We recently connected with Luz Marie Iturbe and have shared our conversation below.
Luz Marie, appreciate you joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
I never stop learning, the more I learn, the more I realize how much I still have to learn. Teaching has made me learn not only about the craft and the vast techniques of common plastic art but about art in general, it says that the best way to retain something in your mind is when you repeat it to someone. I began to learn a lot about art when I volunteered at the Blanton Museum of Arts as a museum guide, to pass on my knowledge I had to learn about all the pieces included in any tour, I fell in love with art history, and although in my Current work, I teach drawing and some painting techniques such as watercolor, acrylic and tempera, among others, I love consulting the old masters to better understand the techniques, composition, etc. I also learn from my students, the children remind me every day how important it is to play and feel free to be creative, which is essential in the process of making a good painting. My adult students teach me how perseverance, persistence, and effort lead to achieving what you propose to do and mastering the craft because all crafts are a matter of practice, the more you practice them the better you do.
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.
The first time I saw a painting in a museum I got intrigued by how they did it, how they got that texture and made the paint look like real fabric or real skin without even having photos at that time, I became obsessed with understanding the process and page of color in form of dense liquid and fabric became such a good representation of reality so I started trying to replicate gradients with my color pens, understanding colors and how to draw anything. I didn’t study fine arts, my Dad didn’t allow me so I studied industrial design which gave me another perspective on how to work with different materials like wood, plastic, and metal, and even though I sometimes use those materials to do crafts, to me, there is nothing like the sensation of rubbing the brush or the pencil on a smooth surface, so after I finish my career and work a little bit in industrial and graphic design I started painting in oil, first reproducing my own photos and later experimenting with other technics medius and styles such as impressionism, abstract and concept art, I have participated in different collective exhibits and projects such as portraits to honor doctors died from covid. Today I am working on different projects, I am concerned about too many things like global warming and gender equality and the course of the meaning of life and time and its relevance.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
There are two books that made me understand what is a creative life about 1.- The creative Act by Rock Rubin and
2.- The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
The biggest lesson I have had to unlearn is that people who are good at art are born with exceptional talent and all their work comes out easily on the first try, without any effort, if you are not good at drawing and painting you are not good at any kind of art, when today I know that no matter how good you are at the craft, there will always be someone who you consider better than you and there will always be others who you consider not as good as you. On the other hand, art is very vast and creativity can be expressed in so many ways, as many ways as there are human beings, because it is unique, but at the same time we artists belong to a collective space where we are all part of that and is constantly fed back with the contributions of each person so as much you share with others as richer is your empathy and comprehension, therefore, your art.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.luzmarieiturbe.com
- Instagram: luz marie Iturbe and iluzmarie
- Facebook: Luz marie Iturbe
- Linkedin: Luz Marie Iturbe
- Twitter: iluzmarie
Image Credits
Luz Marie Iturbe