Read more about the article #148 Doulene Walker: Abstract Landscape Artist

#148 Doulene Walker: Abstract Landscape Artist

Today’s interview is the last of my hour-long interviews for a while with a new artist. I’m speaking with artist Doulene Walker. We talked on March 27th, and she told me how her family has been greatly affected by measures that we’ve all taken to stay safe from the coronavirus. You may know her from Instagram as an artist who lives in Bali. She and her family are actually from Australia, and they were told to get back to their home country when all this started. We talked 8 days after she moved to Perth, Western Australia, and they had just traveled there with a few things they could put in a suitcase. She’s now ordering art supplies so she can make art once again. Doulene is originally from Zimbabwe in Africa. Her abstract landscapes are greatly influenced by the landscape there and in Australia. Her distinct style of mark making develops into art that looks like the topography of the world that she knows. She’s now offering online classes, and even a free class that you can try.

Listen here or use a podcast app, such as Apple Podcasts, Castbox, Spotify, or Stitcher.

Doulene Walker

Strong Woman
This is the large oil painting that Doulene described making in our interview. Note the dripping of the oil paint.
The Earth in Bark
Navigating this World We Live In

Doulene’s website is doulenewalkerart.com.

You can find her FREE mark making tools course here.

Her Instagram account is @doulenewalker_art

You can also find her on Facebook at Doulene  Walker Art.

Here are some great takeaways from our conversation:

  1. Doulene speaks fondly of the artist community that she has met through Instagram. This is especially important now that we are physically isolated from our family and friends. If you haven’t yet reached out to an artist that you admire on Instagram, please do. You may find that you gain a new friend, no matter where they are in the world.
  2. We talked about how Doulene tries to paint every day. She believes that you can’t develop your art style unless you are working at it every day.
  3. Don’t be afraid to make lots of layers in different mediums on your paintings. Doulene will sometimes start with watercolor and then add layers of acrylic on top of that.
  4. Doulene gets inspiration from her own paintings. When she completes one painting, she puts that on the wall to use as an inspiration for the next painting. Then she does that again for the next painting.
  5. If you are using acrylics to paint but you are used to using oils, you can use gel mediums to thicken up your acrylics so that they give you the feel of oil paint.
  6. As an artist, you need to constantly challenge yourself to try new things, so that you’ll know what you can and cannot do.
  7. Don’t limit your art tools to what you can buy at a store. You can create your own mark making tools from organic things like branches and leaves, and other things you can find in nature. Doulene is also making her own inks from rust.
  8. A great way to separate your art from others is the use of mark making. You can use marks that are unique to you to make your art stand out from the rest.
  9. Doulene suggests making and using a viewfinder to better compose your paintings. You can use two L-shaped or one rectangle viewfinder, like a mat. Just move it around your painting to discover which parts should be the focus, and use that information when planning your next painting’s composition.
  10. At the end of our talk, Doulene told me about a “virtual coffee” she did with an artist friend. They live in different parts of Australia, and have never met before. But they made a date to talk through Zoom, and they ended up talking for 3 hours! I’ve always used Skype for my interviews, but of course there are other things you can use, and I think a lot of people have heard of Zoom now. Why not contact someone you’ve met through Instagram and ask them for a virtual coffee? I bet you won’t be disappointed.
Read more about the article #147 Wendy McWilliams: Intuitive Abstract Painter

#147 Wendy McWilliams: Intuitive Abstract Painter

Artist Wendy McWilliams creates one-of-a-kind abstract acrylic paintings that come from her intuition and emotion. She tells us how she was so determined to paint, no matter what her living circumstances. She now teaches classes in her home studio and is building a larger space so that in the future she can offer art retreats and invite other instructors to join her.

Listen here or use a podcast app, such as Apple Podcasts, Castbox, Spotify, or Stitcher.

Wendy McWilliams

Wendy’s website is wendymcwilliams.com.

You can find her on Instagram @wendylmcwilliamsart

You can also find her on Pinterest.

You can also shop for prints at FineArt America.

Here are some great takeaways from our conversation:

  1. When Wendy was first learning to paint, she realized that if she just relaxed and didn’t try so hard to make it look like something, then her painting would flow and be much easier to make.
  2. Another thing she did when she was learning was she painted on paper rather than canvases. That allowed her to paint a lot and try many things in a very inexpensive way.
  3. By painting a lot, she was able to learn how the paint and brushes felt to her and what they could do.
  4. When Wendy was first starting out, she sold artwork through an Etsy site. When she was able to charge higher prices for her art, she left Etsy and sold through her website. Etsy can be a great place for prints and smaller canvases, but when your prices are high it will be better if you control all your sales and another party doesn’t take a big chunk like Etsy does.
  5. When Wendy made changes with what she was making, like going from smaller canvases to larger, she did it in little steps. This helped her ease into things.
  6. When Wendy ships canvases that are larger than 3 feet by 3 feet, she takes the canvas off of stretcher bars and rolls it up into a tube. Otherwise, the shipping would be exorbitant, especially if going overseas. Then the customer can go to their local frame shop and get it re-stretched back onto wood.
  7. When Wendy teaches classes, she emphasizes to her students that their artwork will never look like hers, nor should it. She’s teaching them techniques that they can use to develop their own style using the subjects and motifs that interest them.
  8. Wendy believes that Pinterest is a good place for artists to get their art seen. Designers and businesses look on Pinterest for things. She also feels that a lot of her Pinterest followers followed her over to Instagram.

 

 

Read more about the article #146 Heather Neiman: South Florida Mixed Media Artist
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#146 Heather Neiman: South Florida Mixed Media Artist

Fort Lauderdale artist Heather Neiman creates mixed media paintings that incorporate layers and papers and sometimes 3D objects. She recently moved into a new studio space in a thriving artist area and participates in the local art walks where she asks attendees to paint and collaborate right on her canvases. She’s preparing for an upcoming solo show that will also celebrate her birthday.

Listen here or use a podcast app, such as Apple Podcasts, Castbox, Spotify, or Stitcher.

Heather Neiman

Heather’s website is heatherneimanart.com.

You can also find her on Instagram.

Heather found her studio space through Zero Empty Spaces in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Contact them if you’d like to know how their program works.

Heather was greatly inspired by the art of artist Tracy Verdugo. You can find information about her upcoming classes and her book at her website here.

There are a few art places in the Fort Lauderdale area that offer art walks. You can check them out here and see when they are doing their art walks again:

BACA

FAT Village

MASS District

Here are some great takeaways from our conversation:

  1. Heather takes photos of her paintings at all stages. At the end, then she has documentation of how the painting was made and how the story has developed.
  2. Heather invites others to add to her paintings. This is often done during art walks when people are visiting her studio. This allows her painting to evolve and tell a new story.
  3. When Heather includes papers on her artwork, sometimes they are very meaningful, like a page from a dictionary that used to be her Mother’s. Sometimes they can just be something that she’s included because she thinks it’s pretty. Don’t be afraid to use any kind of paper if you’re making mixed media art, because you may find that they add an energy from the original source.
  4. Painting on top of an image or paper makes the paper your own and will contribute to the story of your painting.
  5. Heather uses a matte medium when she’s putting down papers and a gel medium if it’s a little thicker paper like a magazine page.
  6. When she adheres heavier things, like keys or broken jewelry, she uses a stronger glue like a tacky glue or gorilla glue.
  7. Heather got her studio space through a group called Zero Empty Spaces. They work with landlords to convert empty storefronts into art studios. Look and see if your area has a program like this or maybe approach someone about using an empty space in your town.
  8. You can make art on anything. Heather found torso forms on Amazon and got three of them to paint and make mixed media art on.
  9. Heather finds art exhibit opportunities through local Calls to Artists. Search your town or county to see if they have organizations that regularly post Calls.
  10. Remember that Calls to Artists usually have a fee. Keep that in mind when deciding which exhibits you’d like to apply to.
  11. If you’ve heard of artwalks but never been, here’s what they’re all about. An area that has a lot of galleries will choose one night a month, like the first Saturday, or the third Friday, and all the galleries will stay open late so people can see them and walk through them. The artists will be present to answer questions and sell their art. There’s usually food and drinks available, maybe some food trucks, and usually music. These are a fun night out, and it’s a great way to meet other artists in your town.
  12. Don’t be afraid to approach galleries or other spaces about doing a solo show. It doesn’t hurt to ask. They may love for you to come and bring a show to them because they don’t know too many artists.

During this time in March, 2020 of self-quarantine, you may like to find some other podcasts about art. A few of the artists I’ve interviewed have their own podcasts. Here is a link to them:

Katrina Berg’s The Candy Colored Studio podcast.

Creatives get Real with Roben-Marie Smith and Sandi Keene

Caylee Grey and The Get Messy Podcast

Mitch Bowler and The Pencil Kings Podcast

The Laura Horn Art podcast

Danny Gregory’s podcast Shut Your Monkey

Read more about the article #145 Natalie Dadamio: Contemporary Abstract Artist

#145 Natalie Dadamio: Contemporary Abstract Artist

Artist Natalie Dadamio developed her art style and practice just within the last couple of years. She’s created a unique abstract style that incorporates mixed media with layers of papers and paint. She came to her art making as a journey toward her own growth and self-expression. She now helps others reach their full creativity.

Listen here or use a podcast app, such as Apple Podcasts, Castbox, Spotify, or Stitcher.

Natalie Dadamio

Natalie’s website is nataliedadamio.com.

Her Instagram is @natalie.dadamio.art

Natalie enjoyed the book The Artist’s Way for helping her get into her creativity.

She talked about how she has enjoyed taking the 12-week online course Creative Visionary Program with Nicholas Wilton.

Here are some great takeaways from our conversation:

  1. Natalie came to her art late in life and would like to point out that it doesn’t matter when you started making art if you’re loving making it right now.
  2. Two things in particular that Natalie has done to put creativity into her life have been the book The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, and the online course The Creative Visionary Program with Nicholas Wilton. I’ll have links for both of those in the Show Notes of my website.
  3. Natalie doesn’t get bothered when she makes mistakes with her art. She feels that she always learns something when she works through the mistakes.
  4. When Natalie uses board as her substrate, she can use sanders to sand down through the layers of papers and paint. This allows her to reveal different portions of the layers underneath.
  5. When she uses book pages in her art, scraping through the layers allows words to come through, and it’s a nice surprise what is revealed.
  6. You have to get comfortable with failure, because if you’re not, then you’ll be too afraid to try something.
  7. Natalie enjoys ripping the papers that she uses in her mixed media art, because she feels there is beauty in its destruction.
  8. Natalie made 40 works of art in celebration of her 40th Milestones are great to celebrate by artmaking and creating a series. You are celebrating the passage of time, where you are with your art, and challenging yourself with a big project.
  9. You can still participate in a local art walk even if you don’t have a standalone studio. Natalie will be a part of her area’s Art Trail by sharing a studio space with another artist that weekend.
  10. Even bad emotions such as grief can be a gateway into making art. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the art will be sad, you’re just using those emotions to create.
  11. If you have a big change coming in your art style or your art business, you might want to update your website at the same time to signify all your changes.
Read more about the article #144 Michelle Sakhai: Abstract Artist Using Metal Leafing and Oils

#144 Michelle Sakhai: Abstract Artist Using Metal Leafing and Oils

New York-based artist Michelle Sakhai painted landscapes in oil for many years. She mostly created her paintings outside, in the method of plein aire painters. She started adding metal leafing to her paintings to show light, and before she knew it, the leafing had taken over her artwork. She now uses oils and leafing to make beautiful abstract expressionist art.

Listen here or use a podcast app, such as Apple Podcasts, Castbox, Spotify, or Stitcher.

Michelle Sakhai

Michelle's book is available through her website.

Michelle’s website is michellesakhai.com.

Her Instagram is@michellesakhai. 

You can purchase her book Awakening here.

Here is a list of her current exhibitions.

Here are some great takeaways from our conversation:

  1. You can take inspiration from anywhere. It could be art from your childhood, inspiration from nature, or from a different style of art that you are interpreting. Keep your eyes and mind open to many possibilities.
  2. Don’t be afraid to change your art style if you are getting bored with it. Michelle did plein aire landscape painting for many years, but then gradually changed over to working with metal leafing and making abstract paintings. It’s easy to stick with the familiar but sometimes you just need to be brave enough for the challenge of something new.
  3. Allow your style to evolve over time. You’re not going to change your style completely overnight.
  4. Plein aire painting can be very exciting, because you’re constantly chasing the sunlight, and reacting to what the shadows are doing to your scene. Even what you hear and feel from the weather can effect what you’re painting. It can be a fast way to work, and Michelle generally worked on smaller canvases when she was painting outside.
  5. Michelle feels that the skills that you learn doing plein aire painting are a great foundation for other types of art. You’re just diving in, you’re learning to work quickly, you’re learning to react to the scene, and it’s great practice no matter what you end up doing.
  6. Michelle has painted a few series of works. Painting in a series will help you to develop your style, but it will also be attractive to others who are looking to show an artist’s work.
  7. When you are holding an opening for a new body of work, consider including more than just the artwork. When Michelle did an opening for her Arcana series, she did a workshop and a lecture about the pieces, and she had a tarot card reader.
  8. Residencies are great opportunities for artists to go and make art in a different setting. Michelle did an artist residency for the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, and during that time she made art for the hotel. Residencies can be for art schools, cities or communities, parks, or just in unique locations. They’re a fun way to challenge yourself to do a new project.
  9. Don’t hesitate to apply to shows that are not in your state or country. Of course you can ship your art to the venue and you don’t need to be there. Michelle shipped her art to Qatar for an art festival, and she may go out for the opening but she didn’t have to be there in person for the take in day.