Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Diego Fidelis. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Diego thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I think my whole life led me to this creative path I’m in now. Art and music have always stirred in my blood since I can remember. As a child, I used to draw on the actual surface of a big bright blue Formica table that my family had in the kitchen. I would fill this table with my drawings every day. The good thing is that my mom would clean this table every night, ensuring I would always have a blank canvas for the next day to let my creativity flow in the child’s universe: imagination, freedom and infinity. This must be the reason my favorite color is blue after looking at this table for many years! Early in school, I would always stand out in drawing or in any creative and visual artistic related activities. As a self-taught musician I remember that even as a young kid I appreciated and paid attention to the sounds, rhythms and melodies in a song. Later as a teen I played my first instrument: drums. After that I expanded into one of the most complex and rich sounds: the piano, learning to play by ear. I graduated from College in Advertising and had experience working for advertising agencies in their art departments in the past. So, I’ve been always surrounded by the art environment. But only around 2016, after meeting with the artist Carol Schwennesen in her studio on Vashon Island, I recognized that paintings could have a similar blending of passion, atmosphere and drama as I had found in music. She became my friend and art mentor. Soon after that, I was invited to do my first solo exhibition in a gallery, and from there I knew I wanted to pursue an artistic career, so I started doing it professionally. Since then, I’ve been showing and selling in art fairs, galleries and in my online store.

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 am an artist and I live in the Seattle area, in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. I was born and raised in Brazil, a tropical country that has a lot to do with influencing my strong and bold colors palette, and also inspiring some of the themes in my artworks. My main medium to work on is acrylic on canvas. So, where I think my work stands out is in my unique way to play with the lines where they dance with freedom and infinity creating sounds and rhythms through my paint brushes. A very interesting detail about my creations is that I have the ability to hide figures, whether they are related to music or animals in a more abstract way. I also use a special splattering technique that I developed myself to finish all my paintings and it catches the viewers’ attention, especially when they see it up close. This technique also gives a visual aspect of hardness to the canvas, since its final result brings a “terrazzo” effect look. Besides being influenced by music, I also find inspiration in the shapes I see in nature, animals, and architecture. My art business is called “Blu88 Art Studio”, which is a creative approach to my passions and history. “Blu” is the color blue in Italian because of my Italian family background. And “88” refers to the numbers of keys on the piano, and also refers to the number eight meaning infinity, which is present in my art style, also in the idea that possibilities in creativity are infinite.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

There are three topics I think people struggles with, according to my experience. They are “solitude, sensitivity, and passion”. I am a very creative person, so my head is often spinning with new ideas. Of course, there are times I will feel empty and will need to recharge my energies, and I can only do that by being totally away from other people. That’s one of the situations where I feel like some non-creatives close to you will have a hard time understanding, and sometimes they won’t give that essential space that creative needs. Secondly, “sensitivity” is a strong characteristic in the life of a creative person, so it makes us more susceptible to absorb important details in the creative process. However, when non-creatives don’t understand it, they can give some opinions that might hurt a creative person, but it’s something we all have to deal with in life.
Lastly, one important point is the passion and love every artist carries for their own work. Mainly in the beginning of an artistic career, most people won’t understand the amount of time, sweat, and financial investment you put into it. So, it will require a lot of perseverance along the way to be able to overcome a time that it might take in order for people to start recognizing your creative work and paying money for it. In my case, I’m glad that my efforts have paid off. It’s amazing seeing people from all ages admiring my artworks and recognizing the value of it.

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

I feel very privileged to be an artist. Being able to work using creativity is so rewarding and fun, although it is something that comes naturally in my life, it takes a lot of work and time from the moment the idea is born to the final product. I’m thankful for this God’s given talent, and I feel glad I’m able to show people the beauty that comes from what only my interior eyes can see. This is more than a business, it’s sharing with the world my unique point of view through colors, shapes, and creative ideas. Expressing myself and getting to show how I see life through an artistic perspective is priceless. In my creations, particularly, I’m always spreading joy through good and positive messages, playing with hidden figures in the paintings, and it is so satisfying when the viewer captures that. I’ve had this kind of experience whenever I exhibit my artworks. I have this phrase with me that came to mind one day that says, “You can quit a career, but you can’t quit being an artist because this is your essence”.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://blu88art.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blu88art/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blu88artstudio

Image Credits
Diego Fidelis