The art is always a reflection of one’s soul, but also of one’s life. Here is what makes my art the way it is, and me – the artist I am.
1. Being self-taught. Most of my pieces look a tad off-beat, not clearly falling into any known style, because I never really learned how it “should” be in a systemic manner. Sometimes, when I see some formally educated artists progressing quicker on their path then I do on mine, I think that maybe I should learn more of the art theory, start collecting materials or exploring education opportunities… and this urge never lasts long:). I just find discovering things on my own, in ways and order that I define myself, much more interesting.
2. Using lots of hand-drawing and hand-painting in my work. I do fully digital pieces from time to time, but those make only around 5-7% of my portfolio. I simply do not find digital creation process as rewarding as real painting/drawing. It has a lot to do with my love to sensory experiences (see below), but also, I really like the co-creation feeling the watercolor gives, or spontaneity of the very uneven ink brush strokes. Large part of my work is 100% composed on paper, with all the elements coming to the final pattern exactly the way and in the order they were painted/drawn. It takes much more time and patience to digitize the hand work, than to simply draw it in vector, but to me it is very much worth it.
3. My hands being a bit shaky. It’s not very notable in my daily life, but my hands are slightly shaking all the time (physiological tremor, not dangerous, just a bit challenging at daily tasks requiring precision), making my lines always wiggling here and there. At first, I tried to correct my “imperfect” lines when digitizing my designs, but it was absolutely straining, and often robbed my elements of life, so I stopped it… and things only went better since then.
4. Lot of experience in contacting with nature. I grew up at countryside, with free access to all kinds of trees, wild grasses, and whatever we were growing on our large plot of land, as well a variety of animals and birds all around. When I draw raspberry leaves, I reflect on the memory of their texture, my peonies carry the feeling of the last days of spring, and the hedgehogs I draw smiling remembering the funny breathing noises they make. My art is rarely very detailed, but often brings a lot of realistic feeling due to the emotional vibe which comes from that through my brushes and markers.
5. Being a woman. My art is distinctively feminine, with fluid lines and some kind of natural, bright cheerful energy. It’s an amazing side of me, and a place where I always want to be, regardless the challenges of my life and the ways I have to navigate it.
6. Being a mother. I know that it doesn’t necessarily take having kids to do designs for nursery, and I even don’t have small kids anymore, and hardly ever will again. But there is a certain amount of reflection on my motherhood experiences in my baby and kids designs, which I often see only once the design is ready. In my shop there always will be a ton of cutest florals and kittens, inspired by the childhood times of my daughters, and also, recently, I have clearly identified longing for boys, which I never had, in the planes, cars, and dogs that I eagerly drew for kids-themed design challenges:).
7. Being (highly possibly) neurodivergent. Currently I am undergoing an ADHD assessment, which I went for when discovering information on how ADHD presents in women. So far it looks that I will get the diagnosis, and I am absolutely excited about that, as it explains so much happening during my 40+ years of life, which I struggled so long with to find an explanation why it goes this way with me. And, certainly, it contributes to my artistic style and the way I am going on my artistic path – versatility of my styles, my love to traditional highly sensory mediums, the expressiveness of my work, my at times extreme creative productivity, etc, combined with awful struggle with “boring” routine tasks like SMM or SEO.
8. My overall life experience. One day I will write a bio about all the crazy things I went through in my life (and by that time there probably will be more to write about), these days it is just very hard to find time to summarize it all. I made ways from a rural girl to an internationally acknowledged expert in the area I made no formal training in, survived wartime and emigration, lost loved ones including children, dared to step on the paths everyone advised me against and completed those with success no one expected, fell deep, got back on my feet,… it’s just really a lot. And all of that finds its way in my art too, making it standing out.
9. My daily persistence. It actually should have come first, not last. No one is born an artist, but we can make artists of anything we were born. If I haven’t been so committed to my creative path, and haven’t showed up for my business every day (even for a couple minutes, but yes, often those are hours of work), I wouldn’t have been where I am now. There is still a long way to go to reach my long-term creative goals, but I love my path and trust my process. And continue showing up every day.
And what makes you the artist you are?