MICHIGAN
ART EDUCATION: Bachelor of fine arts from the College for Creative Studies, Detroit, MI, and self-taught.
STYLE: Magic realism.
Sojourn, acrylic, 72 x 60.
INSPIRATION FOR YOUR WINNING PAINTING: I wanted to create a composition involving butterflies as a subject. Butterflies have always served as symbols of hope and beauty. They are creatures that, despite their fragility, have the power to survive long and brutal migrations. Their journey parallels life on so many levels. The contrast between them, the women, and the house appealed to me, like a fusion of past, present, and future.
SECOND-CHOICE CAREER: Art teacher.
BEST ADVICE RECEIVED: When I was growing up, my grandmother told me that whatever you want in life, you have to earn it.
CREATIVE SPARK: Music, antiques, the sight and smell of sweet grass blowing in the summer wind, birds, and reading a random phrase in a book.
ONE THING MOST PEOPLE DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOU: I was an Irish dancer for many years, and I loved performing.
PET PEEVE: Wastefulness, and when lint sticks to a wet painting.
FUTURE GOALS: To get into museum collections and to consistently create paintings that are bigger and better than any I’ve done before.
PRICE RANGE: $3,000 to $25,000.
REPRESENTATION: Richard J. Demato Fine Arts Gallery, Sag Harbor, NY; www.andreakowchillustration.com.
Featured in September 2011.