What She Does: Lane Montoya's family moved all over the country when she was young, and one of the few constants in her life was a love of cartoons. Enamored with the colorful images she saw on the screen she started out drawing a mermaid on packing paper and hasn't stopped since.
Her work is distinctly pop art, celebrating everything from Game of Thrones to Final Fantasy XII to Sailor Moon to her own elegant original creations. As a classically trained artist Montoya is comfortable with a variety of disciplines, and works her art on everything from buttons and paper to the nude bodies of models and the faces of children. You can often find her in Artists Alley at the local comic conventions, and see more examples of her work at her tumblr.
Why She Likes It: "Art is very relaxing for me. It's stress relief. It allows me to work how I want and when I want. When I'm focused on creating in my studio I can work very quickly. In as little as two weeks I can have 20+ pieces of art ready for an art show in a variety of mediums."
What Inspires Her: Montoya has two main ways to prep herself for creation. The first is to mind a moderately busy coffee shop in good weather with a nice book to get her mind ready to draw. The second is to sit down for a few minutes with a video game. Shooters and RPGs are her preferred inspirations, and she's recently started enjoying K-Pop music as well.
Artists that Montoya looks up to include H.R. Giger and Zdzisław Beksiński for their alien and somewhat disturbing designs and paintings. She love Erté and Alphonse Mucha for their art deco and art nouveau styles respectively, and from the world of comics she enjoys Jo Chen, Priscilla Hamby, Ms, Shatia Hamilton, and Ross Campbell.
If Not Here, Then Where: "Austin. It just seems like a good midway hub for Texas since I travel to various art shows around the state. It has a higher concentration of creative people too and I would like to be part of that network. Dreaming a little bigger I'd probably live in Los Angeles. The concentration of big name studios that are headquartered there is something I'd like to be a part of."
If Not This, Then What: When she's not creating art, she's teaching it to children all over the city in private lessons. That's what makes her happiest after producing her own work; shaping the minds and talents of the next generation.
What's Next: Right now Montoya has comic book she's working on, so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, she's one of the many artists that will be on hand at Comicpalooza later this month, where in addition to offering art she will be hosting several panels.
"I increasingly find myself on panels at conventions talking about women and diversity in comics and media. It's difficult enough to get into this field, and in no way is it a cakewalk. We need to support one other and spread the word about wanting more diversity in the media we consume. It's a jungle out there. As more women are represented in media and comics, it will influence future generations of creative, artistic women. It's very important that children can see what they can be, and be encouraged to make their dreams a reality. I want to foster those dreams - encourage as many girls as possible to enter a field predominantly run and dominated by men."
More Creatives for 2014 (In order of most recently published; click here for the full page). Jordan Simpson, SLAM poet Joey & Jaime, designers Suzi Taylor, photographer Ashton Miyako, dressmaker T. Smith, artistLindsay Finnen, photographer Kaitlyn Stanley, tattoo artist Eleazar Galindo Navarro, video game maker Kate de Para, textile and clothing designer Shawn Swanner, video game painter Andy Gonzales, painter Chris Foreman, comic book sketcher Theresa DiMenno, photographer Jessica E. Jones, opera singer Atseko Factor, actor John Pluecker, writer, poet and language justice worker Ricky Ortiz, painter, tattoo artist Rabēa Ballin, artist David Wald, actor Lisa E. Harris, performing and visual artist Stephanie Todd Wong, executive director of Dance Source Houston Pamela Fagan Hutchins, novelist Heather Gordy, artist Mark Nasso, comic artist Shelbi-Nicole, artist Marian Szczepanski, novelist Jonathan Blake, fashion designer Doni Langlois, interior designer Kat Denson, dancer Blame the Comic, comedian Margaret Menchaca Alvarez, artist Jacquelyne Jay Boe, dancer Rene Fernandez, painter Teresa Chapman, choreographer and dancer
