KB: Where were you born?

JM: I was born in Rochester Hills, Michigan. My family moved to Novi, Michigan just before my sixth birthday. Novi is what I call my hometown. I'm the oldest of three. My brother Andrew is three years younger and my sister April is six years younger than me.

KB: What were you like as a kid?

I was (and remain) a kind of tinkerer and explorer. I had friends and we played outside every day, but I was happy to wander alone and follow my own whims.

This Spotlight interview is with landscape artist Virginia Carstarphen and marks the occasion of her one-person exhibition at ARC Gallery in Chicago, May 28-June 19, 2021.