Meet Madelyn Foutz | University of Houston Graduate Painting student

We had the good fortune of connecting with Madelyn Foutz and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Madelyn, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
When I was in 6th grade, we had an assignment that involved drawing a portrait. I wanted to do well but things were not working out because I honestly had no idea where to even start drawing a persons face. My dad, who has a degree in graphic design and draws himself, taught me how to draw a portrait. Following his instructions slowly a face emerged from the paper. There was this electric feel that rushed over me and I thought “wow, I did this…? I wanna do it again, I need to.” All other dreams flew out of the window and I began doodling and drawing as often as I could. When I started 8th grade I was trying to draw the figure and learn new mediums to work with, I was hungry for more than my hour long, once a week art class had to offer. When I started taking high school art classes I began to learn painting and principles of art making. My high school art teacher told me that there was college degrees in art. I was absolutely in love with art making and I could no longer see myself doing anything but.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Over the last year I’ve learned that my art is actually quite attached to my childhood interests. I was raised in a very small Midwestern farming town. My childhood was peppered with lots of exposure to history or culture due to my grandparents. Although those experiences were limited to their interpretations of those cultures etc as a Midwestern white family. I was in love and wanted to learn as much as possible, naturally drawing them in through my own resources at the time like the internet and television etc. As I grew older I became interested in the effect that pop culture has on society and cultural interactions/exchanges. With being interested in pop culture came an interest in Japanese culture as they have built their economy on the exchange of trendy goods for the youth. The cultural exchange that happened with pop culture and entertainment between both The U.S. and Japan. I began studying all I could pre and post WW2 pertaining to pop culture and its influence. Today more work draws for that information as well as my own experiences and interests from my childhood. I am currently trying to figure out a “new” language in which I put all these ideas and concepts together with. Trying to keep a fluid and almost rough application while maintaining the delicate touch the medium I use has. I have completed a few paintings over the past year but I still feels like something is missing. I haven’t figured it out yet but I feel like I’m on the cusp of doing so through collage. I’m excited about the next few paintings I create as I begin to figure out this new language of art making.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Definitely going to the MFAH and Graffiti Park. On the campus of UH we also have a plethora of great art work scattered that is definitely a must see. Houston is also one of the most exciting cites when it comes to food and “fusion food.” There will definitely be a food and brewery crawl hitting places like Crawfish and Noodles, Karbach, Truth BBQ, and many more.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation. They got my through my BA degree financially

Daniel Malicki
He was my High school art teacher that helped my decide what school to go to and prepared me for art school

Eric Carlson and the Carlson Family
Eric helped me get through my Undergraduate degree. Without him I would have been a very different artistry. They were the absolute sweetest people I’ve ever met and offered so much encouragement.

Website: https://www.maddartistry.com/

Instagram: Madd_artistry