DPW Spotlight Interview: Robin Norgren

Each week we will spotlight a different DPW artist who will give away one of their best paintings.

To enter to win Robin's painting, "2 Birds Connecting" go to Daily Paintworks and click on the link at the top of the page announcing their interview.

From Robin's DPW Gallery page:

Robin Norgren, MA, is the founder of My Creative Peace Christ Centered Creativity Program and Author ofYour Creative Peace: How to Find and Deepen Your Creative Voice while Communing with God (Lulu Publishing, 2010).Robin is a Christian Coach and Creativity Teacher in Arizona who writes and creates heart opening books, workbooks and classes that invite you to commune with God and explore your creative side as a means to navigate through the trials of life. (click to read more)

Tell us a bit about how you first started painting.

I began painting in 2012 in kind of a round about way.  I come from a family of people with incredible drawing skills and am married to a man with a fine art background.  So for me, it took a while to really own my voice as a more abstract painter. So for a long time I simply worked with scrapbook paper, creating art with other people's colors and shapes.  But slowly I began to move toward paint, feeling kind of a longing inside to put my ideas on paper.  I gravitate to loose and whimsical and freeing art which shows in the work that I create.

2 Birds Connecting
(click to see original image)

Enter to win by clicking on the link at the top of the home page announcing Robin's interview.

Did you have any stops and starts in your painting career?

I have always been afraid to label myself as an artist because I have so many talented traditional artists around me who aren't "working" artists (meaning creating in the traditional sense of the word).  My husband and daughter are the only ones that see the hours and hours I put into trying to hone out a career as an artist.  There have definitely been many stops and starts over the last six years in part because I am exploring my calling as an artist.

Woodland Sisters II
(click to see original image)

What mediums and genres have you experimented with?

I love using acrylic paint and watercolors together and creating my own mixed media paper to add to my work.  I have also tried working with oils and charcoal but haven't really found a way to express myself as freely with those mediums.

Which ones have "stuck" and which ones have fallen away?

Right now, I am IN LOVE with watercolors, but there are still a few acrylic paint colors that I will sneak into my work. Oh and I have begun line drawing with micron pens; these are a new find for me and I adore them.

She Hides Some Things Behind the Pretty
(click to see original image)

Who or what inspires you most?

I read the Bible as part of a morning practice before I begin creating.  The Psalms inform my work in various ways either through the paint I choose for the mood of a painting or words and phrases that show up on the paper.

Artists that inspire me include Mindy Lacefield, Jessica Swift, Mati Rose, Kelly Barton, Catina Jane Gray and Alena Hennessey.

How do you generally arrive at ideas for your paintings?

Many times it is a simple shape that I either see in a painting or a photograph that makes me want to sit down and explore it. Also, I work with preschool children and have the privilege to be able to teach them art.  This helps keep my style more whimsical because that is how I am thinking many times when I am preparing curriculum for the kiddos.

A Little Birdie Sees the Red Poppies
(click to see original image)

How do you keep art "fresh?" What techniques have helped you avoid burnout and keep your work vibrant and engaging?

I love taking online classes with my favorite artists.  Seeing the inside of their creative world helps me to continue to branch out and try new techniques and work with different mediums

What do you feel you are learning about right now as an artist?

I am learning that simple honest shapes can be just as breathtaking as the color and business that I tend to gravitate to.

Red Poppies and Bursts of Light
(click to see original image)

What makes you happiest about your art?

Several words come to mind: freedom, hope, peace, joy.

I believe that God has created each of us to be creative.  Creativity has different faces but inside it feels the same. To bring something from your heart out into the world whether it be with paint or through the meals you cook or the way you solve a problem or through childrearing is such a beautiful thing.  It doesn't matter how you exercise this gift as long as you do it.  Because when you do, we all benefit; our world is better for it.  I want my art to help people get in touch with that truth.

Thanks, Robin!

© 2014 Sophie Catalina Marine