Artist Profile: Justine Turel - Crown of Storms

Tell me a bit about yourself name, location, affiliations, personal stuff.
Well, my name is Justine. I live in Scarborough, Maine, with my fiance, Nate, and our two kitties! We both work at the same hardware store, which is surprisingly fun (both working together & working at a hardware store). We're both huge dorks who love Star Trek: The Next Generation and Battlestar Galactica, as well as being obsessed with David Lynch and everything the man does. We're getting married in September and I am absolutely overwhelmed (in the best way) with the planning process - it is so ME to be creating little checklists and coming up with crazy ideas I'll never be able to bring to fruition.


let down and hanging around

Apart from creating art, what do you do?
Well, it being winter in Maine right now I spend most of my free time inside, unfortunately. I spend alot of time with my brother, he's 17 and the absolute coolest person I know. We like to watch cooking and travel shows (Anthony Bourdain!), come up with tattoo ideas (we're getting matching ones on his birthday) and generally vandalizing the corporate world. I also read alot - a little bit of everything. I watch a ton of movies, cruise the Internet more than I'd be willing to admit, and bake. Mostly muffins and cookies right now but I'd love to eventually branch out into more adventurous cooking projects.


i'm instantly your biggest fan

What first made you want to become an artist?
This is a funny question, because I doubt most people have a point where they 'want' to become an artist. And to be perfectly honest, I don't consider myself an artist even now. I see things I like and I take photos of them, and I mostly do it to document moments in time. I am very much into documenting everything -- keeping journals, writing lists, trying in any way I can to capture moods and feelings and senses of well-being. Or senses of despair.


and everything i touch turns to stone

Please describe your creative process how, when, materials, etc.
Honestly, I think the best thing one can do is carry your camera with you wherever you go. My camera is with me at least 90% of the time, just in case. I keep it in the car with me and I bring it to any kind of family gathering or friend get-together, no matter how small or informal. I take photos of everything from lighthouses to a piece of trash on the street or in a lake. I use a Nikon D40X, which is not the easiest camera to tote around with me, but it's important to me. Like I said, I see something that appeals to me in some way -- the positioning of it, contrast, comparison, the way the light pours in the room -- and I capture it. Very little is done in post-editing, aside from an occasional cropping or some light contrast work.


magic school bus

What artists have influenced you and inspire you to create?
No one person inspired me to pick up a camera in the first place. I could say that my Dad, who passed away when I was 15, was my inspiration -- he was a photographer as well -- but I don't truly believe that. It was just something I wanted to try. Anyone who snaps away with their camera more than I do is an inspiration. Anyone who will bring their camera with them no matter how difficult is an inspiration. Anyone who is able to bring out the pure beauty in things so often overlooked is an inspiration.


you're living in a fantasy world

Where else can people find your work?
Primarily in my Etsy shop, of course, but also on my Flickr stream!

Images displayed in this post are by and copyright of Crown of Storms.