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

Deb, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One of the toughest things about progressing in your creative career is that there are almost always unexpected problems that come up – problems that you often can’t read about in advance, can’t prepare for, etc. Have you had such and experience and if so, can you tell us the story of one of those unexpected problems you’ve encountered?

Oh, probably the problem that caught me most by surprise is the battle with social media. As a business owner, you kinda expect normal business issues and you brace for them. The social media issue is so complicated though, and a good presence is so important, that I found myself getting completely caught up in trying to “game the system”, lol.

I was spending way too much time trying to figure it all out. The algorithms, the trends, which platform is best, constantly posting, driving myself crazy trying to come up with the elusive “viral” post. It was overwhelming. Actually, it’s still overwhelming, lol, I’m just getting better at letting go and just posting what feels good, when it feels good.

It’s hard though! You hear the stories of how someone’s post went viral and suddenly they gained a million followers and started selling out of their art or product and you want that. You want the instant success. You want it to be that easy. It isn’t though, it takes work and dedication. The most important thing is to stay focused, stay authentic, and keep doing what you love!

I work on that lesson every single day!

Deb, 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?

Like most creatives, I’ve been dabbling in one form of art or another my entire life, lol. I only started painting about 3 years ago though. I started playing with watercolor and it just clicked for me. It had the spontaneity to appease my very non-patient personality, and the versatility to let me switch things up constantly and not get bored. Those are my two most defining traits as an artist, lol, and I’ve learned not to fight them.

I paint mostly creatures in nature, and mostly unexpected ones, like moths and dragonflies and bees and mushrooms, but I also love painting more common things like foxes and koi fish. I guess the recurring theme in my art is things that are heavy with symbolism.

I am fascinated by how we attach particular meaning and importance to things. How we each have distinct interpretations of these symbols. Some similar, some very different, but all of them very unique to us as individuals.

To some, a dragonfly is just a beautiful insect, to others, it’s a portent of good fortune, to a few, it’s memories of summers in their grandparent’s backyard.

That is beautiful to me and I want most to capture that in my art. To give people that connection, whether it be finding beauty in something unexpected or memories of childhood.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

This is more a story of an epiphany that completely changed my outlook I guess, but it feels the same.

When I finally started to see myself as a real artist and call myself an artist, everything changed.

I had always called myself a graphic designer or an illustrator or something trade specific like that. It felt comfortable to call myself by what I did instead of who I was. That changed in 2020. Because of shutdown, I had lots of extra time (as we all did, lol) and so I joined some Facebook artist groups hoping to be inspired, focus on myself, who I was, and what I wanted. One of those groups was run by an amazing artist and mentor who encouraged me to embrace the Artist title. Like really go all in, look in the mirror and recite “I am an amazing artist”, announce it on social media, introduce myself as a professional artist, say it out loud any chance I got.

It took a while, I’m not going to lie, it was hard and felt uncomfortable, but when I finally got over the initial shyness about it, it was life-changing! You wouldn’t think something like that would have such an impact, but it really did. Embracing myself as an Artist, without any qualifiers or hesitation, gave me huge amounts of confidence in myself and in my art.

I wish for that for all reluctant artists! Claim the title, you ARE an artist.

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

Inspiring people! What’s that saying, Earth without art is just “eh”, lol. It’s SO true.

Artists and creatives are the salve that soothes a troubled earth. We are the optimism in a world of pessimism. I always hate when people suggest that we shouldn’t create beautiful art during war or disaster or hardship. I think those times are when we need art the most. Art gives us hope, it gives us distraction, it gives us things to think about, and it gives us beauty.

Contact Info:

• Website: debsoromenho.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/debsoromenho.art
• Facebook: Facebook.com/debsoromenho.art
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/debsoromenhoart

Image Credits
Deb Soromenho