How long have you been painting?
I started painting in 10th grade. I took art class as my middle school elective and high school elective every single semester, but I didn’t know I was an artist at heart until my teacher assigned us a project to paint anything we wanted. As someone who pined for nostalgia and days gone by since I was a child, I wanted to replicate a Thomas Kinkade Christmas painting.
It was a painstaking process. It took me a good three months to finish this very small acrylic painting. However, it was from this painting that I realized I could lose myself in the world I was creating on canvas. People also started telling me they liked my work. I received several awards for my painting. I was hooked by the artistic process.
I decided to give portraiture a try after that. My first painted portrait was of my little sister. I painted her as a girl in 1800s garb, collaging a photograph I had taken of her, a dress I had found online, and a photo of my friend holding an umbrella. The amalgamation of these visual resources produced one of my favorite paintings to this day. I’ve been painting ever since!
What mediums or materials do you use?
I love using oil and acrylic paint to build my paintings. Oil paint is what all the lovely masters used when creating the masterpieces we see in museums. Oil paint guarantees your painting will have vivid color that will long outlive you.
However, oil paint also takes a lifetime to dry (not really, but it can take weeks before you can apply the next coat)! For this reason, I like to use acrylic paint to do an underpainting.
An underpainting is what I call the “ugly” stage of the painting process. My underpaintings are the basic colors and shape that make up the first coat of the painting. Once I have an underpainting, I will go in and do the entire painting in oil.
Why do you paint?
I paint because I love creating beauty.
Before I entered college, I made a list of more core values. I wrote down the “regular” items like “hard work,” “discipline,” “dilligence.” Then I wrote down another value: beauty.
At first this seemed like a thoughtless idea. Beauty? As a value?
But as I kept thinking, I realized that creating beauty was intrinsic to who I am. Nothing makes me feel more alive than making a space lovely. I am drawn to old architecture, old music, flowers, and art itself because of its beauty. When I paint, its my way of conjuring beauty from a piece of canvas and some tubes of paint. I can create whole worlds that never before existed and make spaces and lives prettier through this work.
I would love to use this draw to create beauty to create more beauty for your lives and your home.
How would you describe your style?
Timeless, elegant, vintage, with a touch of realism and a touch of whimsy
What’s your favorite thing to paint?
My favorite subject matter is always faces. I love portraiture. However, when I go to art museums, the classic landscapes always leave me drooling. They make me feel I am nestled in a providential hillside.
However, I love painting faces because this is what naturally flows easiest for me. I joke the prettier the person, the easier to paint. Haha, don’t worry, you are lovely, and I love seeing the inherent beauty of every person that I paint in each brushstroke
What piece makes the best gift?
An art gift is my favorite gift to give! I have found paintings of loved ones is something my friends and family particularly treasure. Portraits are a beautiful way to adorn a home, honor a loved one, and give a one-of-a-kind memory.