DPW Spotlight Interview: Ling Strube

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

To enter to win Ling's painting, "Persimmons and a Knife" go to Daily Paintworks and click on the link at the top of the page announcing their interview.

From Ling's DPW Gallery:

Ling Strube is a distinctive and a passionate artist who was born and raised in China. At a very young age, she had expressed her ardent love for art especially in painting. After finishing high school, she decided to enter into an art school to formally train for three years. In the year 1990, she migrated to Australia and started working as a street portrait artist as her first job. Her effectiveness fostered after getting employed as an illustrator artist in few of the reputable companies in Australia. In 1996, she attended Eastern College of TAFE in Melbourne, Australia and took up Computer-aided Art and Design for two years which broadened her knowledge in the field of art. She then later worked as a Graphic Designer in Trellian Pty. Ltd. in Melbourne. By the year 2000 she migrated to Germany for good. (click to read more)

Tell us a bit about how you first started painting.

When I was still a young girl, by chance I saw a lady artist who lived in our neighborhood drawing a beautiful portrait. This aroused my great interest. After I finished high school, I took some workshops and learned some basic painting and drawing skills. Later, I studied graphic design as my profession in art school but it has always been my dream to become a painter.

Persimmons and a Knife
(click to view)

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

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

Yes, since becoming a graphic designer, I have constantly been involving in the graphic design business and working with my computer. But now and then I still like to paint, especially when I have a lot of stress. Painting is a very pleasing way to relax.

What mediums and genres have you experimented with?

When I started to paint, I experimented with acrylics and watercolor. Later, I found out that oil is my favorite medium. Regarding genre, flower and still life are still my main subjects but I also like to paint landscapes and animals very much. I have drawn many portraits for people and sometimes also painted these in oil.

A Beautiful Summer Day in Germany Village
(click to view)

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

Working with oil definitely stuck with me. I haven’t painted watercolor for a long time. I hope that one day I will pick up this wonderful medium and work with it again.

Which ones are you looking forward to exploring?

Recently, abstract landscape has appealed to me very much. If possible I would like to learn some of the techniques and skills for this. I am looking forward to exploring abstract style.

I am the Queen
(click to view)

Who or what inspires you most?

My works are highly inspired by some of the renowned artists of the 19th century - Claude Monet, William-Adolph Bouguereau and Nicolai Fechin. I am also inspired by some renowned contemporary artists including Richard Schmid, David Leffel, and Sherrie McGraw. All the beautiful shapes and nice color combinations from nature inspire me.

What does procrastination look like for you?

Searching for a new subject or thinking about a new composition to paint sometimes makes me stuck. It is a bit difficult for me to paint the same subject with a similar composition. I prefer my paintings to all look new and fresh.

Amaryllis
(click to view)

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

People can always find the time to do what they really love to do. As a wife and mother, housework takes me a lot of time but painting is always the most important thing for me to do first. When I need a little rest or to avoid staring at the subject for a long time, I do some house work or, after a few days of continuous full time painting, I have one day of rest to do some more housework.

How do you generally arrive at ideas for your paintings?

Flowers and still life are the main subjects for me. I often go to the flower shop and observe various flowers then choose the one that inspires me. I also like to collect some nicely shaped objects for my still life painting. In addition, I carry a camera as often as possible. Playing around with my photos in Photoshop can also help me to have an idea.

Still Life with Tullips
(click to view)

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

I don’t continue one subject for long time. For instance, after doing a few flower paintings, I will change to painting still life or landscape. I am lucky I live in Europe and travel a lot. This can really help me avoid burnout and keep my work vibrant and engaging.

Thanks, Ling!

© 2017 Sophie Marine

DPW Spotlight Interview: Nat Dickinson

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

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

From Nat's DPW Gallery:

​My love of painting landscapes was instilled by my grandfather, an enthusiastic amateur painter. As a child, I would paint with my grandfather on the back porch studio of his summer house in Maine overlooking the Penobscot Bay. Maine remains a key subject of my work, along with my home in Asheville, North Carolina.

My paintings explore those mindful moments when we stop to see the extraordinary transformations of very familiar surroundings. In my daily walks the changes in light, atmosphere, perspective, and color can make the most ordinary scenes become captivating.

My work is shown in juried shows and galleries in Washington, D.C, North Carolina, and Maine. You can follow my daily painting on Instagram. (click to view bio)

Tell us a bit about how you first started painting.

My grandfather was an enthusiastic amateur painter.  When I was small, he would encourage me to paint with him on the back porch of his cottage on the Penobscot Bay in Maine.  I still go and paint at that cottage all these decades later.  Every summer my dozens of cousins will show me yet another of my grandfather's paintings they've proudly kept for years, and remind me of how pleased he'd be that I'm painting.

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

I completed my graduate degree in art, but after some time working in a printmaking shop, I switched to a long career away from creative pursuits. I'd always sculpted or painted throughout that time, and took the first opportunity to return to painting. I've known a lot of artists who struggled with their work when they struggled financially, and I've often wondered whether I would have been a better artist or not if I had persisted.

Through the Trees
(click to view)

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

What mediums and genres have you experimented with?

In college and grad school, we all recapitulated the entire history of modern art over the course of seven years-- a little impressionism, cubism, abstract expressionism, and conceptual art all figured in there.  I was working with wood sculpture when living in New Mexico and some time after, but have focused mostly on landscape painting over the last twenty years-- like my grandfather.

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

90% of my work today is landscape, seascape, or cityscape with acrylic paints.  My sculpture skills and tools are now used for framing and occasional furniture making.

Fairview Barn
(click to view)

Which ones are you looking forward to exploring?

I've never been a technical painter and am not really drawn to exotic media or techniques-- which is somewhat ironic since I was a printmaker in school, and that is all techniques.  At this time, I am focused on working more authoritatively and better expressing light and color.

Who or what inspires you most?

David Hockney does the most brilliant unpretentious documentaries on his creative process.  The recent "A Bigger Picture" and older one on his photo collages have always excited me.  There is not much convergence in our work, but I love to hear him talk.

Mill Pond Passage
(click to view)

What does procrastination look like for you?

I don't really see a benefit in procrastinating or waiting for inspiration. Paint some every day, even if you are likely to end up painting over it.  The big ideas come from a lot of little observations from working through the difficult times.  Otherwise procrastination just feeds itself.

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

Like my dog, I'm habit driven and am uncomfortable when not following my routine.  Make art your habit, and this question doesn't really come up.  I can understand that people have busy schedules that can interfere, but you have to honestly evaluate whether that is what is preventing you from making art.

Rescue Dog Boomer
(click to view)

How do you generally arrive at ideas for your paintings?

I walk for two or three hours a day with my dog, and try to scout for new ideas and subjects while doing so.  I plan out ten or fifteen paintings ahead of time, and so I get to pick out the one that most excites me.

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

I recently attended an artist's colony for two weeks, and that was a great opportunity to live with other artists in a new place and context.  I worked incredibly hard and had a great time.  The challenge is to take the excitement of that experience and carry it back to the routine of the studio.

West on Patton
(click to view)

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

How to manage being a selling artist.  It's very challenging maintaining your self-esteem and vision when faced with market pressures, and it is a constant effort trying to find the right situation and audience for your artwork.

What makes you happiest about your art?

The continuous improvement I see.  I think a lot about how my experience of making a series of paintings is so different from the viewer's experience of seeing a single finished work.  The paintings I love best are the ones that seem to flow from the brush, or, conversely, the ones that I had to work hardest to pull together.  That's why the paintings I see are so different from the ones my audience sees.

Thanks, Nat!

© 2017 Sophie Marine

DPW Spotlight Interview: Peter Lentini

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

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

From Peter's DPW Gallery:

Children possess art as an intrinsic perspicacity which in most is diminished as they mature. Yet there are some who continue to hold the vision. When I attended the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, I majored in sculpture and even though I paint almost exclusively now, some of that sense of fullness and the drama of shadow and light of the solid object still persist in my work. Over the years, I have continued to manipulate materials, building furniture, objects such as spinning wheels, and traditional wooden boats, some photos of which appear on this site at the end of my gallery. (click to read more)

Tell us a bit about how you first started painting.

I have been drawing since I could hold a pencil, painting since first grade and enjoyed visiting art museums from an early age as well. I knew not to touch, well paintings at least, sculpture was another issue.

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

As for stops and starts, of course. When I attended college in fine arts, I majored in sculpture so I have always been engaged in making: wooden boats, working with wood, carving, spinning wheels, furniture, cabinetry, various forms of design, tile work and carpentry always with some painting interspersed. Though I have made a point to paint regularly and have been doing so for some ten years now.

Attentive
(click to view)

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

What mediums and genres have you experimented with?

I have painted more in watercolor, transparent, white paper, but over the last several years have been enjoying working more with oils, usually on stretched cotton canvas but also on wood panels which I make. I use only three colors, primaries, a red, a blue and a yellow, and with oil of course a white. Nothing falls away, I learn from each and every venture, every aspect and approach; it is all a way of seeing regardless of details.

Which ones are you looking forward to exploring?

I am easily satisfied and absorbed so I am rarely aware of any conscious change or attempt to change. I do not seek excitement or novelty, but I do enjoy depth and intimacy with the medium beyond mere thinking.

Mona and Lisa
(click to view)

Who or what inspires you most?

There might not be inspiration per se, but I enjoy the work of other artists if I find an emotional connection or I admire the manner in which they conceive composition or value relations sometimes with all aspects present.

What does procrastination look like for you?

I do not procrastinate, though I do not paint every day either but I usually have an idea of what I want to paint next and start easily enough at the right time, without anguish or waiting for a muse.

Vapor Arch
(click to view)

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

As for making time for art, that is directly related to wanting to make art. I look forward to and enjoy painting so I paint.

How do you generally arrive at ideas for your paintings?

Ideas for painting, there are always far too many, but I will narrow the field, mix it up, get close and something will clarify itself as requiring my attention. Of course, there has to be incentive so the idea must be evocative. At least for representational art, many beautiful subjects or situations cannot be rendered successfully with painting. Words can form beautiful images, but these often will not migrate onto the canvas.

Duo et al
(click to view) 

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

I would never give a thought to "keeping it fresh", however, paint what you enjoy and never look back, set no goals, remain unfocused. Build a wall, make some stairs, prune a tree. Art is not suited for tedious rules or regulations. As Gandalf might have said, “A wizard is never late, but always arrives when he chooses.” There is never too much of this or too little of that. The painting simply needs to work and above all the result must be pleasing or more if possible. Never allow anyone to define you, ever.

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

I do not think in terms of "learning", nonetheless, it is always about seeing and making, never conscious, never imagining what I am doing is art, because it may not be and I am better off not knowing. However, always attempt to make better art, to see more deeply, to enjoy more obliviously.

Duet at First Light
(click to view)

What makes you happiest about your art?

Specifically, the time in an oil painting when the white is gone, (not the same for watercolor) then it begins to manifest itself, then every move is of consequence, that is a pleasure, absorbed and painting. The joy of art is the fulfillment of making something, having something appear that was once only gessoed white canvas, something from nothing even if that is only an illusion. It is only an illusion anyway no matter what we may pretend to the contrary. So simply, something from nothing, a gift, a surprise.

Thanks, Peter!

© 2017 Sophie Marine

DPW Spotlight Interview: Vishalandra Dakur

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

To enter to win Vishalandra's painting, "Museum Visitor 1" go to Daily Paintworks and click on the link at the top of the page announcing their interview.

From Vishalandra's DPW Gallery:

Born and raised in Hyderabad area, Vishal dreamed of attending the Fine Art College, Hyderabad, but instead pursued an Engineering Degree (B.E. Mechanical) at the Osmania University to satisfy his parents insistence on a more practical path to earning a living.

Vishal was born an artist. Drawing was his passion and he practiced daily. Recognition for Vishal's efforts came early. In 1962, at the age of twelve, A.P. Govt invited him to paint and present the portrait painting of Sri S. Radhakrishnan, President of India at the public gathering at Nizam College grounds. The President appreciated his art and garlanded him.

In the year 1964, (at the age fourteen) Press Club of Hyderabad invited him to conduct 1st Solo Exhibition of his paintings, inaugurated by then Cultural Minister of A.P. Govt, Sri M.R.Appa Rao.
Vishal’s early paintings were studies in Realism. Later, he concentrated on the painting style of impasto combining Indian painting strokes and Western colors. Vishal refined his paintings to capture the energy and movement in the topic of his personal history and life's rich memories. One outstanding aspect of Vishal’s art is his unique ability to communicate dynamic movement. In order to have lines and strokes contain aesthetic meaning, first he'll use abstract strokes with vivid rhythms to describe the most complicated human feeling and body language. In the details, the lines and planes are very modern looking, with a realistic feeling. Vishal’s ability to capture the essence of his subject matter while allowing the viewer to participate is sublime.

He received in 2009, National Award in the117th All India Annual Art  Exhibition, conducted by The Bombay Art Society at Jahangir Art Gallery.
In the years 2008 and in 2009, he received Finalist Awards twice from ARC Salon International, New Jersey, USA.
In the year 2009, he was selected to Signature Membership in ISAP (International Society of Acrylic Painters), CA, USA.

Tell us a bit about how you first started painting.

My mother recognized my talent at the age of seven or so when I spoiled all the white washed outer walls of my house with the charcoal sketches of portraits of then movie heroes. Then she purchased drawing materials and encouraged me to practice. So my self taught journey started.

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

I never stopped but slowed during my studies.

Museum Visitor 1
(click to view)

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

What mediums and genres have you experimented with?

I practiced many paintings in watercolor in my childhood, now I've switched to oils and acrylics. Learning and practicing in watercolors makes it easy to paint in oils, is my thinking. I think I have painted many in every genre.

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

Watercolor is the medium I left and presently I am doing many oil paintings, and acrylics also.

New York in Night 7
(click to view)

Which ones are you looking forward to exploring?

I am unable to sell Native American art, which is the genre I love to paint most; I have painted some thirty of my best paintings in this genre in oil but they are not sold. I have done more figurative paintings and landscapes and sold many.

Who or what inspires you most?

Howard Terpning, I have learnt and improved my talent a lot from his painting style. Whenever I am free I study his paintings, usually every day.

Untitled
(click to view)

What does procrastination look like for you?

I am always busy drawing or painting something, never idle.

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

Most of the paintings are done in the night, which is the time I prefer for detailed work. I don’t like the noise of the streets.

New York in Night 4
(click to view)

How do you generally arrive at ideas for your paintings?

The toughest subject for me is getting to best ideas for starting a painting. I get lot of ideas but never settle on one to paint, but once it's selected in my mind, painting starts and completes.

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

I love to handle many subjects in my style so there is no creative burnout in my life.

Museum Visitor 7
(click to view)

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

Last year's paintings look bad to me, and this year's paintings may look bad to me next year, so I've learned I am not perfect even after ten years. Practice, practice….

What makes you happiest about your art?

I am happy because my mind, my eyes, and my hands are blessed by God such that they create a painting, and I give that to my buyers who praise me everyday.

Thanks, Vishalandra!

© 2017 Sophie Marine