One of the great things of having a network where all artists come together is that you can spot upcoming artists that have a lot of potential. In FresnoArts.net , we are honored to have Erica Rodriguez (21) and Mayaprimavera Flores (Antigone Poe, 27), two budding artists showing remarkable talent and passion for artistic creativity.

Please tell us something about yourself.

Erica: I'm a senior art major at Fresno State, with an emphasis in drawing and painting. I love to look at some of the contemporary artworks in art history books and through the internet. Aside from my artsy side, I love to listen and discover new music. I'm kind of a Pandora freak because some of the stuff I'm into is not usually played in the stations in your typical car radio.

Maya: I'm a Fresno City College graduate with my AA in English and I'm transferring to CSU Fresno for next Spring semester, 2011. I'm of mixed descent, Mexican, American, and East Indian, and I grew up in Fresno.

I took a year and a half of drawing at FCC and I won a first place art award in the Fresno City College literary magazine, The Ram's Tale in 2006 for a charcoal piece, Dented Aluminum Jug. I also had a poem published in the October 2008 edition of the Fresno Undercurrent (with the alias Versell Louzat).

What do you do on your spare time?

Erica: I like to spend a lot of my time in the studio. When I'm not there, I like to sketch things in my sketchbook, whether it's a still life of what's in front of me or what I'm thinking at that moment.

My sketchbook is basically there to record anything that's in my mind--random moments of happiness, lyrics to favorite songs or observing my surroundings. It's nice to have a private place to put my thoughts into it.

Maya: I love to be creative, be it through writing, drawing, painting, photography, creating noisy experimental electronic music or crafting poetry. I also love to read, my favorite books at the moment are Basquiat, Banksy's Wall and Piece, and The Selected Poems of Anna Akhmatova. I love to discuss cinema, art, poetry, and writing in general with friends.

What is your chosen media for painting?

Erica: I've come to like working with oils the best. Acrylics dry too fast, even with a slow-drying medium.

Maya: At the moment it's poster paint (tempera) and small amounts of acrylic.

Erica: In what way can you say that your art is influenced by your family history and Nicaraguan roots?

Family is really tight in Nicaragua--we're really close but also very distant because of the obvious distance between here and Nicaragua. When I see old photographs of my families (both immediate and extended), I'm always curious about the past.

Lately, some significant changes [are] happening in my life and my family. I've been paying close attention to things like health issues and how it can affect me, my cousins and future generations to come. And that has influenced my exploring of subject matter.

As budding artists, how do you get yourself known in the industry?

Erica: Like any artists trying to show their works, I've dealt with a lot of rejections. I know that it sucks to have works not getting accepted to certain shows, but then again not everyone is going to like the work that I do. I just try to remain optimistic and seek out other places that are willing to take in works from up-and-coming artists, or places that appreciate my style of painting and subject matter.

Maya: For me it's an innate drive to produce, to communicate, to share and to bond that gives me momentum. Also, I like to ask myself, “would I regret not trying this if I were on my deathbed tomorrow?”

Who is your favorite artist and why?

Erica: One of the artists I'm currently referencing for some of the works I've done is a Belgian contemporary painter named Michael Borremans. I like how he places his figures in odd situations and environments in which some ways, are visual references to how I render figures in my own works.

Maya: Jean-Michel Basquiat. His color choice, his drawing method, his commentary, his play of words, and his technique of making layers of paint overlap make his art stand out, almost in a 3-D, IMAX experience kind of way. Even though he reached fame status, I think we still have yet to discover the extent of his contribution to art history

Maya, I find your blog post Poster Painting My Life Away quite touching. How do you create your works of art when faced with lack of appropriate media?

Thank you for reading! Let's just say I have a tall, broken mirror with the back paneling covered in poster paint, plain old computer printer paper with drawings done in a #2 pencil, and a “series” of 3 by 5 note-cards with the blank side done up in crayola pastels, charcoal, and black ink pens.

Anything is a surface. Hopefully, the art itself transcends its modest canvas so that a desk, a chair, a paper bag from Foods Co. can all be used with the same intensity as one would use with a thirteen dollar canvas and a hundred bucks worth of oils.

My mother is tired of telling me to stop eying the chairs. “But wouldn't they look cute in gold and blue?” “I'm still upset over 'Little Wooden Chair with Baby Blue Streaks,” she told me.

What is your goal as an artist?

Erica: I hope I can be able to grow as far as communicating with other people is concerned. I'm a very shy and reserved person and sometimes, it's hard for me to come out of my shell and communicate. I feel I communicate better visually through my drawings and paintings.

And I hope to keep experimenting with different media and techniques because who knows - something accidental can really be a benefit to how I would want to express my ideas through my works.

Maya: To push what society thinks is “aesthetics” in terms of beauty, precision of line, color harmony, and modernism. Also, to startle the optics of the viewer.

Both of you are new artists in your own right. Do you conform to standards of traditional arts, or do you prefer to go against convention and do your own style?

Erica: I can't really say precisely where I fit into either of these, but I like to think that my body of work balances with both elements of art. While I focus on figures, I like to experiment with the paint with different textures and techniques to how I render these figures and their environments. Lately my works have been rendered in a way that viewers can be able to question why these figures are painted in such a way that they are altered or why they are in a particularly odd space. I think by experimenting with how the paint moves, it could give the painting a lot more content.

Maya: I am still testing the waters. Sometimes in art class I would come in and the teachers would really knead me into a more academic mold.

“This is beautiful, but it's not the assignment,” was a phrase I heard repeatedly. On the other hand, in poetry class, my professor told me to push deeper into my writing, to really go out there, not just to horse around with alliteration and assonance. So I'm still looking for a life philosophy and for my artistic roots.

Do you have a message you wish to share to all aspiring artists out there?

Erica: Keep experimenting. I know it's kind of a generic thing to say, but sometimes experimenting with the resources you have can create something unusual or interesting. As far as showing your works is concerned, keep an eye out for galleries that are calling for artists. Juried or not, it's nice to get your hard work noticed. But more than anything, take a look at some of the artworks that are out right now in the art scene whether it's local or in a major museum. If you see something you like, look up some of the artists and their works to see if you can take some of that influence into your works.

Maya: When that Creation Moment happens in your head scribble it down ASAP. You can rework it later into a finished product. The first step is to get the vision from the mind to the page, from imagination to reality. Also, never be afraid to learn or unlearn at will.

Communicate and get to know more about these two artists by visiting Erica’s and Maya’s profile in FresnoArts.net. One of Erica’s paintings has been selected for a group exhibit wom•an•ful•ly , which will be held at Arts Visalia. Exhibit will be from March 2-25, 2011, with Reception on Friday, March 4, 2011 at 6-8pm.

Maya’s not yet having any exhibit at the moment; but if you’re looking for fresh and upcoming artists, you can check out her works over at FresnoArts.net. Maya’s having ideas on creating her own website, so look out for her in the future.

Donna Paulino covers most of the topic for the Fresno Interactive Network, including interviews, profiles, and articles that inspire our readers about our local community. She is the social media manager and web producer for Socient, a Fresno web marketing agency that helps non-profit and community benefit organizations thrive with social media marketing, search engine optimization, and web design.

Follow her on Twitter:  @donnapaulino

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