Getting noticed in a unique
way
All artwork
created by Stephanie Golden
 By
Jennifer Palmberg
The Collegian
Getting started as an artist
can be very difficult, but one Fresno State alumna found a way to display
her work without having to rely on galleries to give her a chance.
Stephanie Golden had doodled all her life, but it wasn’t until 1999
that she started taking her art seriously. After taking a few art classes
on top of all her other classes, Golden decided it was time to start displaying
and selling her work. That’s when she began looking online at T-shirt
companies.
The first company to use her work was Cosmic Shirts, but more recently
she has been selling her art to cafepress.com.
“Art galleries don’t sell controversial pieces,” Golden
said. “With all of the stuff going on in the world and with my mother
sick and dying a lot of my recent work has come out weird and angry.”
Golden now gets her art pressed on to T-shirts, tanktops and handbags,
and copied on to pins and postcards. She does mostly paintings but she
doesn’t like to limit herself to just one art medium.
She has had one showing in New York at the Agora Gallery in 2003 and she
designed the cover of the Fresno State women’s studies’ department’s
“Voices Journal.”
She said she likes T-shirt art because “it’s fun and anybody
can do it.” She said selling art on T-shirts and handbags doesn’t
bring in a lot of money and she’s not in it for the income. It serves
as a way to get free advertising.
Golden admits she didn’t plan on being an artist. She got both her
bachelors degree in social work in 2002 and master’s degree in rehabilitation
counseling in 2005 from Fresno State. Golden was planning on going to
Washington to continue her education but her mom became ill and she decided
to stay and take care of her.
“I feel that if you’ve gone through pain or forced adversity,
art feels liberating,” she said. “It’s nice to show
[my mom] my pieces and I know she’s proud of what I’ve done.
It is comforting to know that my art is something no one can take away
from me.”
To view more of her work, visit http://www.cafepress.com/startleart3.
Comment
on this story in the Features forum >>
|
