We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Clara Burstrom. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Clara below.

Clara, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

When I was a child, it felt like I lived in my own world. It always seemed like I experienced the world in a different way than others, in a sensitive and creative way, but also a misunderstood way. This feeling was validated when I received my autism diagnosis. When I was 18 I started painting the colours and visuals I saw in my mind, I wanted to share with others the way I experience the world. It felt like I was taking a piece of my soul and creating a visual representation of that, which gave me a voice where I struggled to communicate. A few years later I realized that I needed to pursue art professionally because it made me feel more empowered and expressive than anything else, and that to share my art with the world was to truly be myself. Since I’ve been perusing art professionally, I’ve been in art shows, worked with a gallery, and I travel to sell art and live paint at festivals in the summers. My art develops along with me and is also a path that offers me a lot of growth. If you want to be an artist, I say do it! The world always needs more art. Create the life you want to live.

Clara, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a visionary artist that uses acrylic paint. My paintings are colourful and detailed, and convey spiritual concepts.
My Instagram is @clarab.artist and my art portfolio is https://artofclaraburstrom.portfoliobox.net/

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I think society needs to better support artists by valuing art. It’s often seen as a hobby or an unimportant thing, something with little value that just decorates a wall. I’ve heard people say things like “I wouldn’t pay much for a painting because it’s just a picture.” But that disregards what goes into that painting. The many hours, the skill and training, the heart and soul, the materials, and even the commission taken by the gallery. Artists often make less than $5 an hour when selling a painting, which suggests that an artists time is much less valuable than minimum wage. If we want to live in a culture which supports artists, we need to value artists and their time as much as others.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of my career as an artist is getting to spend my time expressing my soul and learning and growing. Painting often feels like a colourful meditation for me which allows me to spend hours on end connecting to myself and my spirituality. Don’t get me wrong, it’s very hard work, but it’s also a beautiful inner journey every time I pick up a paint brush.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://artofclaraburstrom.portfoliobox.net/
• Instagram: [email protected]

Image Credits

They are all my own images.