Tim O’Shea: When and why did Chic-Evolution In Art begin?

Michelle Bishop Turkington: The idea started about four years ago when the founder, Ivan Pitoni, fell in love with the work of the artist Chi-Om. It was a chance meeting when Chi-Om, a Brazilian contemporary painter, was visiting her daughter in California. They began plans to introduce Chi-Om’s work to the American audience. Soon after, he discovered Amanda Brisbane, a glass sculptor from England, and began efforts to bring her international glass art to the United States. With Ivan’s unique marketing prowess, and some internet sales and marketing experience, he decided to break with the traditional gallery venue, and to offer more affordable fine art with higher personal service. The art comes to you. If you need a fine piece of art, you don’t have to hit the streets, going gallery to gallery, with impersonal service, to find just the right piece. You have a team of experts to help in your selections. So far, it has been very well accepted by designers, architects, and the art community. Along with the web site, which clearly displays the art in high quality images, Chic-art has regional sales offices in California, Denver, Memphis, Miami, and now the newest one in Atlanta for added personal service.

O’Shea: What was it about Chi-Om’s and Amanda Brisbane’s work that made them ideal for Chic-Evolution In Art?

Turkington: We sell only what we’d have in our own home. Amanda’s glass sculptures are so unique and a perfect compliment to the contemporary paintings of Chi-Om. Chic-Evolution in Art is the essence of the art. Elegant, beautiful, and chic. These artists are truly special because the can do small or large scale projects, by producing unique art in style groups, which fits well with large architectural projects, where an upscale yet unified look is desired. We started with two only artists on the web site. Today, we’ve grown and represent many artists. Chic-Evolution in Art is always open to new talents that are compatible with our style and philosophy. It’s a great way for an artist to gain visibility.

O’Shea: Given that you (Turkington) are based out of Atlanta and the artists are abroad, how challenging is it to import the art to your domestic clients?

Turkington: Ivan is of Brazilian and Italian descent and frequently makes international buying trips. His background in professional sports (Brazilian Volleyball Champion) has given him a lot of international travel experience. His knowledge and familiarity with multiple cultures allows him to discover unknown artists in remote places. At times, he has commissioned the artist to paint here in the United States for special projects. Chic-Evolution in Art has systems in place to deal with what can be complicated international customs procedures. Extra care is given to crating and packing the work, so it is not damaged in shipment.

O’Shea: Are your clients typically U.S.-based, or do you have clients worldwide?

Turkington: Our clients are primarily in the United States but Ivan also deals with clients in South America (he’s tri-lingual). Using the internet, our reach is worldwide but our primary focus is here in the United States. Our most famous client here in the states is Nicholas Cage.

O’Shea: When a client comes to you seeking advice, what criteria is involved–do they come to you seeking a certain piece, or do you help assess the home or office (or other location) to see what kind of piece might best be featured in that environ?

Turkington: It’s a cooperative effort. Most often we recommend a piece or style for a project. This can be a trial and error process where the right fit evolves. We do custom pieces, so we can look at the design concept and come up with recommendation and prototypes. We also function as a cyber gallery, where designers can shop for their own projects.

O’Shea: What kind of training or experience does it take to be in a business like Chic-Evolution In Art?

Turkington: We love what we do and the art sells itself. You need to have an appreciation of art and design, a good attitude, knowledge about the industry, and an outgoing personality. Ivan Pitoni has an international marketing and design background.

O’Shea: What do you think makes Chic-Evolution in Art unique in the industry?

Turkington: The most unique aspect of the company, besides the original art, is the cyber nature of the company. The online gallery, which can be viewed at www. chic-art.net, breaks with tradition and allows access to fine art with out the tremendous overhead expense of operating a large gallery. Also, Chic-Evolution in Art has the ability to present art in a non-traditional manner, without a gallery which can be intimidating. You can view the art in your own home or business. We offer much higher personal service. Anyone wanting to contact the Atlanta office, can email info@chic-art.net. We look forward to the opportunity to grow in our newest Atlanta market.

Tim O’Shea: At present, the main classes are Introduction to Comics Writing, Introduction to Comic Book Art, as well as advance versions of both classes. Based on response and interest, are there any other classes you might consider offering down the road?

Andy Schmidt: Oh, definitely, I’ve been talking about doing an inking class and a coloring class and even more recently a Manga class. The response to what I’m offering has been incredibly positive from students and creators alike. So, I’m hoping to grow this out a bit.

My hurdles with inking and coloring are more logistical than anything else. That and finding the right person to teach them who is both at the top of their craft and a great teacher, but I’ve got my eye on a a couple of talented people.

O’Shea: While I know there’s currently a round of classes already under way, can you give me a timeframe for when the next round of classes will be held?

Schmidt: We’re starting up the Introduction to Art and Introduction to Writing for Comics courses in the beginning of May–mark your calendars!

O’Shea: What’s your cutoff in terms of class size?

Schmidt: It’s different for each class. The writing course I can take a few more people than the art course, but I do keep them both pretty small, just to make sure each student is getting his or her money’s worth.

O’Shea: Who have you been able to garner as class lecturers in the immediate term?

Schmidt: Peter David and Walter Simonson just spoke. Marvel X-MEN editor Nick Lowe is coming in this week, I’ve got Klaus Janson, Sean Chen, and Fabian Nicieza lined up for a couple weeks from now and finally Dan Slott, Jae Lee, and Chris Sotomayor (Color Artist) are all lined up for the Advanced courses. They’re all a great bunch of guys and have been tremendous so far.

O’Shea: In terms of enrolling for the class, do interested students have to submit writing or art samples before applying?

Schmidt: Not at all. The Introduction classes are exactly that. They’re for anyone who is interested in comics. Not everyone who wants to take the class wants to make comics for a living, that’s part of the reason that I broke the courses into Intro and Advanced. Not everyone’s going to want to take the advanced class.

So, really, the Intro classes are designed for people with little or no experience all the way up to people who are currently working in the industry. I’ve had all kinds of creators and fans come into the class, and everyone seems to get their money’s worth.

O’Shea: I was curious if there are any examples (without using names or characters) of personal consulting jobs you’ve been able to do.

Schmidt: I just recently started the personal consulting, so that ball is just getting rolling. Right now, I’m helping a few independent creators figure out how to better market their characters and books and I’m helping a few younger artists and pencilers get out their and meet the right people. Breaking into comics is a slow process for most of us. It took me five years to get hired at Marvel, so results will vary.

O’Shea: During your time as an editor (given your previous experience as a teacher), did you ever find yourself in the situation of teaching an established writer of certain writing “no-nos” that he did not realize he or she was committing?

Schmidt: Certainly, but not usually because the writer had never heard of the “rule.” Every once in a while, we’re all going to slip up. Part of an editor’s job is to be there when you do and help you catch it. It’s extremely difficult to see flaws in your own work. Most people get too close to what they’ve done and can’t see the big picture. An editor can do exactly that. It’s a really great relationship to have with someone. But it’s also kind of intimate. When you create something, it’s usually personal to you in some way. So to have an editor knock it around without at least being polite, can be painful.

But many editors, myself included, do a lot of mentoring in the sense of guiding artists and writers on what needs improving and how to tell their story better. It’s very common.

O’Shea: As an editor, you were proud of your ability to help establish a successful title with a female lead (Ms. Marvel). You have no control over who signs up for your class, but I was curious, given that the comics field have more male than female storytellers–are you seeing more men or women signing up for the classes?

Schmidt: More men, for now. But I suspect that will begin to change. I’ve held classes where up to a quarter of the attendees have been women, but never more than that. But I’m hoping that will change. There’s no good reason that comics are dominated by male readers and creators. I think that’s begining to shift in the industry.

O’Shea: You were a Marvel editor, so I was surprised to see a (mostly in recent years) DC creator, Walter Simonson, be listed as a potential lecturer in your class. How did you get Walt on board?

Schmidt: Walt and I have been friends for several years. i think the only Marvel work he’s done in years was in a week he had between his DC Exclusive contracts in which he did a cover for me (Captain Marvel #7, I think it was). That cover led to many an email, some follow up phone calls as I would periodically beg him to do just a limited series for me, and finally we started meeting for lunches every now and again.

He is a perfect choice for these courses because he’s not only a phenomenal creator, but he’s also a teacher, having taught at the School for Visual Arts for several years. Beyond that, he’s just a great guy.

O’Shea: It seems that there are a slew of “how to” books on comic book storytelling, but you narrow down the books to read as being Will Eisner’s Comics & Sequential Art and Writing for Comics with Peter David. What made those two books rise above the rest in your mind?

Schmidt: Well, I’ll be adding more books to that list in the future including my own book on penciling for comics (that’s due out at the end of 2008), but I figured that no one does it better and teaches it as well as Eisner. Hands down, he’s the best. And the book communicates so well, that I doubt there will ever be another book on comics storytelling that is as easy to digest and as informative at the same time.

Peter’s book is on writing, which Eisner’s doesn’t cover in detail and is a bit out of date on in terms of how the industry operates. Peter also writes with a very digestible style and he covers everything. DC Comics did a series of books, one on writing, one on penciling and inking, and one on coloring and lettering. I haven’t read the last one, but the first two were both very good and more super hero oriented.

And honestly, if you want to pencil super hero comics, Marvel’s How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way by John Buscema is probably STILL the best book on super hero comics.

O’Shea: Given the endorsements you have (from students) the class attracts folks from all walks of life. Can you give a sampling of the variety of folks that have enrolled–and are all of them hoping to break into the industry–or are some just taking the class to improve their storytelling skills with no other particular goals in mind per se?

Schmidt: Sure, the students vary quite a bit. For the writers class, I’ve had TV writers, producers, novelists, playwrights, musical theater writers and composers. Comic fans are everywhere. And some people just want to learn in my class and then take something they hadn’t thought about and apply it elsewhere, which is great, and others may want to make a career change later down the road and work only in comics.

I’ve seen the same thing in my art students. Not everyone who comes in is a huge comics fan, or maybe they love Manga but not American comics as much. The courses are flexible enough to accommodate all kinds of artists and writers.

It’s really fun to watch a class full of different kinds of people with very different perspectives start to come together for a common goal. It’s really fantastic to watch and be a part of.

O’Shea: If the writers strike continues for much longer, do you expect you might see more TV writers wanting to take your class?

Schmidt: It wouldn’t surprise me, but I’m not counting on it. I hope the strike is resolved soon. I’ve got a lot of friends who work in the TV and film business and this strike, while vital to their continued career, is really painful in the short-term. I hope they come to a mutually acceptable agreement soon so that my friends are working again.

*****
IDs for photos in this article:
Peter David
Walter Simonson
*****

Tim: It’s been a few years since we last did an interview. When we last spoke, a majority of your printed work was self-published. So I was surprised to see in more recent years that you have been participating in the Flight anthologies. What drew you to allowing your new Rex installments in Flight, rather than published by you?

Michel: I have a tremendous amount of respect for editor, Kazu Kibuishi and his vision in putting together the Flight anthology. When he asked me to be a part of it, I couldn’t refuse.

To date, the experience of being involved with Flight has been nothing but positive. All the artists involved are so talented and encouraging. I look at their work and I get inspired and hopefully they get inspired looking at my work too. We all feed off each other’s creative energy.

Since I started with Flight, a few publishers have voiced their interest in publishing the graphic novel of the completed story (the final chapter will run in Flight 7) so I’ll probably let somebody else publish that as well. To tell you the truth, I’m probably going to work more and more with publishers in the future. I enjoy self-publishing but it’s very time consuming and time is something I don’t have enough of already.

Tim: How much has your participation in Flight broadened your audience?

Michel: Flight has now become the bestselling comic anthology in America so Rex gets a heck of a lot more exposure then if I was publishing it myself. A lot of people are discovering my work through Flight which is awesome.

Tim: In that same vein, how many new doors of creative offers opened in the wake of your highly regarded and high profile work on Ratatouille?

Michel: Everything I do gets me some exposure in one way or another. Hopefully, I proved to Pixar that I could integrate my own brand of hand drawn animation in one of their movie. I’d hope to do that with The Incredibles but it didn’t pan out. I’m glad we were successful with Ratatouille. I’d love to do more work with Pixar if we find the right fit.

I’ve been very fortunate in the animation industry to work for and meet the right people. I always give my very best on every assignment and I am devoted to creating work that’s original and interesting. The word always gets around and every year, I receive offers to do the type of animation I consider really fun. I’m doing six shots right now for the upcoming Horton Hears a Who movie that are just totally the kind of animation I love to do.

Tim: Music has always been a major influence and/or role in your creative pursuits. How did your recent collaboration with the Victoria Philharmonic Choir go, and will you be collaborating with them again?

Michel: I was very proud of the work I did for the project although; the actual show for me was a bit of a mixed bag. In one hand, the musical performance was astounding, but the shadow puppet part was under-rehearsed and not to the level I would have liked it to be. Every one did the best they could but the resources were lacking. The problem when you work for the “arts” is that the budgets are very limited and most of the people involved work on a voluntary basis. To get things to look the way I had them in my head, we would have needed about 10 times the budget and 10 times the time.

As far as working with them again… Yes, I’d be totally open to it. Perhaps we can keep perfecting The Spectre’s Bride and make it really shine.

Tim: Did your upcoming 2009 work with the Vancouver International Jazz Festival result from your work with the choir?

Michel: Actually, I’ve been working on getting things going with the Jazz Festival for over a year. That’s way before I was approached by the Victoria Philharmonic. I’ve got a lot of stuff planned with them including some truly ground breaking animation projects. One of these projects is already completed and will have its premiere at the Festival in 2009. We’re talking about premiering the film by projecting it on the side of a skyscraper in downtown Vancouver! I can’t talk too much about all this because we’re still raising the funds to achieve everything I have in mind but I can honestly say that it’s going to be one of the coolest things of my career.

Tim: Am I correct in thinking that ZED is produced on an annual basis, and if so, when do you expect to finish the next installment?

Michel: I love doing ZED but it’s pretty tough fitting him in my schedule. ZED is for all intent and purpose, a hobby. I do it for fun. I’ve already started issue 9 and it’s coming along nicely. I’m planning on having it done for the summer of 2008. Then, issue 10 will be release the following year, and that will be a wrap. The complete ZED series will be 10 issues.

Tim: When was the first time you found out folks were getting tattoos made based on your work? Were you surprised by this development–of your insane character designs is there one that sticks out as one you hope you never see come to life in a tattoo?

Michel: I started seeing people with my artwork tattooed at conventions. At first, it took me a bit by surprise. One time, I walked into a store in Seattle and the girl at the cash register had one of my drawings tattooed on her arm. I didn’t expect that! Another time, I got an email from a guy who tattooed most of his upper body with my artwork. He didn’t want me to put his picture on my website though.

If people like my art and want to put it one their skin, that fine by me; any of it.

Tim: What can you tell folks about the potential for a new film project in 2008 and/or the video game you currently are developing?

Michel: The video game is called “Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet” and I’ve teamed up with an amazing crew to produce it. I’m designing the visuals and doing a lot of the animation myself. We haven’t signed with a publisher yet, but we should have a deal ironed out early in 2008. You can watch the trailer at http://www.insanelytwistedshadowplanet.com.

Starting in mid-January, I’m going to be production designing an animated movie produced by Gary Kurtz (Star Wars, Dark Crystal). I was contacted by the writer, Sabina Spencer, about a year ago and since then, the first phase of financing has come through which will allow me to begin the design work. I really like the story and I see a lot of potential there. A friend of mine, animator Richard Bazley (The Iron Giant), is also involved. All four of us, Gary, Sabina, Richard and myself, hung out in London for three days to brainstorm about the project and we’re all very excited. I really can’t say much more at this point except that the film is a perfect match for my design sensibilities.