art with everything I had. No matter what, I wanted to make this my life.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Grace Bishop and I am a southern-based painter that works in oil paint and charcoal drawings. My work has always centered around the figure and portraiture. The pieces I make consistently address the ideas of human nostalgia and memory. As both a painter and a draftsman, I make work that expresses the complicated feelings of nostalgia. By way of entangled figures and overlapping portraits, I strive to capture the familiar human experience of the past and the present’s coexistence. I often pull from an array of residual memories from my own or other people’s childhoods, capturing moments that have a familiar resonance with my own experiences. My interest is crafting an experiential intensity, conveying the collective connection to the past and the tension that revolves around how they are accessed in contemporary times, either through the cerebral or the photograph. I offer oil paintings, drawings, and prints of my creative works. I have recently earned my BFA degree in Drawing and Painting with a minor in Art History at the University of Georgia. While completing my undergraduate studies, I met my now mentor and past professor, Joseph Norman. Norman is a renowned American artist who has artwork all over the country and in famous art collections such as the National Gallery. Alongside this, Norman created a mural business aimed at educating young student artists on how to paint murals. Thus after three years of working on the team, I am currently the assistant project manager for “Color the World Bright”, Norman’s mural painting business. Working as a mural painter has shown me not only how to deal with the business of art but give businesses and community members a beautified new attraction. The murals we do range from old sign restorations, business sign murals, city welcoming signs, and everything in between. One problem that we seem to run into a lot is the one of the client’s imagined design. Sometimes clients can’t seem to visualize exactly what they’d like and that is why we provide several sessions of designing with the clients’ consistent feedback. We make sure that we get the design that each client loves, no matter what. Alongside this, I work as one of the Exhibition curators at the Athens Institute of Contemporary Art (ATHICA). My artistic endeavors continue to sharpen the tools in my tool box to complete any kind of mural, private pieces, exhibition project, public art piece…etc. I am the most proud of the diversity of work that I have been apart of. The mural business has shown me the commercial aspects of large scale art projects and they have remained such a physical reminder of Art’s practical impact on commerce and society. I see our murals as I travel across Georgia and it has made me incredibly proud. My personal artwork remains to be a true reflection of my soul and my interests as an artist.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
I think that the one critical aspect of being a creative that most non-creatives realize is the fact that it is a way of living rather than a detachable job title. It is truly a way of living, experiencing, and producing a reflection of the human experience and of modern society. I want to live my life consistently enthralled in the community of art, no matter the price tag.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
I think the cultivation of artistic communities should be at the top of the list. Like the music industry, the art world provides the culture and the creative stimulus that everyone needs and enjoys. The funding for public art works and overall art funding would truly enhance the standard of living for everyone in society.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ogracebishopart.com/
- Instagram: ogracebishopstudio
