Q: Tell us about your art technique and what first sparked an interest in this medium.
A: Currently I use a variety of mediums. I did have a phase in which I only created oil paintings, but now I use watercolors, color pencils, gouache and I even combine oils and watercolors together in one painting. I can’t say what first sparked my interest, I was always interested in art and when I was seventeen I decided that I wanted to become a professional artist.
Q: Do you use any special materials, or do anything out of the ordinary when you are creating your art, If so could you tell us about it?
A: I don’t believe that I use any special materials compared to other painters. Generally, I use art supplies that are available to me in the art stores here. Something unusual that I do maybe is adding subtle touches of glitter to my paintings and using a silver or golden underpainting which shines through the final artwork and reflects the light when tilted. I love painting enchanting characters, who I imagine live in magical, fairytale-like worlds. Gold and Glitter, for me, are must-haves to convey that!
Q: What are your favorite products or brands and why?
A: Every art brand that makes good quality products work for me! For my oil, watercolor and gouache paints I like the products from Schmincke because their quality is very good and they have a fair price because they are not imported. Imported brands are often more expensive than local ones so I don’t usually buy them. My favorite paper brand for watercolors is Fabriano because their watercolor paper is smooth and the paint creates very beautiful effects on it.
Q: When did you begin to take an interest in art and for how long have you considered yourself an artist?
A: I was always interested in art and as a teenager, it became clear to me that I wanted to be able to paint and draw professionally and make a living off my art. But only ten years later after creating a large body of work did I consider myself a “real” artist. By this time, I had learned how to paint properly.
Q: What inspires your creations?
A: Everything inspires me! When I see a beautiful woman in a cafe reading something on her phone or we suddenly have a clear blue sky that contrasts with the oranges and yellows of the tree line in autumn, I’m inspired! Or when I go to a toy store, visit art museums or natural history museums with all their wonders. My own little garden with its flowers and birds inspires me – simply everything! It’s hard to realize even a tiny fraction of all these impressions and ideas!
Q: Do you use live models and if so do you have a favorite muse? Do you find that having a model helps to inspire your creation? Or do you create everything from your imagination?
A: For my realistic paintings, I almost always use some kind of photo reference. Often times I merge various photos together in Photoshop that I find on the internet and make something completely new out of them. And sometimes I am lucky and I can take pictures of a local model. I prefer taking my own photos but that isn’t always possible. I don’t use live models though – it would simply take too long to finish a painting this way!
Q: What challenges do you have when you’re creating, and what makes you the happiest when you’re bringing a new project to fruition?
A: The hardest thing for me is to decide what to paint because I find almost everything beautiful and worthy to make a painting of and finding the right references and bringing it all together into a well-balanced composition digitally. When I finally find a composition and I start my first brushstrokes I am usually very happy! But I really love creating these digital compositions too. Making them can take days and when I finally finish one I sometimes think that it would be great if someone else could take over now and paint them because it was so exhausting to even come to this point!
Q: Were you formally trained or are you self taught?
A: Actually, I received my first painting lessons from my boyfriend, who is a painter too! He supported me throughout the years, still does, and I learned a lot from him! Then after several years, I learned how to teach myself and now we both help each other with all kinds of things.
Q: What advice do you have for artists who are seeking to follow a creative path as a career?
A: Don’t become an artist. Become an entrepreneur first. The age of the galleries is slowly coming to an end and it was already difficult to be a successful gallery artist then. Now it’s almost impossible. Due to social media, every gallery can pick and choose from the most successful artists on Instagram and they don’t need to build up the artist’s career from the start as they did in the past. Now artists have to build their own careers and they need to become independent in order to be successful. That includes having to learn a whole set of new skills like marketing, photography, and even video editing. There are many ways of being a self-employed artist or illustrator today. I recommend doing the research and finding a path that best fits your personality. It is an exciting time, and for
artists, there are more opportunities today then there were in the past.
Q: Has there been anyone in your life who was particularly influential or someone who supported your choice to become an artist?
A: Yes, my boyfriend, who is an artist too, who supported me for years and still does!
Q: Can you name any artists who have influenced your style or techniques, and why they were favored?
A: I don’t have a favorite artist or someone that influences me more than others. There are too many fantastic artists out there, I find them all inspiring!
Q: Do you find that your environment or music influence your creative process, if so can you describe a perfect setting for you to do your art.
A: Absolutely! I love listening to fantasy audio books while I paint. They hugely influence my mood and overall well-being. Listening to music can be wonderful too, but I prefer being immersed in a good story. My happiest memories come from these painting sessions! I also like tidy spaces. I’m not a messy person, so everything that looks cluttered stresses me. Often times, I obsessively have to tidy up my workspace before I feel ready to paint. 😉
Q: If you could meet any artist (living or dead) who would that be and why?
A: I would love to meet all of the Bad Apple Artists! We are working together and host online art auctions for years now and we have hilarious conversations in our group but we never met in person! To see them all and have a great time together would be fantastic!
Q: If you had full funding to do any project what would it be and why?
A: I would paint large and elaborate paintings again! When I worked at a company and didn’t make a living off my art I would spend months on a painting. I love creating smaller pieces now but I miss creating huge paintings too.
Q: What comes next? Do you have any big projects in the works or plans for the new year?
A: Due to my patron page, my Youtube channel and monthly art auctions, I’m pretty much busy all the time! I haven’t planned anything different for next year but if new opportunities arise, I am excited to take them!