DPW Spotlight Interview: Cristiana Marinescu

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

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

From Cristiana's DPW Gallery page:

At seven, I had my art shown publicly for the first time. It was a gouache painting on board of a winter day representing a bridge and trees full of snow in Bucharest Central Park. I am a native of Bucharest Romania, and had started painting very early, maybe age four. I self-thought until I reached school age. I started with pencil drawing and gouache, followed by watercolor (which never quite got my interest) and oils. (click to read more)

Tell us a bit about how you first started painting.

I started drawing at an early age, maybe four. My family encouraged me to draw as a pastime and I enjoyed it. Later in elementary school, I was fortunate to have great art teachers. I remember in first grade, during my first art class, the teacher brought a plant and placed it on the desk. Then she passed a basket around the room and asked all the kids to put their erasers in the basket. We all panicked.

Then she said, "Everything you paint or draw is perfect, no need to erase any lines! If you do not like something just incorporate it in the rest of the painting." This was a major life lesson for me.

At age seven, one of my tempera paintings was included in an art show at the local community center, in Bucharest, my native town in Romania. It encouraged me to continue painting.

At the Door 2
(click to view)

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

What mediums and genres have you experimented with?

My first media was pencil and color pencils followed by watercolor, gouache, tempers and oils.
For years as a kid, I would spend my allowance on art materials. While living in NY, I attended and graduated from The School of Visual Arts. While still in school, I got a job as an art director at one small ad agencies. During these years, I also attended The Art Students League every Saturday for six hours and worked in soft pastels.

Later, while living in AZ, I started using acrylics, and found it extremely frustrating. In time, it grew on me and now I use it almost exclusively.

For many years, I consider the only true art is painting from life or from imagination. Now, I paint mostly from my photography and imagination.

Piñatas in Mexico
(click to view)

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

I had many start and stop points. For many years, I tended to work in spurts, at times motivated by an invitation to participate in a show, I would work intensely to produce the paintings.

Who or what inspires you most?

Seven years ago, I moved to Mexico. The colors and light around me have impacted my work. While living in US, I felt my art was not “dark” enough, not trebled and distorted enough to fit in.

Now I paint mainly as a form of expression. I paint the world around me and how I experience it. When people appreciate it, and many say, "Oh! The color!" I feel I put across my personal experience.

I believe that what we create as artists resonates in the life force and creates more of the same. Why contribute to the pain body of the universe?

Introspection
(click to view)

Which ones are you looking forward to exploring?

I have many projects in mind, I want to re-experience watercolor and large size canvases. Paint people again and paint more plein air.

What does procrastination look like for you?

Procrastination is not my vice. I think it is a form of fear of not fulfilling the expectations of others. And the only way to overcome it is to take the first step, and not judge yourself.

Main Plaza
(click to view)

What techniques work to ensure that you make time for your art? How do you generally arrive at ideas for your paintings?

Lately, I have been teaching a lot. Many of my demonstrations become paintings in their own right. But to be able to paint the new topics, I need to block time on my calendar. First, I need to “refill the well”. To me it means walk around, take photos, just hang out. Then the flow of creative energy rejuvenates and I am ready to paint.

Green Dress
(click to view)

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

Starting January 1st, 2016, my partner and I have a new gallery and studio space in the center of San Miguel de Allende, Gto. Mexico. New space, new energy, new opportunities.

I am also learning to let art flow, just be in the process without controlling the outcome, let the painting paint itself. I am only a vehicle.

What makes you happiest about your art?

What makes me happiest about my art, is to share it with others, and the new gallery gives me the outlet.

Thanks, Cristiana!

© 2016 Sophie Marine

DPW Spotlight Interview: Kimberly Conrad

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

To enter to win Kimberly's painting, "Beautiful Storm - Mini #1" go to Daily Paintworks and click on the link at the top of the page announcing their interview.

From Kimberly's DPW Gallery page:


"Art and music are to my soul, as food and water are to my body. I believe that they are two of God's most precious gifts to His children. As the author and giver of creativity, through these gifts, He has given us a portion of Himself. He created the very first canvas, magnificently painted it, and brought it to life" I am a full time artist, dividing my time between painting and teaching in my Colorado studio. (click to read more)

Tell us a bit about how you first started painting.

I have been creating one thing or another most of my life, but I did not begin a career as a full-time painter until 2006.

I was designing clothing at that time and was introduced to palette knife oil painting and fell instantly in love. I closed the clothing business, and began painting daily.

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

Not since I began painting full-time in 2006. Life, of course, demands your full attention at times and can keep you from the easel temporarily, but painting is certainly a priority.

What mediums and genres have you experimented with?

I began in oils, had a brief affair with mixed media and then moved into pouring acrylic, which I absolutely love.

Beautiful Storm - Mini #1
(click to view)

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

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

I have been primarily pouring acrylic for the past 8 years, but the palette knife is calling out to me, and I have a series of oil paintings planned in my head. I am hoping to begin that series in March. I will, of course, continue to pour. I have a studio in Denver, across the hall from my gallery, dedicated to pouring, and a studio at home dedicated to all other art, so I am fortunate to be able to easily do both.

Which ones are you looking forward to exploring?

Again, I am excited to get back to oils, but I am also in the process of setting up a mixed media station in my home studio.

"Flurries # 3"
(click to view)

Who or what inspires you most?

People inspire me! I truly love people, and being a part of like-minded groups such as Daily Paintworks. My gallery and studio are both in an old boarding house in the 7th avenue restaurant district of Denver. There are ten other artists in the building and I love to mosey from room to room and see what others are working on. I am on the second floor and my windows look out over the tall city buildings. The energy of the building and the the views never fail to inspire me.

I also have a slight obsession with centenarians! I study them and their habits and lifestyles. You would be amazed at how many are artists, photographers and writers. There is something about the love of and the act of CREATING that keeps you young in mind and spirit, which is great for the body!

What does procrastination look like for you?

In all honestly, procrastination is rarely an issue for me. Time management, however, is a monster of a battle. I am the CEO of Where Art Lives online gallery and magazine, and an art business coach, and those responsibilities come before painting.

Original Abstract Expressionism Painting "Brewing"
(click to view)

What techniques work to ensure that you make time for your art?

I try to be at my desk by 5:30 a.m. to get in my 5-7 hours of computer work and coaching calls, then paint in the afternoons and evenings. I have learned that if I get a late start at the computer and work into the late afternoon, my creative energy dwindles - and I will likely skip painting.

How do you generally arrive at ideas for your paintings?

I am an expressionist at heart, but have been painting seascapes and landscapes for several years now.
I do a great deal of commissioned work especially for the hospitality industry, which dictates my subject matter, BUT because of my technique, my expressionist heart gets satisfied.

A client may choose the palette, but pouring is very random. I like to say the paint tells it's own story, and it is really thrilling to see how that story plays out and what the end result is.

Palette Knife Abstract Expressionism Painting "Bladeworks 47"
(click to view)

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

Well, at the risk of sounding redundant, the technique of pouring renders something different every single time, and the outcome is always a surprise.

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

I am learning that you must be fearless, and follow your heart. Look straight ahead and ignore the naysayers; they will always be there. There are those that say you must choose one medium and one style and not waver from the path. For some that is great advice, for others, it can be the death of creativity. In that respect, I have always been, and will always be a rebel. I do not believe there is a right or wrong creative path - there is simply YOUR creative path.

Coastal Abstract Art "School in Session"
(click to view)

What makes you happiest about your art?

Well, I of course am thrilled when someone connects with my paintings, and even more thrilled when they feel they must make that connection permanent!

But the bottom line is, I love creating things. If something happened today, that kept me from ever painting again, I would find a way to somehow make something else. I have been "making things" my whole life, and I hope to be "making things" until the day I die.

Thanks, Kimberly!

© 2016 Sophie Marine

DPW Spotlight Interview: Gary Bruton

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

To enter to win Gary's painting, "Western Skies" go to Daily Paintworks and click on the link at the top of the page announcing their interview.

From Gary's DPW Gallery Page:

Landscapes, still lifes, and birds are my usual muses. The way light attaches to objects is what initially gets my attention. Then I begin to look at the form and colors and composition. When painting, I try to recognize what first sparked my interest in the subject and convey that on to the canvas. For still life and landscapes, I prefer to paint from life. (click to read more)

Tell us a bit about how you first started painting?

Painting for me was a natural transition from drawing.  When I was in my early teens, I discovered my mother's tole painting oils and supplies in our basement.  Using reference photos, I began to paint birds, landscapes and occasionally reproductions of other artists.  I then began to experiment with watercolors, using dry-brush and doing very detailed paintings, mostly of birds.

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

I had several starts and stops.  Throughout high school, I dabbled off and on with oils and watercolor and continued to do so in college.  While in college, I took a watercolor class and an oil painting portrait class, but my major was psychology, so I devoted varying amounts of time to art while in undergraduate and graduate school.  This on-and-off continued after college, but as my career as a psychologist became more time consuming I painted less and less. That all changed Labor Day weekend of 2012.  I got the urge to paint and pulled out my acrylics and did an 8"x10" landscape from imagination.  That weekend I did a couple of other smaller pieces.  I sort of made a resolution to myself that I would try and do some artwork daily, even if it was just drawing an apple sitting on a table.  It was around this time that I found DailyPaintworks.com.  The "philosophy" to paint small and paint daily as a method to quickly grow as an artist resonated with me.  I soon enrolled in a plein air painting class, and I haven't looked back.      

Western Skies
(click to view)

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

What mediums and genres have you experimented with?

As I mentioned, oil and watercolor are what I really cut my teeth on.  With watercolor, I started with drybrush, but in the class I learned to do more wet-into-wet and go with the looser more spontaneous (and anxiety provoking) side of that medium.  Then I tried chalk and oil pastels and acrylics later on.  As far as genres, I've done very realistic, abstract and currently a looser realism.

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

All that has really stuck are oils and to a lesser extent acrylics.  I feel that rather than to try and develop mastery of several media, I have more than my hands full with oils.  The ease of blending, the texture and richness of oils keep me coming back.  I do especially like the depth of color that can be achieved with acrylics, so I still occasionally paint with them.  Also, acrylics seem to just lend themselves to abstract/nonrepresentational art in my opinion. So on the occasion I paint abstracts, I generally choose acrylics.  At least for my abstracts, pure color and less mixing is customary, and acrylics are great for painting in that style.

Wren on Snow
(click to view)

Which ones are you looking forward to exploring?

I hope to just continue to grow with oils primarily and acrylics to a lesser degree.  There really is a lifetime of learning to do with any medium.  As far as genres or styles, I would like to continue to paint realistically and incorporate more looseness, but precise looseness.
 
Who or what inspires you most?

Not to sound cliche, but nature.  Definitely nature far more than anything else.  There is an endless supply of inspiration in nature.  I think every time I look at a tree or the sky or a bird my mind begins to attend to the the highlights as they contrast with the shadows and all the subtleties in between in color and value.  That said, the work of other artists inspires me a great deal as well.  Seeing paintings where another artist successfully created a suggestion with an economy of brushstrokes absolutely inspires me.  

Agave
(click to view)

What does procrastination look like for you?

Procrastination looks like me holding a garden hose and spray nozzle and cleaning off my patio, me vacuuming or taking out the trash.  Chores seem to be my go-to distractions when I "should" be painting but I'm resisting it.  At least I tend to get something accomplished, even if it's not a painting.

What techniques work to ensure that you make time for your art?

I very consciously schedule painting time.  I have a general idea of my schedule for the week and have several two or three hour spaces each week dedicated to painting.  I tend to be pretty disciplined that way, and when it is designated painting time, I paint.  Sometimes I need to do a little psyching myself into it.  Remembering once I start painting, literally two minutes in, I'm going to completely be in the zone and loving it.  That never fails me.  When I start painting, everything else falls away.  My focus is only on the painting.  Painting is a very meditative endeavor.

I See a Squirrel
(click to view)

How do you generally arrive at ideas for your paintings?

Lately I've been painting a lot of birds.  And for birds, I will look at either Morguefile or PaintMyPhoto and just let something catch my eye.  For landscapes and still life paintings, ideas pop in my head all the time.  I will go to the market and see an eggplant and just want to capture that deep rich purple.  Or I'll be driving along and notice the way the clouds and mountains so beautifully compliment one another.  Also at the grocery store bunches of flowers always give me ideas for paintings.  Sometimes I'll experiment a little with compositions.  Looking at the flowers, turning the vase around or rearranging the fruit and then looking at the subject through the frame of my phone camera.  Then once l have the composition the way I want it, I'll paint from life.    

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

Things I use to keep my artwork fresh include the self-instruction, "keep it loose."  "Just suggest it," in reference to some object in the painting.  Something a teacher told me a long time ago that has stayed with me is, "paint with as large a brush as you can, for as long as you can."  He would tell the class, "don't noodle it," meaning don't overwork the subject.  Those little adages go a long way toward keeping a painting spontaneous.  The other thing I would have to say is working from life. In working from life, it's easy to keep a painting fresh and alive because of the play of light and the three dimensional depth.  Another technique, if you will, that I sometimes use is to allow no more than one hour to complete a small painting.  With that time limitation, I can't deliberate too long and that quickness of brush work translates to a painting that is fresh and vibrant.  The energy of the brushwork always carries through to the finished piece.  Along with those things, keeping a limited palette with a few colors and using only one brush or at most two or three for the entire painting. A nice flat or bright brush can achieve almost everything you want to accomplish, and staying with one brush further reduces the thinking/deciding process and allows me to stay in the intuitive, right-brain mode that results in the most satisfying paintings.

Placid
(click to view)

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

I think I am getting more and more comfortable trusting my intuition and just putting the brushstroke down and seeing what happens.  Another saying, and this is me paraphrasing, but something to the effect of "creativity is a series of mistakes and art is knowing which mistakes to keep."  I'm learning to trust my gut rather than think it out too much.  Painting daily really helps with that process.  The brushstrokes become much more second nature.  What used to require conscious effort now just happens automatically.  I have a long way to go, and grow, in that direction.  Another thing about painting that makes it so fun is no matter how much you grow as an artist, there is always a lot more growing to do.

What makes you happiest about your art?

A few things come to mind.  First the process of painting itself.  Being in the flow and watching a painting develop is exhilarating.  Second, to look at a piece that has turned out well and having a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment makes me happy.  And lastly, when someone else appreciates my artwork, that's just icing on the cake.

Thanks, Gary!

© 2016 Sophie Marine

DPW Spotlight Interview: Jeanne Bruneau

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

To enter to win Jeanne's painting, "Blue Beetle" go to Daily Paintworks and click on the link at the top of the page announcing their interview.

From Jeanne's DPW Gallery Page:

Jeanne holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Moore College of Art & Design. Following graduation, she pursued a career in graphic design and marketing. While she primarily uses design software to facilitate her work, she always keeps paper and pencil handy to draw quick thumbnail sketches when exploring concepts. Jeanne's ability to sketch and compose designs quickly provided her with the foundation necessary for her transition to and current passion for plein air pastel and oil landscape painting. (click to read more)

Tell us a bit about how you first started painting.

After spending so much time working on computers for my job in marketing, around fifteen years ago, I took a few watercolor and pastel classes at a local art center and got hooked on making art as an alternative to the rigidity of my work at the time, designing catalogs. Once I went outside to paint plein air, making art became a real passion.

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

I work full-time so there are periods when life gets in the way, especially in the winter, when I have a hard time getting motivated in the studio. That's when I resolve to try a new medium or technique.

Blue Beetle
(click to view)

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

What mediums and genres have you experimented with?

I thoroughly enjoy plein air painting in oil or pastel. Painting from life—learning to observe and translate to canvas—has been invaluable in advancing my painting skills. I've been playing with acrylics, too, just having fun with bold color.

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

While I love the immediacy of pastel, I'm concentrating now on oil painting because of the relative ease of framing during plein air events.

Santiago Flower Market
(click to view)

Which ones are you looking forward to exploring?

In oils, my goal is working larger than 16" x 20"; in acrylic, still need to learn their unique properties to use for the best advantage.

Who or what inspires you most?

First, my sister, Patricia Bucko, a self-taught artist whose work is full of whimsy and joy. Then there are artists I follow on Facebook, mostly painting in an Impressionist style, many plein air painters. The common thread is their ability to capture light and shadow and bold color and brushwork.

Blue Velvet
(click to view)

What does procrastination look like for you?

Generally, I procrastinate over upcoming show deadlines, causing myself unnecessary anxiety and stress. But it all manages to get done somehow.

What techniques work to ensure that you make time for your art?

Setting a goal to enter an upcoming show or plein air event, or participating in online challenges is a motivator though the goals need to be realistic—you can't do every event that comes your way. Plus, having a home studio set up even if I can only paint for a half-hour before work.

Brunch at Campbell's Place
(click to view)

How do you generally arrive at ideas for your paintings?

In plein air, I'm attracted to contrast, color, and patterns, and aim to include a strong focal point.

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

I'm always studying other artists' techniques to determine how they might improve my work. Playing with toned backgrounds, experimenting with varying the paint thickness with painting mediums, square vs. rectangle formats, and choosing a variety of locations such as urban scenes.

Winter's Retreat
(click to view)

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

Still learning to 'see' and correctly capture values. When I mull over failed paintings, they generally lack a good value structure.

What makes you happiest about your art?

Besides the meditation-like feeling I get when painting for a few hours feels like minutes, if a subject I paint connects with someone, that gives me a thrill. I painted a little foot bridge in a local park; a woman saw it and told me her son's Scout troop had built the bridge many years ago -- so she bought it for him. Connections like that, even if they don't lead to sales, are very satisfying!

Thanks, Jeanne!

© 2016 Sophie Marine