Today we’d like to introduce you to Linda Storm

Hi Linda, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?

To this day, the scent of oil paints brings me a memory of when I smeared colors onto a painting my father had been working on. Who ruined my painting? He roared. I learned at a young age that being creative, no matter how good it felt, did not please everyone.

Often awake before my parents, I headed outside to explore on summer mornings. I remember my fear turning to excitement as I ran through dew covered spider webs over our grassy acre of land in Alden, New York. I marveled at pollywogs in the pond, and once, I pounded on my neighbor’s door yelling, Help! Your dogs are stuck together!

On my birthday, I opened a gift, a Dr. Suess book. I left my own party to be alone to study the drawings. In the harsh white winters, I spent my mornings dancing in a basement room with a record player that my mom set up for me. I read a lot too, from the only books we had, The Encyclopedia Britannica, and a collection of myths and fairytales. I learned about powerful goddesses, and when I had paper, I drew them as the beautiful creatures I imagined.

The necessary divorce in my Catholic family was an earthquake. I stayed with my mom. We moved to an apartment in the suburbs. I never saw where my dad had moved. I found solace in the empty lot next door, where wild berries grew, and in singing in the church choir. At 13 I refused Catholicism. I wanted to know more about the goddesses that still lived in my heart.

I became immersed in learning at a middle school that had a great budget for the arts. My best friend was deaf. We had a blast communicating with our drawings. My mom remarried. My stepdad was a professional artist who had more art supplies than I had ever seen. He was generous with them, and taught me to be free with my creativity. He presented my paintings of flowers on barn wood to a gallery owner who gave me my first art exhibit in Lancaster, NY. It sold out. I was 14.

I continued my art career as a young single mom, paying for private classes that taught me what I wanted to learn. I met the love of my life and moved to New Mexico with him and our children. I blossomed as an artist. He continues to encourage me. Today, I am a professional, internationally recognized, award-winning artist. My fascination with nature, goddesses, and music continues in my art. It will never please everyone, but always, a larger-than-life sense of wonder and purpose awakens in me whenever I paint.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?

Has it been a smooth road, what were the challenges

The choices I made while meandering on my life path have all led me to where I am now. My biggest life decisions were to be a mom at age 18, and to have 3 more children over the next 13 years. I volunteered at their schools, and became a Montessori teacher. I taught my students and own children about goddesses and read stories about female heroines. They played with simple experiments to learn physics, and saw how a single seed grows into more seeds, and journeyed outside to experience other wonders of nature.

I continued to create art too, and designed clothing and used them as canvases. I received large orders from major stores, including JC Penny. I hired an attorney to form it into a company. He told me that my husband had to be the owner, because women did not own corporations. No wonder I still deal with Imposter Syndrome! My husband supported me as I insisted on signing as the owner of my own company.

I found a small factory in Attica NY to cut and sew my designs, and teamed with a modeling agency that traveled throughout New York State and Pennsylvania to theatrically model my clothing in runways set up in malls for them. I hired artists to travel with the models to paint on purchased garments. It felt good to encourage others to be creative. That whole experience was a roller coaster ride. These words stayed with me after it ended; I bought your clothes because I liked your art. They inspired me to focus on painting. Today I create indoor murals, album covers, installations, and have exhibited in museums and public spaces. My ideas are ever expanding.

Honestly, I don’t know how I’d feel if I were forced to give birth or to live my life according to the demands of others. I am who I am because I was free to make my own life choices. Even so, I am still just keeping my head floating above Imposter Syndrome, and learning to trust the process of the momentum I put into place and to be ever aware of my intentions in my words and actions. These realizations are reflected in my latest paintings, as I reimagine the iconic Three Graces, portrayed in ancient sculptures and paintings. In my triptych of these goddesses, I name them Volition, Intention and Wisdom.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?

My paintings and installations convey my wonder, as together we rotate on a living orb revolving around a star.
I am proud of being me, of honoring and sharing my gifts, of my mission to inspire others.

With my paintings I explore many forms of Realism. My goddess paintings are based on ancient stories, and painted in a style my friend called Mythical Realism. My paintings of music are many layered and Surrealistic, depicting how I feel when listening to songs. I explore Magical Realism when painting nature; usually there is a living creature looking back at you. My art is full of symbolic imagery. The game of chess is depicted in much of my art.

My last installation was created outdoors in Italy with Greek artist Polyxene Kasda. It was titled A New Vision of the Same Place.

Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?

In my first international exhibit I was thrown out of my comfort zone. None of the gallery guests spoke English as they talked among themselves about my art. Even the television review was in Italian. I trusted my paintings to be the interpreters.

As I write this, I am in the process of leaving my comfort zone again, and taking the biggest risk of my life! I am selling my home of 30 years to create a haven for creatives in a charming old adobe house in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It will be my art gallery, an events space for live performances, and my husband’s radio studio, where he will interview artists and performers. He, Gary Storm, is the creator, host and DJ of the Oil of Dog radio show. Also in the works are 3 art residency apartments. We will host record listening parties, live events for small audiences, art classes, and more for all ages, colors, genders, and abilities. The location is near parks, local eateries, and downtown Santa Fe.

Our vision is of a diverse worldwide family linked by creativity and radio.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lindastormart.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stormartist/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LindaStormArtistEntrepreneur
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/PwCP-TjOR5g?si=FbQAZKk4E4d_awBN
• Other: https://www.thestormhold.com/

Image Credits

Gary Storm

High Desert Arts