We caught up with the brilliant and insightful ERIN MULLIGAN a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

ERIN, appreciate you joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

For as long as I can remember I’ve wanted to be an artist. I think every kid is driven to be creative, I believe its how we are wired-to learn through exploration. I wasn’t any different! I loved drawing most, and still do! It was a sort of therapy for me, I think, because I was a bit of a misfit. My Mom is an artist, and my paternal Grandma was an oil painter as well. My whole family was always very encouraging, and that is probably why I always saw it as a legitimate means to making a living.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I love to make stories! I don’t want to be responsible for telling you the whole story though, just a micro story about a single instance. I am not a writer, I am a painter. My paintings are all narratives or metaphors, they are expressions of whatever I might find amusing or visual poetry of concepts that are crowding my brain. My style is realism, but my subjects do not always exist in physical reality (at least according to my own experience!) The technique I use to build my stories is called flemish glazing. As a person who loves to draw, this technique was perfect! It starts with a meticulous drawing, get as detailed as you want, then when the drawing is done, you apply multiple layers of oil color based glazes to the surface, allowing it to dry after each layer. I was taught this technique by a local artist, Frank Dale. Frank not only taught me the technique, but he also encouraged me to use the glazing method to paint my weird creatures. Its funny to me now, but until he had said that, I’d always assumed oil paintings had to be serious subject matter. I feel I owe Frank so much, without that little conversation I might never have started on the path I’m on today.

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

I am thankful every day to find myself inhabiting this particular creative life! I really can’t describe the joy it brings me to be here, and be this person. I think that is the most rewarding thing about being a creative person, that joy. It makes this world with all of its limitations completely limitless. When I am building a painting, I am there, in that painting, and not only am I present, but I can also make that world into anything I want it to be! It is complete freedom, and it is the best feeling in the world (or out of it I guess!) To be honest, there are so many rewarding aspects of being an artist, it really is so cool to be able to share your thoughts and feelings with others, and have them recognize themselves in your creations. And it’s wonderful to have your job be an actual meditation. But I’d have to say that my favorite is that joy in the freedom of exploring wherever I want through my work!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I’m not sure if this is a story about resilience, or something else, bravery maybe? I started my artistic career full time about 14 yrs ago, I was 27(ish). It was wonderful, I was making art, having shows, I was part of a really great group of local artists who all were very kind and helpful. That lasted a while but then I thought I should get a job working for a more regular type of income. So I did that for a while, tried multiple avenues, all the while trying to keep time for making art. That was tough, and I knew I needed to get back to full time painting. In the midst of all this, a friend of mine who runs a gallery asked me to teach classes at her spot, and I decided to do it. My plan was to quit the job where I was and teach so at least I’d have some money for sure coming in. This was March 2020. I was set to quit at the end of April 2020. I quit, pandemic hit, class schedule was cancelled, shows were cancelled yet I made it through and somehow had a successful year still. It might not have looked like the wisest move, but it was the right move, and I never regret making that scary decision to get back to making art full time! I would also like to note that if you are considering it as a career path, there is a reason you are called an artist, it is you 100% all the time. You need to be dedicated to it, I don’t know if its just my personality type, but I’ve found I really have no room to be lazy, and not be working in the studio. Thats a good thing, because its also where I most love to be!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: etmulligan
• Facebook: Erin Mulligan Fine Art
• Email: [email protected]