Who is Stark Love?
My name is Stark, love.
What can I say to you, dear happy visitor of my web page... Hmm... Let's start here.
My name is Stark Love.
I'm just a girl on a mission to guide lost souls through this phenomenon we call life.
What makes me qualified to do such a thing?
I studied art at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and abroad in Paris and the south of France. My art is heavily inspired by my time in France and my great respect for traditional fine art techniques. I especially love the impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh, and surrealist painter Dali. In college I also studied existential philosophy, psychology, animal anatomy, and theoretical physics.
There are lessons hidden throughout my book's tale; existential principles such as the constant questioning of the absurd (so to find inherent meaning in everything we do) combined with questions about the nature of the self (cruelty and kindness), and more abstract concepts like spooky quantum entanglement, wormholes, black holes, and superpositions.
What makes me happy?
When I was 10 I fell down the stairs and my arm flipped backwards at the elbow. The resulting fracture stripped me of a full range of motion in my arm, and my shoulder would never recover fully. My arm gives me chronic pain. Simply put, it hurts to draw. Each line I make presses into damaged nerves that sting sharply and ache long after. Guaranteed, each brush stroke is carefully considered and made with laser sharp focus. I draw because it makes me happy. I love to create fantastic landscapes and creatures. The most important thing I can offer to the world, I think, is my art. And even though it hurts, I am extremely grateful to still be able to draw.
How do I work and live my life?
I live alone peacefully with my 4 little pets: my ferret Qupid and my three rats Zef the 4th, Zef the 5th, and Zef the 6th. I love electronic music; my favorite band is Die Antwoord. Every day (often with one of my rats perched on my shoulder) I spend countless hours glued to my Macbook Pro and Wacom Cintiq tablet working on my books. I have been using Adobe Photoshop since I was 11 years old and I'm a master at what I do. Comprised of upwards of 500+ layers and weighing in at a staggering average of 1GB per .PSD file, each page of my book is so complex that they take weeks to complete.
Vision
Why am I doing all this, though?
The dedication I have to my work runs deep. This work comes from my heart. It has taken me at least ten years to bring together all of the disorganized thoughts running through my mind at all times. Once I decided to make a book series there was no turning back. It's not easy to start from nothing. The world we live in now is quick to smother small voices like mine. But I will never stop pursuing this lifelong dream.
I want to make a difference in the world through my drawings; I think the message I have to share is a really good one. Kindness and a respect for all life is an underlying theme throughout my life and my work. I am vegan and Taoist, but I have much to learn still.
When I was a teenager I was very troubled. I didn't believe in myself or my abilities and thought I was not worth much of anything. But in the same vein I have always been a rebel to authoritative voice; I was stubborn to receiving help and guidance. When I was sad I simply hid my tears in horse's mane and talked to him. I was an equestrian for 20 years before the pain of my arm injury became too severe. Riding and being around horses helped me become strong physically. But my pain continued to grow inside. I didn't want anyone to see it; I did not want to be a burden to others.
At 19-years-old I was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. Lost, angry, sad, and impulsive, I woke up every day and chose chaos. At the height of my emotional tornado, struggling with medication-induced psychosis, I was bounced between psych wards and spiraled into the worst years of my 32 revolutions. If only there had been something to guide me spiritually in the same gentle and wordless way that a horse is taught to be ridden. My hope is that my books can be a guide for others experiencing their own existential pain.
Putting it starkly,
I love unconditionally. I want to help by helping you figure out how to help yourself. Or at the very least, I can provide genuinely good-hearted and thoughtfully produced entertainment.
If you're curious to discover deep wisdom in a way that is visually stimulating and not a just another corny self-help lecture, my book series is right for you. Through my drawings and words I hope you may find yourself thinking and seeing your world with a fresh, logical, and wise mind.
Book 1 sets the stage for an adventure that will last at least 10+ years. For my first series, Stark Love, there will be 16 books. I plan on making graphic novels my whole life. Truly, this is my passion. My art is a reflection of my kind soul and golden heart.
