Check out Cindy Schnackel’s Artwork

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cindy Schnackel.

Cindy, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
Many artists have a similar story of creating since childhood, and in that regard, I’m not unique. What makes me or any artist unique is how our life experiences take that passion and turn it into countless different directions, so even the same influences come out very differently depending on who’s doing the artwork. I grew up in a very small rural area without art galleries or museums, so early influences were probably advertising illustrations, cartoons, MAD Magazine, the occasional reprint of old masters’ works in people’s homes, and my own imagination. I drew and shaped clay as long as I can remember, but didn’t start painting until I was in my late teens. My family moved to Arizona when I was a teenager, and eventually, that led to going to Arizona State University for an art degree. I learned more about painting techniques and really loved the medium. For years, my day jobs were painting theater sets, trade show displays and the occasional set for TV or film, costume and prop making, and faux finishes for the interior design trade. During time spent away from Arizona, I plunged into consumer advocacy and even got a paralegal certificate. I realized that something about that sort of work prevented me from getting back into my head and making art. I left it behind and returned to art and Arizona. It was then that I really made the effort to learn how to treat my art as a business, and started showing and selling my personal art. The productivity that came from committing to doing art full time has made me grow a lot as an artist.

We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
There is usually no single, correct meaning that viewers have to “get.” I don’t plan most of my work, it comes from a subconscious part of the mind, and even I don’t always know what it means. Absurdity is entertaining, and it keeps on entertaining when new possible meanings emerge later. Acrylics and drawing media, as well as air dry clays, work well for this style of working because they’re pretty immediate and they don’t slow down the process of getting hard to grasp thoughts made into a tangible form. Where the ideas come from is hard to pinpoint because no doubt real-life events play a part, but the result is not usually realistic. Emotions and situations are depicted by birds and made up creatures rather than human beings and current events that may have sparked it. I hope that people see their own meanings and that it personalizes it for them.

Do current events, local or global, affect your work and what you are focused on?
Artists seem to be doing more political art! Especially since the 2016 election. I’ve never seen so much art related to current events as I have in the last two years. There are whole online groups dedicated to it, and I don’t recall that being the case before, at least not to this extent. Politics had only occasionally entered my work before that. Since then, I’ve participated in the Nasty Women art shows, and am working on a large piece now that is based on the turmoil of the current administration, but I can’t ever seem to finish it, because everything keeps changing. Many artists I know are now very politically involved and informed, even if they weren’t before.

Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
I currently have a few pieces at the Icehouse, at 4th Ave and Jackson in Phoenix, for a little while longer, and also some miniature pieces at {9} The Gallery, on the Grand Avenue art walk area in Phoenix. I’m part of a women’s painting group that has a show penciled in at the Grand Arthaus also in that area, for sometime in 2019. I have a blog on WordPress and a public Facebook page and sell privately as well as in shows.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://cindyschnackel.wordpress.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CindySchnackel

Image Credit:
Cindy Schnackel

Getting in touch: VoyagePhoenix is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.