The 5 most common questions I get as a full-time artist, answered!

1. What are your inspirations?

I'm currently very inspired by simpler subjects than I have been previously in my art journey. I recently moved to my neighbourhood in Toronto and it is quite lovely! I enjoy long runs along the beach or walking my dog and taking photos of little things that catch my eye... anything from little free libraries (which are everywhere!), mailboxes, trees, houses, beach chairs and more. I've been on a new path of oil painting and re-discovering the joy and simplicity of art by focusing much more on the basic principles: colour, value and composition. It has been very fun for me to see things in life and figure out how to translate it onto canvas in my own personal style.

2. Your advice to start painting:

Well, start! Haha. The 10 thousand hours rule is quite accurate in my own opinion, making art is a dance between enjoying the process, creating something that is captivating and somehow telling a story with line, shape and colour. It's so much more than the final product and I recommend to anyone just starting out to focus on the enjoyment of art making rather than the final product (that comes later!).

3. What is your favourite technique?

It is very recent for me, but oil painting has changed my perspective on art quite a bit. I love to paint simple compositions with lots of texture and depth, I find oil paint can really tell a story because the brush marks are more apparent in the final product which gives the viewer a glimpse of what the process was like for the artist.

4. What advice do you have for someone who wants to start their career?

I personally have found very often in the past that if I think about what kind of art I would want to put on my walls and make that, it sells. I would caution any new artist to put too much financial pressure on their art which can damage creativity, it's important to diversify income streams but take it slow and build it over time. Good things come in time. I would also advise (again) to focus on enjoying the process, I've personally experienced burnout on several occasions and each time it's because I lean too much on the financial side of the art business rather than the joy of creating. If you're an aspiring artist, you likely associate that with who you are, why not spend your lifetime figuring that out? Take your time and let each new chapter unravel itself in front of you. Build hobbies outside of work, keep daily routines and rituals that keep you balanced. Social media can make us think that we have to have a concrete style, or paint the same things over and over again but an artist is ever evolving and when you allow yourself the space to take risks and go off-road, that's when magic happens.

5. Show us a project(s) you are proud of:

I've done lots of projects I'm proud of in the past, but I would like to show you my most recent work because it is a new chapter for me. As I mentioned I've been working with oil paints and finding little inspirations in my daily life, translating them onto canvas in my own personal style. This new work has been a labor of love over the last few months and I feel like I'm only just beginning!