JCAM, Vol. 6, No. 1
Ian Schmude Questions about you. What is your professional name? My name is Ian Schmude. Where were you born and does that place still influence you? Where do you live now and how does that place influence you? I was born in Illinois, USA, but being a military family meant that I moved all over. I currently live in North Carolina and have lived here the longest, but I wouldn’t say anything about it has influenced me. Do you have family, friends, or fellow artists who support you in your work, life and art making and how do they make a difference in your life? The experiences with my friends are what provide a lot of ideas for my artwork. Many of them are artists themselves. When and how did you start making art? Art has always been fun since childhood, but it did not become something I considered as more than a hobby until I began taking art lessons at a private studio. There I realized I had a knack for it. Can you describe the time when you first realized that creating was something you absolutely had to do? Not really. As I learned more about art it slowly became a larger part of my identity and I began thinking about careers where art and creativity were necessities. I only realized
182