Hello dear friends!

I’m super excited to introduce you an amazing couple – artists Debbie and Brian Miller!

If you are not familiar with their beautiful, full of life and happiness art – you would definitely be very pleased to discover them! I feel so lucky and grateful to bring you this interview and hope you will read it just as much as I’m!  And the best part – you can even win their original art too!

*****

Brian and Debbie Miller, December 2019

“We are the Millers, Brian and Debbie.  After years of buying other people’s art, dabbling with expressive art and mixed media, and (for Debbie) being an avid crafter, we took a serious turn in our artistic practice when we learned about the Daily Painting movement in March 2016.  We’ve been painting together every day since.  We are truly best friends and love to spend time together, so when you see one of us, the other is likely to be nearby.  We’ve been married for over 30 years.  Though we don’t have children, we have invested in various forms of creative expression and spiritual community as our way of leaving our mark on the world.

1.      What’s your scariest experience?

We had to weather a very scary experience early in our marriage.  Two years into our life together as newlyweds, Debbie was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer.  About the time we thought we would be starting a family, we were spending our days in doctor’s offices, hospitals, and cancer treatment centers.  It wasn’t the future we had imagined for ourselves, and it made us face a lot of fears.  It also made us less likely to take our life together for granted.  Thankfully, Debbie has been cancer free since that time, but it did change our lives dramatically.

In particular, not being able to have children really caused an existential crisis for us – what does it mean to be generative and have a legacy if you don’t have children? In a very family-oriented world, how do we figure out what it means to be a family of two?  And how do we go on risking loving each other so fully when we are very clear that there are no promises about how long we will have together?  Discovering the answers to these questions for us – doing that work together – has been hard and really, really good.  It has brought us even closer together, and forged our sense of mission, especially in the area of encouraging creativity in others.Debbie & Brian on their wedding day, November 1989

2.      What jobs have you done other than being an artist?

Debbie:  Well, between the two of us, I think I win in the “crazy jobs I have had” contest.  My first job in high school was selling women’s hosiery in a department store.  Since then, I’ve worked in a library, as an editorial assistant for an education journal, as a retail bridal store owner, and a lexicographer (dictionary maker).  All that before I started an 18-year career in the Solid Waste Management industry (helping cities and counties figure our more cost-effective ways to pick trash and yard waste and recyclables).  Then I transitioned from that world to go to seminary and get my Masters in mental health counseling – just a switch from managing physical garbage to emotional garbage, I guess.  I am now in private practice as a counselor, and I also work as a spiritual director and creative depth coach (expressive art).

Brian: Since graduating from art school with BFAs in animation and film-making, I have worked in many capacities in the field of commercial art.  As graphic arts and the need to communicate in a digital world changed over time, I found myself getting increasingly interested in the technical aspects of my work.  Now I am an IT administrator for a large corporation.  Ironically, the more technical my day job has become, the more energy I have for my personal artwork.  I love being at my easel, working on art that is self-directed rather than client-directed, and making art that doesn’t involve a computer screen between me and the materials.

3.      How is your personality reflected in your art?

First of all, you have to see our studio tables to really grasp our differences.  For Debbie, if things aren’t in sight, they cease to exist.  So she likes piles.  And she likes ALL the art supplies.  If there are 42 colors of pastels available, why live with only 10? Her philosophy is: “more is more.”  Brian, on the other hand, is more of a “less is more” kind of guy.  He likes a limited palette.  He likes to see what he can do with the fewest number of materials.  He likes things put away and out of sight.

Debbie’s studio space, 2020                                        Brian’s studio space, 2020

So, it turns out that those traits come through in our paintings.  When we first started our daily painting practice, we painted flowers every day for a year or so.  We worked on 6” x 6” hardboard panels, and we stored them in his and her shoeboxes.  One of our clients was looking through the boxes of our artwork, and she observed (very astutely) that Debbie likes to paint close-up compositions with lots of flowers close together and Brian likes to take a more distant point of view and put lots of space between the flowers.

It turns out that that is a pretty good description of our personalities.  Brian is more introverted and less interested in a big congregation of flowers (or people).  And Debbie is a gatherer, she likes to bring flowers (and people) together.  She likes her worlds to collide.

So, our art tells our story.

Brian’s Painting #1000                                    Debbie’s Painting #1000

4.      What does your daily/weekly artist practice/ritual look like, and how much time do you commit to it?

We get up each morning (during the week) at 5am, turn on the coffee pot, get the studio lights turned on, and – as soon as the coffee is ready – start painting.  90% of the time, we are each working on a small painting that we call our “daily squares” – created with oil or acrylic on 6” x 6” wood panels with 1-5/8” deep sides.  Typically, we listen to music (classical of acoustic folk) or a podcast (from true crime to faith and creativity related topics) while we work.  And we usually spend about 45 minutes to an hour on each painting (direct painting time).  Then we take digital photos and make a post on social media.  All of that before showers, breakfast, and getting on with our day jobs.

On weekends, we usually don’t start painting until later in the day, and we may choose to work on larger works then, when we have more time to explore and play.  It’s not uncommon for us to spend 4 to 8 hours at our easels on a weekend day, punctuated by the occasional break for food and naps. 😉

But the art-making is only part of the time commitment.  Debbie is in charge of procurement.  She manages the inventory of our supplies and does all the ordering of paints, substrates, and collateral materials.  Brian manages the inventory of our physical paintings, scans our artwork, color balances the digital images, posts them to our websites, and does most of the varnishing.  Both of us paint edges of the wood panels (we like working with them because they are self-framing). And Debbie does most of the work to identify and coordinate shows and exhibit opportunities.  Brian is the architect of how we hang shows (he’s a savant about organizing a visual space).

And that doesn’t include our teaching endeavors.  We teach a 6-week class evening class for adult learners at a local community art center (five sessions per year).  This commitment takes at least 8 hours per week.  Plus we are developing online teaching lessons.  So there are PowerPoint presentations, videos, and promotional materials to be made.  We share in those responsibilities.

And we have to stay fresh.  So we are serious about spending time looking at art (browsing through art on Instagram, going to shows and art fairs, going to museums and galleries, doing studio tours, etc.)  Plus, we indulge our passion for learning at least 3 times per year by taking art workshops that build our skills, help us to stay inspired, and let us make connections with other artists.

The bottom line is that there’s a lot that goes into the administrative and business part of things, so making art is a relatively small part of our overall time commitment.

A flow chart of our practice, from easel to “market.”

5.      Where do you create? How do you organize your work space?

We have a home studio where we create.  It was actually a really significant part of our creative journey to dedicate that space to our art-making.

When we first started painting, we had to set up our easels in the dining room or kitchen and take them down when company was coming.  It made us feel fragmented and somehow seemed to downgrade the significance that art-making had in our lives.

So one day, we looked at our house and realized that the family room, the largest room in the house was organized around the TV.  Everything pointed to it.  So, clearly, the most real estate in our home (and maybe our lives) was dedicated to watching someone else’s art.

We got bold and decided to make a big shift.  We moved the couch and TV into the much-smaller “formal” living room, and turned the family room into our joint studio.  Now, our space reflects what we feel are our real priorities.

6.      Do you decide ahead of time what you are going to paint or is your work primarily intuitive?

Um…yes, no, sometimes, maybe??

Debbie typically arranges a bunch of flowers on the weekend that might end up as the subject of one of our daily paintings. And we are always collecting still life objects and over-buying produce on the off chance that those lemons or carrots will be needed for a painting.

Plus we both spend a lot of time noodling about what we want to do next.  What technique do we want to try? What artist is inspiring us? What series do we want to work on?  We try to spend time on at least one weekend morning talking about our art goals and dreams and wish lists.  The answer to those questions may determine what we choose to work on each day.

But we don’t like feeling hemmed in, either.  So, we both want the flexibility to let our mood re-direct us.  Brian might be right in the middle of a series of bird paintings and get inspired to paint the sunflowers that are sitting on the kitchen table instead.  We want to be able to be responsive to those impulses.

And we both do better when we are working from some kind of reference – life (Brian’s preference) or photographic (Debbie’s preference).  When we paint from our imagination only, we tend to drift into old “shortcuts” and styles and miss out on the power of the creative conversation that goes on between the artist, the reference, and the materials.  We admire intuitive painters, but we both feel like our purely intuitive paintings feel less successful at this stage of our artistic practice.

7.      What art do you most identify with?

Brian:  Over time, my artistic influences have changed.  I used to be more attracted to bold, graphic art in an “illustration style,” with highly saturated colors.  But over the past few years, I have become increasingly drawn to observational painters and more traditional genres of painting: still life, portraits, and landscapes.  I don’t paint much figurative work, but I love to look at painters who work in that realm.  And I find myself more compelled by art that whispers rather than shouts (to paraphrase something Elana Hagler said on a The Savvy Painter podcast).

Debbie:  I feel really grateful to a few artists that I’ve taken workshops from, especially Annie O’Brien Gonzales and John Whipple, because they encouraged me to keep files of artwork and artists that inspired me.  Annie Gonzales calls it your artistic family tree.  And John Whipple suggests that it’s good to let yourself “channel” these masters of a style that is moving you, in order to learn how you want to incorporate some of that energy into your own work.  So I have been creating Pinterest boards whenever I find an artist whose work I find compelling or inspirational.  When I need an infusion of inspiration, I can look through these artists’ works and get motivated to try new things, press into some established practices, etc.  I have a wide range of influences – from artists who rely on whimsical, primitive, mark-making and mixed media techniques to traditional oil painters who do highly realized still lifes.  In my day to day artmaking, I think I most often end up doing still lifes in a more fauvist or impressionistic style or working with vintage images.

8.      Is the artist life lonely? What do you do to counteract it?

We realize that we are really fortunate.  We share a studio space and we create together every day.  Even with all that togetherness, though, there is always the moment where it’s just you and the canvas.  No one else can do it for you.  You have to find the will and the inspiration.  You have to make the micro-decisions.  You have to bear the insecurity of whether you can do what you want to do.  You have to face down the inner critic.

Don’t get us wrong, we know how great it is to be able to confess crippling self-doubt to each other or ask for technical suggestions at any point in the creative process.  But even our proximity and accessibility to each other doesn’t completely alleviate the tension of the artist’s journey.

We also value artistic community.  We regularly organize “paint ins” at our studio and invite friends to come and paint with us.  And, for the past 2 years, Debbie has done a project as part of The 100 Day Project initiative, spearheaded by Lindsay Jean Thomson, that she calls #100daysofencouragement.  In a spirit of promoting community over competition, she tries to find artists who inspire her, some of whom may not be well-known, and introduce them to the Instagram community and invite people to look at their work and offer encouragement.  This is a practical way that she tries to counteract not only her own artistic loneliness, but also the potential loneliness of other artists.

9.      What role does the artist have in society?

Debbie:  I think the role of the artist in society is to experience and steward beauty, and this matters, because, as Dostoyevsky penned “beauty will save the world.”  In one of his latest books, The Artist’s Journey, Stephen Pressfield theorizes that the artist, having survived her own “hero’s journey” of great risk, facing death, and winning the prize, must return and bring gifts to the community.  I see this path as part of the artist’s role – to enter the mystery of the creative process, to bear that tension, to receive a creative impulse, and to bring it back, incarnate it, and offer it to self and the world.  I know that might sound lofty, when mostly I just enjoy mixing colors and painting for the sheer fun of it.  But I think beneath those simple acts is a deeper meaning.

Brian: I agree with Debbie’s comments, but I also think that one roles of the artist is to stimulate and encourage creativity in others.  When we engage in any kind of creative activity – cooking a meal, raising a child, gardening, dancing, or creating visual art – we will be more connected to ourselves and the Creator.  And I think that is one of the great values of being an artist.

10.      What do you dislike about the art world?

Here’s the tension that we always talk about.  We love the idea of being in the “art world.”  Finding our place in a community of art-makers, developing friendships and relationships, learning the lingo, building a network – these are all things that have really been fulfilling and life-giving to us.  In particular, we have gotten so much out of being part of the Instagram “art world” and participating in things like #the100dayproject.

BUT…on a fundamental philosophical level, we also think that there should NOT be an “art world” and a “non-art world.”  We believe that EVERYONE is creative in some way.  Everyone is an artist, responsible for the art of creating their lives.  We don’t like the idea of gate-keepers who get to decide that some art is “worthy” and other art is not.  Which is one of the reasons that we have been so energized by the artistic opportunities created by social media.  It is the democratization of art.  Anyone with access to a camera and any kind of art supplies can post their art and have it get a world-wide audience.  We love this idea.  And we want to encourage more and more people to take risks to create and show their work.

11.      What is your dream project?

Brian:  I would love to a series of bigger and more complex still lifes.  Our friend, artist Sarah Sedwick, describes her home as having little collections of possible still life compositions sprinkled throughout her living and studio space.  I would love to do that. Sit with complex arrangements, really notice the impacts of light and shadow, observe shapes and colors, tinker with what works and doesn’t work.  And I want to work in series.  My early life as an animator has marked me deeply, and I find that nothing makes me happier than creating multiple paintings, thematically grouped, that allow me to explore subtle variations and come at a creative “problem” from multiple directions.

Debbie:  I would like bring together two streams of my life – my therapeutic/coaching work and my fine arts work.  I’m hoping to be able to develop a class or workshop or retreat that allows people to explore “art as a sacred storyteller.”  In particular, I’d like to create a body of my own work of images that express the archetypal energies that I find myself in relationship with most often in my life.  And I’d like to help others identify their core archetypal influences and create artistic expressions that give “face” to those energies.  I think it would be a powerful way to engage healing, personal development, and creative expression.

12.      As an artist, from where do you feel your creativity stems ( not external inspiration, but the initial drive/motivation within). Do you believe it’s in your DNA, born of early life circumstance or a combination?

We believe that everyone has creativity as part of their DNA.  We believe that we are made by a Creator and that we are image-bearers, stamped with the impulse and capacity to create.  Whether those impulses are honed, encouraged, or squashed is part of each of our personal stories.

For Brian, he decided in 3^rd grade that he wanted to be an artist, and he was encouraged to pursue that dream.  His parents supported his desire to go to art school, and sent him for special art training whenever they could.  So it wasn’t hard for him to own his creativity and think of it as a primary part of his identity.

In Debbie’s family, she wasn’t encouraged to do anything that she wasn’t naturally good at.  She didn’t have any natural talent at drawing or sports or music, so she wasn’t encouraged to try.  Instead she focused on where she shined, which was academics.  But what those early messages kept her from discovering is the value of practice.  Art and music and sports all have a rhythm of discipline and skill development that comes from practice and drills.  For Debbie, she didn’t discover until she was 58 years old that she would get better at drawing and color theory and brushwork if she practiced regularly.  So for her, the discovery of the Daily Painting movement allowed her to tap into a deeply rooted desire for creativity and give it fresh expression.

Bottom line, we believe that everyone is wired to be generative, that is to release creative energy into the world.  But this creative impulse needs to be activated and nurtured.

13.      Tell me about your first ever sale of an artwork… how did it happen?

Debbie:  My first artwork sale was in high school.  I embroidered a pair of my jeans with images from the album cover from the movie American Graffiti, and my friends thought they were cool.  When the drama and music departments decided to do the musical Godspell as the spring production, one of the cast members hired me to embroider his jeans with symbols that meant a lot to him.  He sketched out what he wanted, and I hand-stitched the designs like a floss-weilding crazy person, in order to get them done in time for rehearsals.  It was literally a blood-sweat-and-tears project because I pricked my finger so often, and his jeans had little dots of my blood mingled with the colorful embroidery to prove it. (Yuck!)

Brian:  I created a lot of art work (graphics and animation) for commercial clients, starting in college.  But my fine art sales didn’t really begin until relatively recently.  One of the most meaningful sales was an oil still life that I created for a juried art show in Orlando.  It sold on the opening night of the show to another artist who I didn’t know personally at the time, but I admired her work immensely.  So it was a real thrill to be the only sale that night at the show and to know that another artist admired my work enough to purchase it.

“One Week in July, Part I,” 11” x 14” oil on wood panel by Brian Miller

14.      Do you ever get discouraged when a piece doesn’t sell?  Do you create in order to sell?

Most of the time, we don’t create specifically in order to sell.  Occasionally, we will get a commission or paint in response to a particular challenge (call to artists or a themed art show).  But for the most part, we create because we feel called to create.

But, let’s be honest, we paint two paintings every day.  We’ve been doing it for over 1,400 days.  That’s more than 2,800 paintings.  So, we have to do something with them.  And there are only so many times that we can foist our paintings on people as birthday and Christmas gifts!  So, it is definitely helpful to sell our work.  To move paintings from our house out into the world is meaningful.  And this is not a cheap pastime.  So, it’s helpful to sell in order to fund our ongoing art-making and art workshop habits.

And we have to admit that there is some ego involved.  In our culture, the exchange of money is a way of communicating value.  It’s not the only way, but it is the most standard metric, whether we like it or not.  So, it’s hard to not feel like sales translates to success.  And a lack of sales can create some internal doubts and fears.

In our household, Debbie has had more sales pretty consistently than Brian.  For some couples, that could create tension or pain.  But Brian is very confident and doesn’t really need a lot of outward reinforcement to know who he is as an artist.  Debbie is more vulnerable to feeling like she’s a fraud or wondering if she really has what it takes, so the outward validation of sales has been really helpful for building her confidence.  And we are so lucky that we don’t feel competitive.  We are genuinely delighted for one another when we are producing well and/or making sales.  We are each other’s biggest cheer leaders.

And, we really do work to stay grounded in our bigger vision and mission for art-making.  Debbie hired Jenny Doh to mentor her in the business of art a few years ago.  And Debbie was asking Jenny how she handled social media following and “likes.”  Jenny asked Debbie why she cared about social media metrics.  The answer was multi-faceted: (1) ego (let’s be honest); (2) following could translate to potential sales; and (3) a sense of having impact.  Jenny asked a profound question: “What do you want to do with your influence.”  And Debbie realized right away that the answer was “Encourage other people in their creative expression.”  This is a shared vision and goal.  We both feel so passionate about helping people take the next step in their creative journey.  So, our art sales are meaningful, at least in part, because they help to make that dream possible.

15.      I’ve heard that major collectors say that the artist has to be considerate and enthusiastic or else they are not buying anything from them, no matter how good the work is, and that the artist’s personality and disposition count. Do you find this to be so?

We agree with this observation.  We were art collectors before we were painters.  And almost all the art in our collection is from artists that we met and had a sense of connection with.  We have walked out of artist’s booths at art fairs when we were being ignored or when the artist was being openly critical of the show, venue, or other artists.  No matter how much we might objectively like a body of artwork, a negative interaction with the artist will turn us off.

We know that we aren’t the most talented artists out there.  There are people who have more technical skill, more training, more years at the easel, and more creative genius.  But we have had a modicum of success as artists, and we credit our hearts for some of that recognition.  We try to be generous and not live out of a sense of scarcity.  If anyone wants to know how we do something or where we get our supplies, we want to give that information away.  We want to be open-hearted, authentic, down-to-earth, and encouraging.  And we feel like that attitude has made all the difference.  Not only is the quality of our life better, but it has also translated to a growing following and increasing opportunities to share our vision and our art with the world. ”

GIVEAWAY

Today, Debbie and Brian Miller have their online show with Heartful Soul AC over FB group.

To celebrate this event and spread the news both artists are generously offered two original oil paintings as giveaway! You don’t have to buy anything to be entered to the draw, all you should do is:

1. Click on the link below and join the event by checking on “GOING” HERE
2. Invite up to 10 of your friends to the event
3. Let us know that you invited your friends – tag them in comments HERE:

You will get one entry in the drawing for each friend who attends to the event.

Drawing will be made by artists on march 7 – Good luck!

To see art offered for the auction  –  click HERE.

For many originals bidding starts as low as $60!

We hope to see you there!

Big hug and much love,

Olga

Xx

Hello my dear friends,

Thank you all who took a part and participated in the raffle for my online course “Garden Flowers” by donating to wild life Australia emergency fund.

I picked 3 random winners: one from this blog, one from Facebook and one from Instagram.

◊Congratulations to Lisa Denham, Juli Ann and @michlinla!◊

I hope you will enjoy this fun and creative course!

The “Garden Flowers” is a self paced online course created especially for beginners and intermediate artists.

For more information – please click HERE  

February showcase and auction – The Language Of Art

Open now through Friday, February 7th, 3:00 PM EST

Looking for inspiration? or maybe for a one of a kind gift for yourself or your friend?

Artist Renata Loree

Just in time for Valentine’s Heartful Soul AC is having it’s first this year show and auction! We offer variety of styles, sizes, shapes and prices from 9 amazing artists, for every budget!

For more information click HERE 

Artists: Olga Furman, Renata Loree and Bianca Garcia

Olga,
Xx

Hello dear friends! With Holiday season fast approaching we all thinking about special gifts to family and friends. But what could be better and more precious then handmade gift? The answer is – a gift created by you, with love and the special person in mind while creating it!

I’m super excited to present you a brand new class with amazing artist Natalie Chamberlain Mecham! Just in time for upcoming holidays!

In this fun and educational 4 weeks class Natalie Mecham is teaching a special unique technique which combines PAINTING and EMBROIDERY together.

Hello dear friends,

I’m THRILLED to bring you another beautiful and creative year of learning and fun – Paint Your Heart and Soul 2020! Registration is now open!

Our very first Paint Your Heart and Soul was held three years ago. I started it because I had a dream, a mission, a call, to create art classes that are affordable for everybody and everywhere. As we all know, in person art classes are great, but they are not always available, require a long commute and / or are not affordable. Thanks to technology and quite a few generous artist instructors, now you can have just as great classes in the convenience of your own home and time! What is even better, you can watch, stop, rewind and re-watch demonstrations as many time as you want.

We had 18 artists instructors in the first PYHaS who believed in the mission and believed in me, and a few hundreds students who trusted us and helped build the most kind, friendly and inspiring art community online! Thank you for being there, nothing of it would be possible without YOU!

Three years and a few thousands happy students later, I’m super excited and grateful to bring you the biggest and improved edition, PYHaS2020, with 37(!!!) amazing artist instructors, DOUBLE THE SIZE at the same early bird price!!! 

Early bird price is only $99!!! Which makes every lesson about $1.50! It is less then a cup of coffee! I’m very fortunate that our artists instructors agreed to participate, to share their time and knowledge and make these great lessons available to you – our students, for such an affordable price.

* New! In PYhaS2020 in addition to 65 art lessons we added a business lesson, where you can learn about how to licence your art with your favorite retail stores. We hope this lesson will help those of you who want to take your art into the business world.

Join us now for $99 and save $70 off regular price ($169) – this is a limited time offer.

Giveaway

Giveaway Update!
And the WINNER of a FREE membership is 🥁 🥁🥁 Nancy Latham Jenkins!!! Congratulations!!!

Thank you so much to all who participated! I’m sorry you didn’t win the giveaway this time, but you still can catch the early bird sale! $99 ONLY for 65 lessons – click HERE to learn more.

This year we are giving away 37 FREE memberships to participate in PYHaS2020, one per each artist. You can find more information HERE

I’m giving a FREE membership on October 25. Participating is easy, just follow the 3 steps below:

1. Share about our class on your social media – copy/paste link below: https://olgafurmanart.com/paint-your-heart-and-soul-2020

2. Comment where did you share it (could be FB, IG, Pinterest). Multiple shares = multiple entries.

*If you already bought the class and win a Free membership – you will be fully refunded

The raffle closes October 24, midnight EST. The winner will be announced here on October 25.

Thank you for spreading the world! Good luck in the raffle! I hope to see you in class next year! <3

Big hugs and much love,

Olga

Xx

Lucy Brydon with her Wullie 

Please introduce yourself

Hi! my name is Lucy and I live in bonny Scotland! I have been a primary school art teacher for nearly 15 years but have recently given up that work to concentrate on my own art business. I have several online classes at lucysartlab.com in gel printing and watercolour, as well as guest teacher slots in many online art courses. I exhibit my work locally and sell both locally and internationally!

Who are your biggest influences?

I love illustration and children’s book illustration in particular (think Arthur Rackham and the flower fairies for example) I also love the work of Brian Froud and Gustav Klimt, and I think my favourite art movement of all time is the Pre-Raphaelites.

What work do you most enjoy doing?

At the moment I am loving watercolor and gouache! I love painting glazed layers and tiny details I find it really relaxing.

Do you listen to any music/audiobooks while creating?

I love listening to podcasts while I work. At the moment I am a bit addicted to true crime podcasts and I also listen to creative art podcasts such as “creative pep talk” and “don’t keep your day job”, they are so inspiring for self-employed creatives!

What is your dream project?

I am doing one of them in August! I had dreamed for ages of hosting a retreat in a Scottish castle and in August this year I am fortunate to be doing that along with my two art teacher friends! Other than that I would love to do some retreats in sunny foreign locations such as Italy or Spain, and I would love in the future to own a house/space big enough to host my own retreats and art holidays.

Do you use symbolism in your art?

I’m not sure about actual symbols but I do draw inspiration in my images from my Scottish roots, incorporating hares and magical creatures that feature in Scottish folklore. I am also obsessed by the moon and forests and you can see this in my work I think!

What is the biggest challenge in your profession you have faced?

I think to be honest it is the fear of not having a regular pay packet! Although I think we just need to trust that something will always come along! Also I have a love hate relationship with social media. Its amazing in that it has connected us as artists to audiences and other artists all over the world, and opened up possibilities that we didn’t have before (such as online auctions) but it is also a total time sucker!

How did you start making art?

I have always made art I think! I remember when I was little I used to sit and draw after school. But for a long time I did more “crafty type” pieces. I used to do a lot of beadwork using tiny seed beads. Then when I became an art teacher I slowly got back into making my own art after several years of no drawing or painting. I was pretty rusty to begin with! It’s true that you need to constantly practice in order to get better.

Has your style changed a lot? 

Yes! I am terrible for not sticking to a style I like to experiment. When I started out I was definitely inspired by the mixed media collage girls type style and also did a lot of photo transfers, stamping etc. etc…Then I discovered gel printing and was smitten! Recently I have gotten into watercolour and I feel my work is progressing into a more illustrative style.

What does your daily/weekly artist practice/ritual look like?

I am not a good planner or good at sticking to a routine! This also depends on what I have going on at the time, so sometimes I am teaching in person classes and making and editing videos, sometimes I am creating original pieces or prints and products to put in my Etsy shop, and sometimes I am doing admin and paperwork (yuck!!) but I love the variety. I do wish I was more disciplined sometimes though!

Where does your inspiration and ideas come from?

I am inspired by nature, folk tales of Scotland, and children’s book illustrations. I love animals such as foxes and hares, and the moon and forests!

Do you believe it’s in your DNA, born of early life circumstance or a combination?

This is a tricky question I have no idea actually! I do believe that we have tendencies towards certain things (like art, singing etc) that is just in us somehow, but then those things are nurtured by doing them on a regular basis. None is born amazing at art it takes hours and hours of honing a skill which anyone can do, it’s just that the people that end up doing it have a burning desire to do it.

  Where do you create? How do you organize their work space?

I have a room in my house that I use as a studio. I used to have a studio space that I rented but that tragically burnt down in a fire a few years ago. Since then I have just worked in my house which is actually quite handy as I can work in my pjs if I want to. My room has everything I need for my art biz, workspace, shelf space for books and paper etc and my printer. I even have a day bed for mid afternoon naps. It’s pretty crowded and messy most of the time. I’d love a large spacious studio!

When creating does brand products or art quality items make a difference?

I think it depends what art materials you are using and how you want to use them. But for me, I definitely notice a difference in my quality when I use artist quality inks and watercolours for example.
For printing I love using Caligo safe wash inks or Golden Open Acrylics, and for watercolor I think having professional paints and good quality paper makes such a huge difference. I love Daniel Smiths and Schmincke and Arches or Hahnemuhle paper. That being said, if you are learning or just wanting to journal or practice do not be hindered by thinking you need to buy expensive art materials, You can create beautiful art just using charcoal or a pencil on paper!

♥♥♥  Giveaway  ♥♥♥

Lucy Brydon is giving away two fine art prints above and you can win! All you should do is:

1. Visit Lucy’s auction HERE and to comment on your favorite artworks! 

2. Come back and leave a comment with the title/s of your favorite artwork!

Lucy will announce the winner at the end of the auction on event page HERE.

Good luck!

* You can also find a post about giveaway at the auction page and to leave a comment there.

Big hugs and much love,

Olga,

xx

My name is Bianca Garcia, I am a full-time artist. I am happily married (No kids yet). I was born and raised in Jalisco, Mexico.  I started painting with oils at 17, just after finishing my high school. But I have been involved in the art world since I was a little girl. My very old memories are drawing and coloring all the time, even in the middle of my school classes. The art has been my safe world, and it will be forever.

My husband on the left, on the right my younger brother, my Mom, and my Dad. Below my older brother, my niece (my daughter sister) and my sister.

• How did you start making art?

When I finished my High school, I took art classes focused in Oil painting medium. That is why this is my main medium. I just took it as a Hobby, but then I could not stop making art. So, I decided to start my own art studio and teach drawing at first and then Oil painting medium. As I said before, I have been involved in the art world since little girl. My Dad is an artist too, he is a professional sculptor. He was my first Master and my biggest influence in my path as an artist.

Drawing from 10 years ago.

• Who are your biggest influences?

As I said before, my biggest influence has been my Dad. But talking about painters, one of my biggest influences is the great Master Monet. My art is very unlike to his, but I really love his work. I find it so beautiful, inspirational, and very relaxing. I would be standing for hours admiring his art and I would never get tired of seeing it. Some other living artists that have created an impact in my work are, Brad Kunkle, Olga Esther, Jana Brike, Ivana Flores, Charmaine Olivia and June Leeloo. I could write a long list, but they are my most favorites.

Old picture from 10 years ago with my little artists.

• Favorite or most inspirational place?

I could say that I don’t have have a favorite place, but actually it is my own studio. I mean I just love being alone most of my time and to find a place where it could be possible is not easy. To explaining it the better, it is not only an empty room what makes it special, it is what is hanged on the walls, and hidden in my bookshelves, those things make it inspirational. If there was a fire that would burn everything, the only I would need is a new room, and just a few days (after crying it a lot of course) to transform it into my sanctuary and the most beautiful, safe and inspirational place. Once it would be ready, I will not want to be in any other place.

• What work do you most enjoy doing?

The work I love to do the most is painting eyes. Eyes have their own way to express all the feelings hidden in our souls. For me it is the easiest and relaxing thing to paint.  But I am going to admit that in the beginning it was not as easy. But because I do enjoy painting them a lot,  I never gave up on learning to paint them.

• Where does your inspiration ideas come from?

I can tell you a little about what I like the most, and maybe it can give you a clue about where my inspiration ideas come from. I find so fascinating all the weird stuff. I love the tales with no happy endings. The mysterious stories with bizarre characters. I really enjoy watching the very old movies, or set in another era. I love cats, collect masks, write stories, make dolls, and spend alone most of my time. Some people ask why the characters of my paintings look so sad, but what I see is enchanting children and get inspired by melancholy souls.

The Phantom of the opera, this is my most favorite book, musical and movie, I could say that it has been my biggest inspiration.

• Has your style changed a lot?

I don’t think my style has changed a lot, but I have considerably improved my technique. I believe we are beings of change, we need to move on. Sometimes, we change our favorite color, flowers, food, or even feelings. We need that changes in our lives much more than we think. So maybe the only thing I will be changing a lot is the way to express myself through my art.

My old work 

My recent work

• When creating does Brand products or art quality items make a difference?

In my own experience, I can say that I have tried a lot of different surfaces and oil´s brand. And there is a big difference between them. Maybe it will not be easily noticed when the work is finished. But while painting this will be important if you want a rich palette of color and pigment. The most important will be in the process, while you are painting you are going to feel the smoothness of every brushstroke. Because once you have tried an excellent quality material you will not want to come back to use the old ones. (Or maybe just in a very extreme situation).

• Is there a structure to practice, or is it inspired by the particular day?

For me, practicing every single day is a the most important step to improve in any art or work. I paint every day, unless I must go out home, I cannot stay without painting any day, at least 4 up to 10 hours per day.

• What is the biggest challenge in your profession you have faced?

As a professional artist, my biggest challenge was finding my own style. How to hear my inner voice that said what it wanted to express and the way how to do it. How to take that idea from my mind and putting it on a canvas. To create harmony using my creativity while holding my brushes. It sounds easy but once you start the reality makes you change your mind. And that is a main step, because it is where you should try harder and where most people give up.

• Words of wisdom to beginner artist.

There is a very known quote that says, “Every artist was once an amateur” and this is the most real statement. Some people ask me, how do you paint eyes like that? And the very first thing that comes to my mind is like a short video of hundreds and hundreds of hours painting until late, tired, making mistakes, sometimes crying because I thought my work was not what I expected, believing I was not good enough. Yes, we have some of those days once in a while too. But at the same time, it is so important not to lose your goal, make it a priority if this is your passion. Love what you do, and do not care what people thinks about your work, learn to love it first before asking for advice or criticism, and recognize that there is a lot of beautiful art which is just different from yours. And last but not least, is keep practicing as much as you can. And know that we never stop learning.

*****

• To see more of Bianca’s work and to follow her artistic journey, please follow her FB PAGE and INSTAGRAM
• Online classes

Giveaway

By the end of the interview Bianca offering this beautiful set of art cards from her brand new Etsy shop,  just because 🙂

UPDATE – Congratulations Nardja Segui, you won this beautiful set of art cards! Please contact Bianca via FB messenger.

To participate in the raffle all you need to do is to leave a comment to this blog before July 15th. The winner will be announced in my next blog next week. Good luck!

Big hugs and much love,

Olga

Xx

Hello dear art friend,
I hope you had a lovely weekend.
Last week I interviewed my good friend and amazing artist Annie Hamman.
Here are 15 daring questions I asked her.

1 Q: If you could not do art for whatever reason, what would be your second choice?
A: Non-traditional healer: reiki practitioner, tarot cards reader, aura work, herbalist.

2 Q: Do you have to look at work of other artists or can you create without looking at something?
A: I can’t create without first looking at something for inspiration and absorb its energy. Whether its other artists work or a sea shell. I have to look, study, engage and feel what i am looking at. Then, i start painting.

3 Q: What’s your scariest experience?
A: Participating in plant medicine healing ceremony. I had to face intense fears of who I am and what my potential is.

4 Q: Is the artist life lonely? How do you deal with that?
A: Artists do have families, but we are often feel different, socially awkward, misunderstood, weird and creatively obsessed. And it does lead to feelings of acute loneliness. Finding a couple of weirdos like me, to be friends with, often helps. I only have a couple.

5 Q: Do you ever get discouraged when a piece doesn’t sell?
A: Yes, I used to be more so in the past. Eventually I started seeing it as an opportunity to own some of my pieces. After a while I look at these on my walls and realize they are my favorite pieces and I actually never wanted to part with them in the first place.

6 Q: How do you price your work?
A: I look at 2 things: what other artists are charging who are on my level of skill and do similar type of art, and another: what are the buyers in my circle are able to pay.

7 Q: What is the biggest challenge in your profession you have faced?
A: Struggle to preserve established style, because others learned to love it, and at the same time struggle to evolve and grow into a different style.

8 Q: Do you have superpower?
A: Yes, i can see into angelic realm.

9 Q: What is your dream project you never dare to try?
A: To write paranormal romance book. I always thought it to be ridiculously silly idea, but the pages of the books sometimes write themselves in my head.

10 Q: What do you most dislike about you?
A: I try very hard to pretend I am normal, instead of just being who I am and don’t care.

11 Q: How is your personality reflected in your art?
A: I tend to portray existential quest and sadness from being in this world, that I often feel in my heart.

12 Q: As an artist, where does your initial drive to create come from?
A: I seem to not have a choice. When I don’t create, I get very unhappy and irritable, and sink into depression.

13 Q: If you were a mythical creature, which one would you be and why?
A: Dragon. There is flying, and power, and majestic beauty.

14 Q: When you experience artist block, what do you do to get into creative flow?
A: I go and start creating anyway, without inspiration. I keep pushing until everything unlocks in a middle of painting, and suddenly it gets resolved.

15 Q: If you had a chance to be transported back in time and learn directly from an old master, who would you choose?
A: Pierre-August Renoir. He was the reason i fell in love with art when i was about 11.
♥♥♥
Annie Hamman just opened registration for her online art workshop “Re-Connect to Nature”. It focuses on portraiture art: painting, drawing, sculpture, journaling, all with incorporated nature elements.
The best news is, it has an option of “pay what you can“. How awesome is that!
It starts 1st of July, you can see more info on registration page:
https://www.anniehamman.com/re-connect-to-nature

Have a wonderful and creative week,

Big hugs and much love,

Olga

Xx

50% off retirement sale

If you love art journaling I would definitely suggest you to check this sale out!  Great lessons to feel your pages with beautiful ideas and meet new artists!

My lesson called “Mother” (project below)  was a part of “Embody” edition.

You can find it HERE

use coupon code: RETIREMENT at check-out to get 50% discount!

My GIFT to you for Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day! 

My gift for you is this e-print of the painting above!*

To print it on your own printer:

1. Click on the image (or hold your finger, if you are using your phone)

2. Click “Save image”

3. Go to the file you saved and click “Print” (or to “Photos” if you used your phone)

This image is HD and best for  6″x 8″ print

* For personal use only. Sale in any form is prohibited.

I hope you have a wonderful day!

Big hugs and much love <3

It’s 11 PM and I’m finally ready to announce the winners! With the last day of a school break and with multiple posts and participants shares it took quiet some time, but I made it! Thank you ALL who participated!

Drum roll please! And the winners are:

@lotus_energy_friskvadsakademi

TERRY HONSTEAD

TRACEY CAREY

Congratulation! Please send me an email to olga_furman2002@outlook.com

If you didn’t win this time don’t get upset! You still have a good chance to win!

We have 12 more FREE Spots to give away!

To find out when the next draw and how to participate – click HERE

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