We were lucky to catch up with Ciara Barsotti recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ciara, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?

I’m an artist in business who is also a full-time employee for another company. It can be frustrating to juggle demands of the day job while building a business, and sometimes I wish I could devote all my time my own projects, but honestly, having a day job allows me to approach my art in a much more authentic way. I don’t have to worry about what’s marketable, or even worry about marketing at all if I don’t want to, which has particularly helped my relationship with social media. I used to feel a sense of desperate attention-seeking competitiveness, but now I’m able to take breaks when I need to and just enjoy sharing my work. I consider my day job my best patron! As a mom, I also appreciate the stability (and health insurance!) that the day job provides. So for now, being an entrepreneur with a day job works for me!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m an artist, mother, podcaster, author, knitter, wife, homeowner, gardener, hiker, the list goes on and on. I’ve been a chronic entrepreneur since I was a kid, and coupled with a lifelong love of making things, the natural outcome was to sell my paintings! My artwork celebrates the weird and wonderful life we are all experiencing, often with landscapes from my own backyard and from the American Southwest, where my ancestors are from. I got into abstract art after the birth of my son, and it has been a wonderful compliment to my joyful and colorful work.

My recent painting series combines the landscape and the abstract: I begin with a finished abstract painting, mask part of it, paint a desert scene over the abstract painting, then I peel off the mask and paint in a UFO, and the abstract painting underneath becomes the flying saucer’s tractor beam: a glimpse through to reveal a hidden world beyond normal human perception “on the other side.” It’s been fun to combine and experiment with these techniques in this way!

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Hope is my act of rebellion in a world that feels like it’s falling apart around us. I want to remind people of all the beauty, joy, and wonder that is still around us, that miracles still happen, and that as long as humans keep making art, there will always be hope.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I love bringing my visions into the world, creating something out of nothing. It’s a magical process, and each and every painting is as much a discovery as it is a creation. Like many artists I used to find it frustrating that I could never perfectly capture what was in my mind on paper or canvas… kind of like when you read a book and have an idea of what the characters look like, but then when they make the movie the people they cast eventually erase who you had in mind. There’s something ephemeral about it. Now I just embrace that and consider my artwork a collaboration with the Muse or the Universe. And that allows it to be what it was always meant to be instead of be cramped by my too-small original vision.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ciarabarsotti.com
• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/ciarabarsotti
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDp_9B3-HgLOxoc-KXKo6wQ