Signed in as:
filler@godaddy.com
Signed in as:
filler@godaddy.com
I am mostly self-taught, like the kid I was who loved to color and draw but had little to no exposure to art in my rural public school. Heading to college, I was encouraged to major in something more practical than art, so I was excited to be accepted into North Carolina State's School of Design. Here the challenging design curriculum also included studies in the fine arts and I was quick to absorb lots of new ideas and influences. The skills I acquired in college and throughout my design career, I believe are interchangeable with those required in art — forming a concept, finding balance in color, light and composition — creating an aesthetic solution that communicates to its viewer.
As a professional graphic designer for more than 25 years, I had jobs in Durham, Michigan and Boston — including 17 years in Raleigh with my own business, Hughes Design. I designed logos, packaging and marketing materials for a variety of clients. But during this time and throughout my life, I always had the desire to simply create art — and in particular I wanted to do it through painting — with oils. I began taking local workshops and began painting a lot on my own. This exposure and practice helped prepare me for a new life-course and in 2007 I closed my design business and became a full-time artist. Realizing the dream from when I was a child with Crayola crayons, notebook paper and vinyl records, I now spend many happy hours in my studio, feeling blessed —streaming music and creating art with oil paints, brushes and canvases.
Learning, experimenting, evolving — to me that's what it means to be an artist.