Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Holly Michelle Eroh. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Holly Michelle thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.
When I observe the art community and what it takes to be noticed and gain a following, I’m constantly reminded that my approach is not mainstream.
There is a lot of effort thrown into capturing attention and hoping to keep it. For me, I love the potential that those efforts dazzle me with and I’m happy to see them working for other artists while I prefer a more organic approach.
I’m looking for those who connect with my pieces quietly and personally. It’s not my style to light flares to make others aware of my existence. I know that when my work captures someone’s attention, it’s real and it’s wholly their experience. I simply created it and let it be discovered.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Connecting with artistic expression has been a thread throughout my life. As a child I enjoyed drawing and coloring. Later on, I put in real effort to develop this budding talent during my high school art class.
It was during my studies at South Florida State College that I honed my visual design skills. I was studying graphic arts and the fundamentals were part of the curriculum and that is where I was able to exercise a variety of imaginary concepts with the guidance of my professors.
It was the 2009-2010 school year that took me to Florence, Italy to attend a study abroad program for my language major. I managed to sign up for a painting class and learned oil painting in one of the most admired environments in the world.
Years later in 2017, as I was fulfilling random daily duties, I discovered the technique of finger painting with oils through the work of Iris Scott. She virtually flipped my entire approach and I found a way to connect with painting that had never occurred to me!
Though I began my professional career as a Fine Art Oil Finger Painter, I challenged myself (through a series of pet portraits) to tackle the learning curve of working with BEHR paints as a finger painting medium. The characteristics of these paints causes me to slow down and concentrate more fully on the task at hand. They are absolutely liquid and dry very quickly. They will rub in an unwanted texture if using too little for the amount of time you’re applying because they have half-dried too fast. There are numerous challenges to working with house paints but the results are worth the effort of learning.
I utilize this medium in fine art because it provides the true color that I desire in my pieces. I generally tend to work on canvas even though I have successfully applied these paints to a variety of materials including different wood types and metals. They are made for coverage and they are great at it! I simply add the element of image expression during that coverage process.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Building my brand took place primarily through farmers markets and festivals in the beginning. It was exciting to meet folks who would stop by the booth and want to know more about my art and who I am. I even had a chance to learn a little about many of those visitors.
As I was barely getting off the ground with my following, I experienced a pretty intense setback through the process of ending my marriage. The resulting depression caused a decline in my creative energy and interest in staying connected.
I had several commissions and an upcoming exhibit in the process when everything happened in 2020 and the additional experience of CoVID with the world being thrown into chaos did not encourage quick recovery.
My discipline to see my project through to completion is what kept me going. Even if I was only making small amounts of progress each day, I was still making progress.
I had a growing army of support through family and friends and each person played a major role in keeping me on my feet during this life crisis.
I fully admit that my resilience required a village. And I’m extremely thankful that my village held me up and continues to be present in my life with encouragement and excitement to discover what I will create next!
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I had a pretty negative bias against painting as an art form for my personal expression. I did not love working with this messy medium and I felt extremely disconnected from my canvas while using it.
When I learned how to paint with oils, it just got more involved. The amount of extra tools and solutions just to clean the brushes left me dizzy! And the variety of brushes and other tools that are available can get pretty intense.
These learned requirements were extremely inhibiting for an artist who likes to keep things simple. So, when Iris Scott described working with nitrile gloves and paper towels to apply paint and clean up, she was speaking to my soul!
I quickly adopted this new option and immediately experienced the connection with my work that always felt like it was missing when I held a brush. I feel free to express now that I’m not caught up in the tangle of decision making between all of the tools.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: hollymichellefineart
- Facebook: Holly Michelle Eroh