Meet Phoebe Bliss

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

Hi Phoebe, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I pursue an artistic career because I’m human, and to be human is to create, and to create is to look inward and further reflect upon yourself, and the ever changing world around you. My whole life I’ve always been creating art, but I fully think about pursing a career in it until high school. Once I realized I could be capable of doing so, I didn’t question it whatsoever, I practically jumped into the art department at Snow College without any clue of what I was going to do career wise, because that didn’t matter. What mattered was that I was following my passion. I pursue a creative career because I simply have to be creating to feel a sense of fulfillment. Meaning, there is nothing else I would rather do with any extra time, or time at all frankly, than to be creating art. Ultimately, creating art is everything and it is one of the sole purposes of my existence, and so for me, to not create art is to not be alive.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Since studying in the art department at Snow College my skillset regarding artistic mediums has definitely widened. Due to this, I would say I’m a multidisciplinary artist because I have experienced a good amount of practice within various mediums. Generally speaking though, I work within different forms of printmaking such as screen printing and relief printing. I also have recently been working in B&W film photography which has been super fun. Besides those, the thing I’ve practiced practically my whole life has been drawing. I highly enjoy drawing portraiture/figurative pieces from live models. Overall, I’m the most excited to just continue my artistic journey. I’m still unsure of where I’m going to end up, but I’m having the best time in this creative adventure. Along with that, I feel completely fulfilled knowing that I’m pursing something that I’m so passionate about, I often do worry about what I’ll end up doing for the long run, but I always have a sense of comfort knowing that as long as I’m doing something creative, I’ll be happy. Throughout this artistic experience I would say I’ve learned the importance of knowing yourself. As artists, we attach so much of ourselves to our work, even if we don’t want to, so always working on understanding myself has helped me in various ways concerning having confidence in my work in that reflects who I am as an individual and what Im trying to say. If anyone does ever care enough to know, which I hope they do, I would want the world to know that you can find a lot of greatness and appreciation from hard situations. Growing up and even until the past few months, my family has gone through a lot of hardships concerning financial and career challenges, as many families do. But, overtime, I really have found the beauty that comes from such intensely troublesome times. Sometimes the worst times are the best times for reminding you that you’re human, because the pain might be so intense, but once you overcome it, the outcomes can be so purely beautiful that you learn to become grateful that you endured through the suffering, In the end, I suppose I just want the world to know that I think I’m strong, along with everyone else that undergoes any trials quietly.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If I had a friend visit me here in Ephraim, Utah where I currently reside for school, there are a few things I could think of that I’d like to show them, but I’d much rather show them my hometown where I grew up. An hour and a half straight west of Ephraim you’ll find yourself upon a very small town in the middle of the desert, and that place is, Delta, Utah. I grew up my whole life in Delta on a dairy farm outside of town, but upon arriving in town I would first want to take my friend to the Rancher dinner right on Main Street. The rancher is a classic Delta spot to get any sort of diner food. After leaving the Rancher, we’d continue down Main Street until we hit the rock shop. The rock shop is key to the Delta experience because a big thing Delta is known for is fossils, especially the trilobite. At the rock shop the variety of fossils and crystals is tremendous. After this, we would head out to the Gunnison Bend reservoir, about 10 minutes out of town. This visit would definitely have to be in the summer, but once we get to the res. we would have a picnic, and we would have to partake in swimming and paddle boarding. As the day ends we would watch the sunset, which Delta is known for having some of the best of. And once the nighttime sky falls, we’d have a fire on the shore and look at the stars. Since Delta is so far out, the star gazing is some of the best you’ll ever see. And throughout this entire day, I’d be telling classic Delta stories about the town, and from my own life, because Delta, Utah, is truly a desert gem.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
To begin, without a doubt I have to shoutout my family. I was thankfully raised in a very creative home where we would often visit art galleries while traveling, we’d indulge ourselves in live music and theater, and I have a lot of extended relatives who are/were working artists. Because of all the previously stated things I’ve brought up, they’ve always been my biggest support system. I never even really told my parents I decided to major in art because that was simply a given. But, I can’t go on without also bringing up my amazing art professors at Snow College. I’m obligated to name them off because with the upmost seriousness, I would not be where I am as an artist, without them. Adam Larsen, Scott Allred, Amy Jorgensen, Brad Taggart, and Kelly Brooks are the full time faculty within the art program at Snow College. Every single one of these individuals shaped me into the artist I am today, and I cannot thank them enough for the wide array of things they do for us students.

Instagram: @phoebe.bliss &. @ phoebebliss.art