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Instagram: @chloewelch.art 1. What's your story? Where are you from?Hi there I’m Chloe! I’ve always been creative and have expressed that in many ways through my life—from starting gum wrapper sculpture competitions in elementary school to learning to sew and alter clothes as a teenager. I studied art education in college and loved the range of mediums I got to work in from printmaking to ceramics to oil painting. I love the classroom setting and being surrounded by amazing creative students- I adore them and the incredible things they make! I believe there are so many life lessons you can learn through the creative process such as patience, resilience, seeing the world through someone else’s eyes. Teaching in itself is a creative challenge for me and I love developing open ended prompts and lessons that introduce new mediums for my students. I grew up in Gilbert AZ and am currently living in Denver CO as my husband attends dental school. Last month I had a baby girl and am currently working as a full time milk producer and diaper changer. She is hands down the best thing I’ve ever made. I can’t wait to make art with her and be an example of a mother who is a working creative. 
2. Tell us about your aesthetic.I gravitate towards bright colors and graphic shapes. I’m always drawing girls, animals, or patterns. My work is lighthearted, colorful, and hopefully makes people smile. 3. What is your favourite medium and why?What a hard question! My top 3 I gravitate towards are ceramics, painting in gouache, and digital drawing, but I love to make art with anything that is available to me. I use an iPad and the procreate app to make the bulk of what I do. I love that it’s quick- no setup required but I still have unlimited colors and brushes to work with. And having an undo button is amazing! It’s been great to pull out my iPad quickly as I balance making art as a new mom. 4. What is your artistic process like?It’s a two part process of creating and critiquing. I like to work quick- I only spend an hour or maybe two on the creation of each piece. I think that my artistic intuition is clearest that way and I avoid being paralysed by critiquing and analyzing my work when I just make without thinking much. I either dive right into a drawing, or do a minute or so of sketching first, and then whip something out. Once it’s done I just stare at it for a long time, change colors here and there, make tweaks, ask opinions. After that I usually set it aside and give it one last look the following day with fresh eyes. 5. Who and/or what inspires your work?Women I see out and about, vintage vogue covers, patterns, the store Anthropologie, animals, going on walks in nature, Henri Matisse, and bright colors in advertisements. 6. What role does art play in your life? How does it change the way you view the world?My life sort of runs on a constant cycle of input and output. Input is getting inspiration from the places I listed above, output is my way of processing it all and making something of my own. I think as artists we constantly see the world and all the things in it as a springboard for inspiration. 
7. Where did you study?I got my BA in art education from Brigham Young University and will be forever influenced by my professors there. 8. Where do you see yourself in five years?I want to keep making art every day. I want to paint a mural, illustrate a children's book, pattern design a fabric collection, be able to afford enough paint to not freak out about wasting some :) 9. What about in ten?Same as above, also to keep supporting my daughter in becoming whoever it is she wants to be. 10. What do you hope to achieve with your art?I think I feel the need to create bright and happy images to put out into the world to counterbalance the negative I see going on. There is so much darkness and sadness out there and I want to do my part to lift others spirits. When I intake things that make me sad I need to restore the harmony within myself and create something happy. So I hope to achieve a general balance/harmony through making art, as cheesy as that sounds. 
11. Now, tell us a little more about you as a person: what is your favourite food?Um.. yes. I love pretty much all food and love to try new things! If I had to choose one category I think it would be cheese. An unofficial life goal of mine is to try every type of cheese. 12. Favourite book?Jane Eyre 13. Favourite genre of music?Anything indie, I mean I’m an art kid after all :) Andrew Bird, Bon Iver, old Coldplay, Fleet Foxes has a great new album. 14. What are your hobbies?Thrifting, hiking, exercise, cooking. 15. If you weren't an artist, what would you be?Another type of teacher- I really love teaching and being around students. 
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