Artist Spotlight | AuntBee

AuntBee

Greek myth tells us that the nine muses, goddesses of inspiration, were born from a union between the King of the Gods Zeus and the ancient titan Mnemosyne, or Memory.

AuntBee shows us the possibilities that come from reaching into that deep well, and the ethereal, natural and fantastical forms that can emerge from it. 

NC: WHAT INFLUENCES YOUR WORK?

I am influenced by literature, poetry, art, nature, memories.

My childhood in the fifties was free and my adolescence in the sixties was rich in music, fashion and political awakening.

I am a long time movie watcher and widely read. Nature alone can give you thousands of ideas. I love getting an image based on memories.

NC: MOST UNDERRATED ARTIST ON NIGHTCAFE?

BRW is just extraordinary, and Hag.  They know what they are doing. They think outside the box. I am humbled by their work."

NC: PROMPT THAT MOST SURPRISED YOU?

I asked for supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (sic) expressed as water and flowers.

NC: ANY TIPS FOR PROMPT WRITING?

Do it! I avoid presets but they are helpful when you are a beginner. For me, I have set about to learn what prompts give me what I want. 

Tweaking a prompt might be to just change one word or to change the order of the words. Or to realize it needs to be oil not watercolor. 

Knowledge of art history, art styles, the importance of light, composition helps. I do not like the oversaturated colors you get in some of the new models. The winners of challenges are almost always in hypercolor. I prefer soft colors, natural colors, realistic colors. 

I like to put creations in collections so there is some organization. And easier to find something. I also think if you are creating hundreds or thousands of images you need to edit out and delete things that aren't marvelous. 

I focus on nature, magic, animals and retro things. Holidays. There are more birds than bluebirds...find something exotic. If you have made hundreds of head and shoulder portraits of women, try now to compose a vignette. 

I think the demographic for NC is young, male. I'm an old lady! I am not about outer space or armaggedon. Or horror. I don't love every challenge either but I do them steadfastly for community and to get out of my comfort zone. Likes are nice but some of most favourite things don't get liked. That's fine. 

If all your images are the same, spread your wings. Surprise yourself. Not sure about written prompts? Explore MODIFIERS under Advanced Prompt Editor. For me, written prompts are IT!

NC: WHAT LED YOU TO USING NIGHTCAFE?

My son told me about it. I hope he is surprised by my progress. 

I am a caregiver. So kind of homebound. NightCafe has given me something fun to do, it let's me be creative.

I strive for ART. And I realize the creations are AI's, not mine and built on the creative efforts of artists through history.

AI needs ideas though, and I have quite a few.