CPC Interview with Carolyn Ferris by Michael Erlewine

[Michael Erlewine]

CPC Interview with Carolyn Ferris by Michael Erlewine

Michael Erlewine: When and how did you get interested in art in general, and posters in particular?

Carolyn Ferris: Jerry Pompili from the Fillmore spotted one of my paintings hanging at a Fairfax storefront business. He called me to ask to use it for a rock poster. Arlene, art director for the Fillmore, made it into a Prodigy poster for the Warfield. In 1997, six months after I replaced painting with computer art, Arlene hired me to create Fillmore posters.

Michael Erlewine: What kind of art influenced you?

Carolyn Ferris: Surrealism. Psychedelic Art.

Michael Erlewine: What concert-posters artists influenced you?

Carolyn Ferris: Lee Conklin, David Singer, Stanley Mouse.

Michael Erlewine: What was your first concert-music poster (date, venue, bands)?

Carolyn Ferris: Prodigy, 1997. The Warfield Theater.

Michael Erlewine: What are the main venues you have done posters for?

Carolyn Ferris: Warfield, Fillmore West, Maritime Hall.

Michael Erlewine: What are the main (and/or favorite) bands you have done posters for?

Carolyn Ferris: Santana is my favorite so far.

Michael Erlewine: Please describe the media and size/formats you have most used?

Carolyn Ferris: Computer Paintings. 19.25" x 13.25" and Giclee up to about 33 inches.

Michael Erlewine: What other poster artists have you collaborated with?

Carolyn Ferris: Gene Anthony.

Michael Erlewine: Who are your favorite current poster artists?

Carolyn Ferris: Lee Conklin, Stanley Mouse, David Singer.

Michael Erlewine: What are your favorite bands?

Carolyn Ferris: I still have to say I love Pink Floyd, just so relaxing. I also like the Grateful Dead, Rolling Stones, Annie Lennox, Diana Krall.

Michael Erlewine: Your comments on artistic philosophy, world views, anything:

Carolyn Ferris: Computer Art is the wave of the future. I really wanted to dive into it as soon as I saw the incredible art programs available within this electronic painting medium. It is an unknown field for the mainstream art buyers and critics. Simply because most do not yet grasp the possibilities and power of the medium. Eventually they will. We've only just begun to see the tip of the computer art iceburg. One day, I feel images the mainstream buys will be in computer-aided 3-D form, shining a virtual image in the center of our living rooms with vivid colors we can't yet imagine. We'll be able to walk around the art as well as through it. Perhaps be able to manipulate the image, such as change the sky from sunny to cloudy to match our mood.

Michael Erlewine: Please list any poster shows of your work (dates and place):

upcoming?

Carolyn Ferris: The Rock Poster Society, Ledson Winery. California. July, 2004, www.trps.org

Michael Erlewine: Add events, experiences, views -- anything that we can use to build a biography:

Carolyn Ferris: The first book I illustrated was Timothy Leary's Chaos and Cyberculture. When I first met Tim, I created photo-realistic paintings and drawings for his book, and over a couple years thereafter I created portraits, and he worked on the backgrounds of the canvases with collage and paint. He talked me into investing into a computer where I found 3-D programs and my artwork style morphed into surrealism which really does fit well with a Rock Poster Art venue.