"Continuing with my Featured Artist Series, I interviewed figure painter and graphic designer Lacey McKinney. Her work is an expressive blast of color and fantastic rendering of the human form.

"Q: How did you get into art in general?

"A: I started to do art because of my mom. She used to inspire me to be creative as a child by doing things like surprising me with a "Cat in the Hat" drawing on my bedroom chalkboard when I came home from school.

"Q: What is your art about? What has it been about?

"A: I think my art is about what it means to alive and be human.

"Q: What are your favorite media to work in?

"A: At the moment, I’m having a passionate love affair with oil paint because it has a direct impact on the senses. Its richness evokes sensations of taste, touch and even smell. It’s probably the most alluring media for me right now.

"Q: What effect do you want your art to have on the world?

"A: I hope my art would affect the world by making people feel immediate and strong emotions, just as

"any other important event in their lives would.

"Q: Do you make money doing art? If so, how did you do it?

"A: I make little money on paintings, right now, and I hope to change that. I make more money doing

"freelance graphic design work, which I enjoy thoroughly as well for slightly different reasons.

"Q: Do you make mistakes creating art? What mistakes have you made?

"A: Every artwork that I make is a mistake in the sense that I move on quickly from each painting with plans to make the next one better than the last. My best yesterday is not good enough for today.

"Q: Do you listen to music while you work or do you demand total silence?

"A: I listen to music every time I create art. My favorite song for a long time has been "Konstantine" by

"Something Corporate.

"Q: Where do you see your art taking you in five years?

"A: Within five years, I hope to see my art taking me around the world, to places where I can teach

"others, and to places where I can show people my work.