DPW Spotlight Interview: Vitali Komarov

Each week we will spotlight a different DPW artist who will give away one of their best paintings. To enter to win Vitali's painting "Daisy Flowers" go to Daily Paintworks and click on the link at the top of the page announcing their interview.

From Vitali's DPW Gallery Page: 

Working in a variety of media throughout his career, including painting, printmaking, and drawing, artist Vitali Komarov’s art is characterized by a focus on colors, shapes, a masterful use of light and shadow, and attentiveness to nature and his details. His vision of the world is full of hope, his paintings uplift the spirit and promise new beginnings.

Vitali Komarov is born in 1968 in Russia, now he lives and works in Lednice, Czech republic. He loves nature and walking and enjoyed painting directly from nature. Embedded in the European tradition, he has been influenced by artists of different nationalities, who taught him never to stop learning and to always enjoy life. Artist’s works are full of life, in which every season offers so many wonderful subjects. His vision of the world is full of hope; his colours are bright, yet sensitive. His works uplift the spirit and promise new beginnings. What really matters to him is to be truthful and simple in conveying his vision to his audience.

Vitali has been inspired by the works of Vincent Van Gogh and adopted his bright optimistic palette and bold line. Continuing forward, Komarov developed his own style of impressionism with a modern twist. Living in the Czech Republic, Vitaly has been inspired by Andy Warhol, whose parents emigrated from that country in 1914 to the U.S. Vitaly loves Warhol’s originality of composition and the courage seen in his art. As a result artist started producing screen prints in his studio in Lednice. French post-Impressionist Paul Cézanne has played a big role in inspiring Komarov’s artistic creativity including the shape of objects, the liveliness of straight lines and presence of amazingly colored light in his art.

Although primarily self-taught, Vitaly studied at the Art School (1983) and the Restoration School (1987) in Saint Petersburg, both in Russia. Artist regularly exhibits at overseas art fair venues. Vitaly lives in the Czech republic but has traveled widely to find inspiration for his work.

Daisy Flowers
(click to view)

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

What did you want to be growing up?

As a child, I didn't want to be anyone. I have always felt like an outside observer of life, of people. 
 
When did your artistic journey begin? 

Around the age of 20-23, I really wanted to express myself. I realized that I was ripe like an apple on a tree. Before that, I went to school and did what the adults said. But even when we express ourselves, we always repeat someone else's experience. There is no such thing as 100% original.
 

Open window view landscape
(click to view)

Did you have any long periods without creative expression? How did you get back on the horse?

I have never had a period without creative expression. I got upset by the disregard of others for my work. It slowed my creativity.

Which mediums and genres do you gravitate toward? Which ones don’t appeal?

I can enjoy all mediums and genres. The only thing I don't like is vulgarity. I also take abstraction hard.

Banana Still Life
(click to view)

What was the process like of pinpointing your personal style or finding your voice?

You need to take your favorite style or your favorite artist and try to copy his technique and worldview as accurately as possible, with great love and attention. You will be surprised by how much knowledge you will gain. At this stage, you must withstand the accusation of plagiarism. If you are persistent, then you will fall from that foundation into your personal style. But it's a long-distance ride. However, without copying, the path is harder and more mistakes will be made.

Red poppy field
(click to view)

Name an artist (or artists), well-known or not, who you admire. Why? 

I admire Vincent van Gogh for his love of simple, not showy things, for his amazing rhythm and color. I admire Paul Cezanne for his form, depiction of the air, surroundings, ambiance, airiness. I admire Andy Warhol for decorativeness, courage, frivolity, and subtle humor. I admire the artists of the Renaissance, because jewelers have grown into independent artists.

Iris flower bed
(click to view)

If you could offer one piece of advice to your younger, creative self — what would that be?

My advice is to find like-minded persons because the youth is very fragile and needs support as the young tree needs staking.
 
Do you utilize any habits or tricks for winning the distraction and procrastination battle?

Ideas die fast within 3 months, and there are not many good ideas, ideas are valuable commodities. You need to force yourself to implement the idea, even if it begins to die. And then it is not your business to judge the result. There are connoisseurs even for the worst art.

Waste
(click to view)

In moments of self-doubt or adversity, how do you push forward?

I push forward to visit art museums many times. Museums are expensive and I spent a lot of money. I envy that British museums are free to visit. You need to visit museums literally for the sake of several great paintings. You need to study museum artworks very carefully. Unfortunately, the Internet cannot compensate for live art.

What are some of your long and short term goals for yourself or your art?

My goal is to make sure that my wife does not lose interest in my artwork.

Old willow tree
(click to view)

What does success mean to you personally?

I don't know the answer to this actual question. I try to drive away thoughts of success. Maybe success is people's memory of you or money? Or success is to do what you want. Waste of life on nonsense is easier than it looks.
 
What is one of your proudest moments in your creative life?

My proudest moments are to live inside of European culture; touch, see and learn Western art culture directly in person.

Old house in Venice
(click to view)

Thanks, Vitali!

© 2022 Maddie Marine

DPW Spotlight Interview: Karen Reynolds

Each week we will spotlight a different DPW artist who will give away one of their best paintings. To enter to win Karen's painting "Hot Lips" go to Daily Paintworks and click on the link at the top of the page announcing their interview.

From Karen's DPW Gallery Page: 

I have always had an eye for beautiful things. Even as a small child I wanted to create and use color. I remember being very excited to open a big, brand new box of crayons or paint. Everything about them from the way they looked to the way they smelled made me happy. Over the years my creativity has taken many forms from sewing curtains and Halloween costumes to painting furniture and walls to decorating and staging homes as well as designing and caring for plants and gardens. It is who I am and what I love to do. I am a self taught painter with a commercial art degree living in beautiful Charleston, South Carolina with my husband and family. This is a wonderful place for an artist to live due to it's rich history and natural beauty but I also travel whenever I get the chance because there is nothing more enlightening than exploring other places, people and cultures. I paint what I see whether it is in my own backyard or a wonderful unexpected place I visit nearby or halfway around the world. Since I love color and the amazing things that happen to a place or object in light or shadow I strive to capture that in my subject matter. I work mostly in acrylics on canvas and it brings me much joy to know that my artwork is proudly displayed in many homes around the country and cherished by those who see it daily. My goal is to bring happiness with my art so I hope you love what you see.

Hot Lips
(click to view)

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

What did you want to be growing up? 

Growing up, I only ever wanted to do something creative. I didn’t have much in the way of artistic influence around me so I wasn’t sure what careers were available for artists enough to pinpoint anything specific. I just always knew that making things look a certain way was important to me.

When did your artistic journey begin?

Even as a small child I saw everything as an opportunity to explore color and shape. When I was in school I only ever wanted to be in the Art Studio where it smelled like clay and paint and I could get lost in my artistic process. I didn’t care nearly as much about any of my other classes. I have always been happiest when creating and spending time with other creative people.

 

Orange you glad?
(click to view)

Did you have any long periods without creative expression? How did you get back on the horse? 

I honestly can’t remember a time when I haven’t done something creative. I see opportunities everywhere to make things around me more beautiful. I craft, sew, paint furniture, decorate, re-organize, dress, style, photograph, and garden all with a artists mindset. If it’s creative I do it. My issue is more that I have jumped around a lot and haven’t been very focused. Lately, because of having to spend more time at home due to the pandemic I have really honed in on painting. I have made myself paint things that have always intimidated me which makes it easier to jump in and try the next thing and the next and the next...

Which mediums and genres do you gravitate toward? Which ones don’t appeal?

I have certainly tried a lot of mediums over the years and I love things about all of them. I love the luminous quality of oil paint, for instance, but I don’t love the clean up and the toxic substances required for that. I have painted many watercolors, but I find I’m too perfectionistic for the looseness of that medium and I tend to get frustrated. I gravitate towards acrylics because they dry fast and can be layered so quickly. I am also very interested in pastels but I haven’t broken out my supply of those in a long time. I’m sure the day is coming when I will open a fresh box of oil pastels and love everything about them and what magic they can do.

Angel Oak
(click to view)

What was the process like of pinpointing your personal style or finding your voice?

I think you can only find your personal style by doing art all the time. It’s all about practice, practice, practice and gaining confidence. It’s my goal to continue to evolve so I’m not sure I’m done finding my own personal style and I think that’s a good thing.

 

Name an artist (or artists), well-known or not, who you admire. Why?

I love the impressionists way of hinting at their subject matter and using limited brushstrokes and subtle color variations to convey a scene. In my travels I have had opportunities to see many great works like this up close. Renoir, Degas, Cassatt, Van Gogh and others all move me. I once had the pleasure of wandering through Monet’s garden enjoying the place of much inspiration for him in his lifetime. He painted his own immediate surroundings over and over with results that stand the test of time. But my favorite is probably John Singer Sargent who’s paintings take my breath away. I couldn’t believe my luck when I was once in Venice and happened upon a collection of his Venetian paintings. I was absolutely captivated and had to be made to leave the exhibit by my patient husband after hours of wandering and looking. Apparently he wanted me to know that there were other things to explore while in fabulous Venice. I truly love and appreciate so much art for different reasons, but if I have to name just one favorite, the way John Singer Sargent used color and light and shadow is the winner for me. 

 

Boats at Blue Hour
(click to view)

If you could offer one piece of advice to your younger, creative self — what would that be?

Not to sound like a Nike commercial, but just do it. I have wasted a lot of time dancing around the fact that I was given this gift to use it. I have let the idea that I didn’t know where it fits in stop me from fully doing it. I have let my lack of confidence stop me from trying...I would tell my younger self to stop letting the negative voices win and just go for it.

 

Do you utilize any habits or tricks for winning the distraction and procrastination battle?

My issue now isn’t procrastination, it’s making myself step away from the easel so I’m not neglecting every other aspect of life. I find that all I want to do now is paint so I struggle more with putting it down and making time for other things. I have to remind myself that good art isn’t created in a vacuum.

 

Barred Owl
(click to view)

In moments of self-doubt or adversity, how do you push forward?

I sometimes need to just go do something else and get out of my own head. Fresh air, time with loved ones, sleep, mindless household tasks, etc all help me to come back with more focus and energy.

What are some of your long and short term goals for yourself or your art?

In the short term I am busy setting myself up for success by painting consistently and putting my art out there and actively trying to sell it. In the long term I want to continue to learn and improve my technique. I’d really like to get looser and faster as I paint more and more. Connecting more with other artists is also on my to do list.

Wild Orchid
(click to view)

What does success mean to you personally?

Success is when something you create makes someone else feel good. When someone loves what you do enough to spend money on it, hang it in their home, and look at it every day, that is success to me.

 

What is one of your proudest moments in your creative life?

I’ve had many proud moments. It makes me so happy every time I make a connection with someone else through my art and bring happiness that otherwise wouldn’t be there. An extreme example of that came recently when I painted the likeness of a baby who spent his whole short life in a hospital hooked up to all manner of medical equipment. His sweet family didn’t have a single picture of him without all the tubes and tape so I edited all of that out when I painted a portrait of him to give to them. Their appreciation and joy at having his beautiful and unencumbered smiling face forever captured made me feel so grateful for the gift of art I have been given. There just really isn’t anything better than using your talent to bring joy to others.

Samuel
(click to view)

Thanks, Karen!

© 2022 Maddie Marine

DPW Spotlight Interview: Robert Lafond

Each week we will spotlight a different DPW artist who will give away one of their best paintings. To enter to win Roberts's painting "A Bend In The Road" go to Daily Paintworks and click on the link at the top of the page announcing their interview.

From Robert's DPW Gallery Page: 

For me, painting the world that I live in is a way to re-create it and possess it in a loving, sympathetic way.  My approach to painting is to build up marks and brushstrokes that become an image which cannot avoid reflecting my emotional response to what I see.  And hopefully this aggregation of paint positively affects the viewer as well, while it also resembles what I am looking at.  My middle initial H is for “Henri”.  So, amusingly, I’ve always been conscious of being Robert Henri Lafond.  The painter Robert Henri wrote, "Your painting is the marking of your progression into nature, a sensation of something you see way beyond two pretty colors over there.  Don't stop to paint the material, but push on to give the spirit." 

I attended the Boston Museum School, and have an undergraduate degree in Art History (summa cum laude) from Princeton University where I studied under the abstract painter Esteban Vicente. I paint predominantly landscapes and cityscapes in oils and pastels, both in the studio and plein air, concentrating on the Berkshires and Brooklyn.  Learn more and see more at my art blog: markandremark.blogspot.com.

A Bend In The Road
(click to view)

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

What did you want to be growing up?

When I was ten or eleven, I remember dreaming of becoming an architect. My grandfather was an architect. I loved the work of Frank Lloyd Wright. Then in high school, I decided that I wanted to become a painter. My mother always encouraged my artistic bent. A painting of hers depicting Saint Cecilia hung over the piano. We had a book with reproductions of the Ashcan School around the house. I was aware from a young age that my middle name Henri, after my other grandfather, made me Robert Henri Lafond. I drew all the time and could catch likenesses easily, so everyone in my family thought I was going to be an artist.

When did your artistic journey begin?

I did a lot of drawing and painting in high school, and thought of going to the Boston Museum School. I grew up in New Hampshire. However, I got into Princeton University on a full scholarship, and went there for my freshman year. I dropped out during my second year. I ended up in Boston where I did attend the Museum School for a couple years. I was also involved in a Catholic Worker soup kitchen where I drew portraits of the men from the streets. Able to return to Princeton after almost three years away, I entered the Art History Program, graduating summa cum laude two years later. At this point I was painting abstractions. My senior thesis was a group of paintings. After graduation I started working full time at the Princeton University Art Museum as Registrar. I continued to paint abstractions. Because of my job, I visited galleries and museums in New York frequently during the heydays of the 70s and 80s, and also traveled to museums in Europe.

Surreality
(click to view)

Did you have any long periods without creative expression? How did you get back on the horse?

My free time outside of work was devoted to painting color abstractions based upon placements and displacements of torn and cut paper. I showed in a variety of local exhibitions, and through a contact, had some paintings briefly in a New York gallery. Then I stopped painting for a long while. I focused upon other interests and changed careers, moving to Information Technology, after taking evening classes for a Masters degree in Information Systems. However, I kept drawing during this time. My drawings were representational, mainly landscapes and buildings.

I’ve never done anything half-hearted. So when I started painting again in earnest, I did it everyday. Why did I start again? Somehow I realized that I have only one life to live, and that painting had to be at the center of it. I’ve painted almost every day now for the last fourteen years. I recently saw a short film of an artist who has stopped working late in life. He regretted that he no longer had the passion to work at it every day. Where does the passion come from? I don’t know. But the passion for painting is necessary.

Which mediums and genres do you gravitate toward? Which ones don’t appeal?

When I started painting every day, I worked with pastels since they are a natural extension of drawing. I slowly started to work again in oils, but this time it was different since I wanted to paint outside as well as in the studio. Then and now I paint mostly landscapes. I like to paint portraits and figures also, but there are fewer opportunities to do so. I’ve always been motivated by my surroundings. I also started to do cityscapes in oil and pastels.  Recently, I’ve started to do gouache paintings because I’m always looking for ways to paint quickly outside and on my travels.

A Little Rainbow
(click to view)

What was the process like of pinpointing your personal style or finding your voice?

Since the time I started to paint every day, I’ve never thought about a style. I just work. It was when I was younger that I worried about a style. I think good painting is dependent upon one’s maturity and experience. My early paintings reflected the artists I admired at the time. I wanted to do my own work then, but I didn’t know what that was.

Name an artist (or artists), well-known or not, who you admire. Why?

When I was younger, I admired Richard Diebenkorn, Jasper Johns, and Willem de Kooning. I tried to paint like them. Today I admire a different group of artists. My favorites include painters like Charles Movalli, Bernard Dustin, Ken Howard, Edouard Vuillard, Albert Marquet, Isaac Levitan, Lois Dodd, Neil Welliver, people who are representational painters with a bend slightly towards abstraction. Another influential painter who perfectly combines painting and the Internet has been Julian Merrow Smith. A mainstay painter has always been Paul Cezanne. There are a lot of wonderful painters today from Russia and England who post their work frequently. I’ve maintained a blog since 2008 and utilize Facebook and Instagram to promote my work. I also sell my work on Etsy and Daily Paintworks. Through the Internet, I’ve met and know of many contemporary artists.

Flowers on the Dining Room Table
(click to view)

If you could offer one piece of advice to your younger, creative self — what would that be?

I’ve often thought that you can’t be where you are now without having gone through what you have gone through. I probably wouldn’t have listened to me back then anyway. I did have to make a living, so there are limits to what one can do if you want to be an artist. My advice to other artists, who might ask me for advice, is to draw. Without being able to draw, you don’t learn to see or paint as well as you could.

Do you utilize any habits or tricks for winning the distraction and procrastination battle?

If I come to a moment when I don’t know what to do next, I draw. It always leads to something. I may go walking with a sketchpad in hand. Or I start a painting I didn’t want to do despite thinking about it for a while.

An Interior
(click to view)

In moments of self-doubt or adversity, how do you push forward?

The moments of doubt do appear. The answer is always to keep working. I’m not really doing it for riches and glory. I can’t control anything except the work I’m doing now. There will always be disappointments. You just have to let them go.

What are some of your long and short term goals for yourself or your art?

A short term goal has always been selling enough art to pay for my expenses to keep making more art. My problem is that I make more than I sell. It reminds me of a definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different outcome.

A long term goal is reaching a point where I can work freely. I can’t say effortlessly, because making good things demands hard work. I like to paint in series. Right now I have a series of small gouache paintings going, and a series of larger oil paintings of mountains. They seem to lead one to another easily.

Late Afternoon, Washington Avenue, Brooklyn
(click to view)

What does success mean to you personally?

Success is building a consistent body of work. How much will survive? Who knows? Of course, I am very prolific. I have hundreds of paintings in my studio. For anything to survive, you have to get it into the hands of other people.

Success also means receiving the occasional praise of other artists. And also giving praise.

What is one of your proudest moments in your creative life?

A time that I will never forget was the opportunity to stay in Aix-en-Provence for a month in 2017. I literally followed the footsteps of Paul Cezanne all over town. I painted several times at the Jas de Bouffan. I walked in the Le Tholonet region outside of Aix, and spent a day painting there at the foot of Mont Sainte-Victoire. You can’t appreciate Cezanne fully if you have not been to Aix and its surroundings. Cezanne was a local painter after all, which reminds me that we are all local painters, painting what we know best if we are to have any success as artists.

A Bit Eerie
(click to view)

Thanks, Robert!

© 2022 Maddie Marine

DPW Spotlight Interview: Thomas O'Brien

Each week we will spotlight a different DPW artist who will give away one of their best paintings. To enter to win Thomas's painting "Oranges in Sunlight" go to Daily Paintworks and click on the link at the top of the page announcing their interview.

From Thomas's DPW Gallery Page: 

Thomas O’Brien is a professional artist that paints seascapes and landscapes characterized by strong use of saturated color and deliberate mark making techniques. His artistic direction is heavily influenced by the impressionist and modernist painters/writers of the 19th and 20th century, particularly Cézanne, Picasso, Faulkner and O’Connor. 

Thomas O’Brien went to the University of New Mexico where he graduated in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in Technical Writing and minor in Art Studio. Having been an artist his entire life, his early pieces were entirely illustrative, using graphite, charcoal, pen and ink. His attempts at oil painting began in the autumn of 2008, where simultaneously his love of depicting landscapes began. 

Thomas O’Brien is also an Active Duty Marine Corps Officer, and has done several art projects for his military community, including: an Alaska Barrier mural in Kuwait City, a conference room historical project, and has designed multiple unit shirts, coins and other relatable content. He is currently painting and teaching at Grapes and Gallery/Columbia Library of Columbia SC, and is professionally represented by CityArt, Columbia’s premier Fine Art Gallery. He also is the host and creator of Columbia Art Group Meet-Up, which has close to 800 members now. 

Oranges in Sunlight
(click to view)

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

What did you want to be growing up?  

I wanted to be like my father or grandfather. Huge influences on my life while growing up.

 

When did your artistic journey begin?

I started drawing at a very early age. As I got older, I kept going with drawing. It was a way to escape to another world, the world I was creating on a page. Continuous drawing eventually led to basic instruction in high school, which in turn led to college courses in the studio art realm. My touchpoint with painting began in college, which was back in 2006/07 ish. A lot of that instruction was very structured. When I joined the Marine Corps back in 2010, there were huge portions of time where I wasn’t painting.

 

Rose Color Study 3
(click to view)

Did you have any long periods without creative expression? How did you get back on the

horse? 

My largest period of silence on the art front was from 2010 to 2014. Painting was not practical due to Marine Corps training, and the stress, and the long hours. I think after I got into a rhythm I could count on, my mind eventually gravitated to making art again. The hours never shortened, I just got more effective at time management.

Which mediums and genres do you gravitate toward? Which ones don’t appeal?

I am primarily an oil painter, but I also do work in gouache. For genres, I stay with landscape, still-life, abstract, sometimes portraiture and figure. Landscape remains my most engaged in subject. I don’t care for traditional watercolor, and acrylic I’m not as familiar with.

Akuna Beach
(click to view)

What was the process like of pinpointing your personal style or finding your voice? 

The process has been a rocky one. There isn’t a good way to find that kind of path, other than putting in the brush mileage. You just start to use certain techniques, certain brushes, certain mediums, and subjects often enough, that your “style” just becomes you. It’s like learning a language, eventually how you talk will be unique to you, but you have to put in the time learning and practicing.

Name an artist (or artists), well-known or not, who you admire. Why?

First and foremost: John Singer Sargent. Without question my favorite artist, ever. I have seen his work many times in person, and every time I am blown away. The more I study him, the more I realize how little I know. For me, his economy of strokes, accuracy, looseness, and overall mastery of the basics (values, color, composition, etc.) just impresses the hell out of me. Other notables: I love a good Turner piece, most artists out of the Hudson River School scene, and some of the impressionists: Monet, Matisse, etc. As far as contemporary artists go, Richard Schmid jumps right out at me, your SF scene (Mann, Kustusch, Sexton, Dhein, etc.) Australia’s Colley Whisson & Ken Knight, and landscape virtuoso Scott Christensen.

Lion Color Study III  
(click to view)

If you could offer one piece of advice to your younger, creative self — what would that be?

Get your head into the books, and save your money!

 

Do you utilize any habits or tricks for winning the distraction and procrastination battle? 

The only trick that works for me is education. Sometimes, I have to be honest with myself and acknowledge when my education isn’t getting me further along. I have to constantly be edifying myself to evolve. Zorn, Sargent, Schmid, et.al. were total consumers of history. Knew where the game came from, and where to take it. I take best practices like that from the top tier guys and try to incorporate that into my own practice.

 

Buddha in Jade  
(click to view)

In moments of self-doubt or adversity, how do you push forward? 

I approach this systematically, I am disciplined and I find that discipline tends to keep adversity at bay. The more discipline you exhibit, the more freedom you have/earn. 

What are some of your long and short term goals for yourself or your art? 

Short term for me is defined as 1-5 years and within 5 years I want to be represented by galleries on either coast of the United States and do more shows. Long term goal would to be able to subsist off art as a profession, own a gallery, and get into instruction.

Taken by the Tide
(click to view)

What does success mean to you personally?  

Mastery of the process (process defined as the execution of painting, the market aspect, the administrative aspects, etc), and peer respect.

 

What is one of your proudest moments in your creative life?

Being accepted as a Marine Corps Combat Artist for the Marine Corps Museum in Washington DC.

Plum Color Study
(click to view)

Thanks, Thomas!

© 2022 Maddie Marine