- Your favorite dress? Oh my. Let's see...I used to wear dresses and skirts alot...but now I am mostly into cool pants. I do have a "plastic" black dress that is very space like...I call it my Jetson's dress...ha! :) Very hard to sit down in...ha!
- 3 favorite Bowie songs? Ummm...that is a very hard question! There are so many incredible songs by Bowie. To name just three? Ok...I will try. I will have to say Quicksand, off of Hunky Dory as one. Oh this is hard...ha! Ok...Time off of Aladdin Sane and Width of a Circle off of The Man Who Sold The World. But that is just the tip of the iceburg...there are soooo many more I could name!
- What would your one message to the world be? To be REAL. It may not always be pretty...but be yourself. I have met too many fake people in this world and fake nice doesn't count for anything. Life is too short.
- What if anything do you think the Tampa Bay area needs to do/have to be more supportive of working artists? Get the word out! There are plenty of people out there with the money to promote events to draw people to see the work of all the great artists in this area! I just don't feel that the majority of people appreciate how much we put into our art and what it means to support a living artist! Also...local galleries need to communicate better with artists, this is just my experience.
- What is the one thing you want people to know about you? Hmmmm...tough one also! I would say that it would be that no matter what I am doing, whether it be working on a piece of art, or working at any job...that I always give 100%. I care about what I do and always do my best.
all artwork (c) Ricklene J. Wren
local
art: Ricklene Wren 
Ricklene comes from a family of self taught artists. Her Grandfather and Father in particular are/were great artists. Ricklene says, "I can remember being critiqued by my Grandpa at such a young age that I didn't even understand what he was talking about...ha! My Father died in a motorcyle accident before I was born, but I have some of his art work that he did."
"I started out with sketches and did quite a bit of that when I was younger. Then life happened and sadly, I didn't do any artwork for many years. When I became involved in dog rescue, I decided to start drawing again to see if I could help raise money for rescue. This eventually turned into painting as well as drawing. I really enjoy creating...it is a very big stress reliever for me."
What medium/s
are you working in?
I paint with very good quality acrylics. I used to paint on wooden boxes,
plaques, etc., but I am now loving canvas to no end! I also picked up
pallet knives and have not put them down since!.
Who are
some of your influences/inspirations, either art or musical?
My Grandpa is both an influence and an inspiration to me. Other than the
classics, I love James Michalopoulos. I just love his style and I love
texture in paintings. Bowie is my biggest musical inspiration.
Tell
us about your work with animal rights and rescues. And how that has influenced
your approach to art and life in general.
I worked in rescue for a total of about 5-1/2 years. It definitely changed
my life in so many ways. The experience of starting a non-profit rescue
from just my dream and watching it grow for 4 years was not always the
easiest thing...but I am so glad to have helped so many dogs. It opened
my eyes to many things that most people know nothing about...or don't
want to know. Because I got into rescue...it got me back into doing art
work. I did custom paintings of people's pets for nearly 3 years. Now...time
for a change! To do my own thing as far as painting goes. Although I left
the rescue "world", I really still do rescue work every day as I have
several dogs that were rescued and need special attention and understanding.
They are now part of my big doggie family and I cherrish them.
What
is this I hear about you and the Buzzcocks?
Ahhhaha! Well...Steve Diggle is my "buddy", but if he doesn't call me
again...he is in trouble...ha! :)
“They're angelic with little red tongues that feel like book marks to heaven.” Jim Carroll, written in reference to our precious dogs!
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