We recently connected with Adele Yonchak and have shared our conversation below.

Adele, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?

Despite double majoring in Business and Studio Art I had no intentions of pursuing art professionally. I had fallen in love with drawing and painting my senior year of high school and recognized the need to have a creative outlet and was fortunate enough to be able to study art alongside my Business degree. I went into marketing and product management after graduating and it wasn’t until almost 10 years later and having my first 2 children that I had a chance to revisit my art. I had been laid off and was working freelance from home and had a friend say that she was looking for a particular style of painting and I thought, I could do that for you. If not now, when? The joy it brought me and the response from the public blew me away and I realized not only could I actually be an artist, but that I already was. I definitely believe that timing was important because this was back when social media was not totally oversaturated and I was able to reach my target audience relatively easily. I had had some life experience both personally and professionally and was in the right headspace to take an art career seriously – so it proved to be the perfect timing.

Adele, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am an abstract landscape painter based in Charlotte, NC best known for my signature trees. Rather than depicting a specific landscape, I try to capture the spirit of the land by breaking it down to its most essential forms. The simplified abstraction combines the familiar and the unexpected and I’ve always been proud that my work allows the viewer to see their own landscape. Whether reminding you of a happy place, an overall feeling or sense of home, artwork has the ability to transport. Mixing my own colors and primarily using a palette knife my work consists of slabs of color and texture layered to provide depth and movement. I have always been drawn to landscapes but in a non-traditional way. I paint the feelings I get from nature more often than the place itself. My trees represent groupings and family units and I am often commissioned to paint trees that represent a client’s family.

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

I’ve been honored to have my work in various corporate and public settings but knowing that my work is cherished hanging in homes brings me the most joy. While my typical work is abstract and based more on movement and color, I often paint from a image when commissioned to do so and to capture someone’s special place is not something I take lightly. While I prefer to work intuitively, I enjoy painting more realistically every now and then to keep those skills sharp and to honor the client’s desire to have a specific sense of a space. The most rewarding aspect of being a professional artist is to know that my work is important enough for people to spend their money on and put it in their homes to hopefully love for many years. It continues to amaze me every single time.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I think the biggest misconception of working as an artist is that it is all creative fun and easy. And while it is such a gift to be able to do something I love for a living, I am also running a business and managing most of it on my own brings its challenges. I am definitely not in the studio painting every day but I am doing something for the business every single day. From client and gallery correspondence, framing, photography, shipping, website or social media management, paying bills and taxes. It’s in these moments I am very grateful for my business background. And my supportive family.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.adeleyonchak.com
• Instagram: @adeleyonchakart
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/adeleyonchakart

Image Credits

Jamey Price