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

Hi Greta, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

My decision to try and turn my hobby into a creative career is quite a recent one. Even though drawing has always been an important part of my life, finding my own creative voice and figuring out what I want to say with it took me a long time. I never went to art school and had an essentially non-artistic career: I studied political science and after finishing my Master’s degree I worked in the financial sector. I struggled with keeping a habit of drawing regularly during those years and never found enough time to pick up my brushes and paints.

In the midst of the pandemic, there were some important life changes which essentially led me to where I am now: I quit my job, moved to another country and, instead of jumping into another office job, I decided to take some time off and dedicate it to finding my way back to painting. I dreamt of creating illustrations for so long and I felt like it was a “now or never” type of situation.

It wasn’t easy at the beginning, I was rusty and mostly not happy with whatever it was I was drawing. It took a lot of determination and perseverance to keep going and stop questioning myself. Two years ago, I finally felt confident enough to start sharing my paintings on social media and connecting with other artists there. I think creating this little community there and all the encouragement I received was one of the main reasons why I decided to pursue a career in illustration.

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.

Hello everyone! I’m Greta, an artist and illustrator from Lithuania, now living in Bielefeld, Germany. I paint whimsical illustrations of anthropomorphic animal characters going about their everyday lives. In my work, you’ll meet a fox who is a big fan of van Gogh, a badger who has a coffee shop down town and a tiny hedgehog who loves cooking more than anything else in the world (he also has a funny tricycle that takes him to the farmer’s market in no time). Creating the world all these characters live in and inventing their stories is my favourite part of my art process.

I’m still at the very beginning of my career as an illustrator, but this year has been full of new beginnings: I got my first commissions, sold my first prints and even signed my first art licensing agreement. I’m currently working on opening my online shop which should go live early next year.

My biggest dream is to create illustrations for children’s books; I know I still have a long way to go and lots of things to learn, but I finally have the energy and determination to make it happen.

When I’m not painting, you’ll most likely find me curled up in a blanket sipping coffee and reading a book. I also love going to concerts, visiting museums and exploring new cities. There’s so much inspiration hiding in the smallest things, you just have to stop for a moment and look!

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I think my main goal is to create work that fills my heart with joy and happiness. It’s one of my favourite feelings when a super exciting idea for a new painting keeps me up at night, haha.

Speaking of more technical things, one of my plans for next year is to try out new mediums and painting techniques. Watercolours have been my favourite medium since high school, but I feel like certain limitations inherent to watercolour painting have become the main reason why I sometimes get stuck in my own process. I’m really looking forward to asking my inner perfectionist to take a break while I get my hands dirty with gouache, oil pastels and pencils, and embrace the wonky lines and brush marks!

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

There are so many! But I think the most rewarding one for me is creating a connection with other people through my art. Sharing my illustrations on social media is a little daunting at times; it is like writing an open letter and hoping that someone sees it, and maybe even decides to write back. For me, knowing that my work brightens someone’s day or makes them smile is one of the biggest inspirations to keep painting. I’m always so grateful when people take the time to share their little stories and thoughts with me, this is something I could never take for granted.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foxandthemagpie/