Meet Suzanne Falk of SuzanneMeowMeowFalk in East Valley

Today we’d like to introduce you to Suzanne Falk.

Suzanne, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Aside from a very short-lived period when I was nine and wanted to be a veterinarian I had just decided I was going to be an artist, it’s just felt natural partly because I grew up in an art supply store and watching both my parents and brother draw and partly out of a necessity to maintain a reasonably quiet and creative life and still try and make living. There was a bit of a generational gap growing up within my household so my early influences were a bit before my time Charles Addams might be a cliche early influence these days but back then he was subversive and dark his drawings and characters drew me in long before I could even understand or read them. My mom has been a professional artist as long as I can remember and my dad ran an art supply store in Scottsdale called Studio B for over 35 years. My mother also taught oil painting and for a long time, her easel was in the family room. She would often paint there after dinner while we watched tv and dad would be sketching in his notebooks. So art just is a part of everything.

I got where I am today by being stubborn and unwillingness to be a very good employee. My last day job was at Shemer art center doing graphic design. I was painting watercolors at the time and had begun showing at Art One and was having some positive feedback and sales. I was recently divorced at 29 and had begun to travel to New Mexico and had gotten another view at how other artists were not only doing what they loved but had additional career-related views I felt weren’t out of my reach. I was just young enough and brave enough I quit my job on a dime when a superior decided to tell me that I should stop wasting my time on art and get more serious about computers while also suggesting I should take a long look at my appearance and dress more professionally. Boom decision made thanks Gerry Fishman for being a total b. Really. I’m not going to say it’s good advice these days to quit your job and wander off to New Mexico but I don’t regret it.

But really it’s a lot of hard work and you don’t really get days off it can be utterly depressing and traps await like comparing oneself to others or getting caught up in worth and value and sometimes being too precious or not precious enough, I got here being the rollercoaster and the conductor it can make me totally nauseated but in the end I am the one in control. Ultimately I’m where I am now because it’s exactly where I want to be and I love the time I spend creating so very much.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Gosh, I guess I already gave you a little insight into this in my first question but my current struggle is not letting things like social media and things that are out of my control sap my energy and love for creating. Financially it can be tough sometimes it’s not and that is nice. My dad used to always say as an artist you’re unemployed until your next sale and immediately after. Then he’d probably tell me not to get to precious and go hustle. He had a way with words.

Please tell us about your art.
I’m not married to one particular genre as far as my art is concerned but I would have to say first and foremost I’m a contemporary artist and illustrator. I use oils, watercolors and more recently I’ve started focusing on computer illustration after a long hiatus. My oil and watercolor paintings fall into two categories Contemporary Realism and Illustration. I’m just doing my best sharing what I feel and if it delivers a message someone needing to hear I’m good. I’d like to keep doing that.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I don’t know about that but one of the coolest things was getting to meet Kenny Scharf in New York and see his studio and watch him painting. I don’t know of any other career off the top of my head where that would happen organically.

Now that I think of it that is my favorite part of the proudest achievement if you call it that is the people I have met over the years be it other creatives or the wonderful people who collect and appreciate art.

Contact Info:

• Website: Suzannefalk.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suzannemeowmeowfalk/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/suzanne.meow.meow.falk
• Other: https://www.patreon.com/suzanne_meow_meow_falk

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