We recently connected with Marissa Madonna and have shared our conversation below.

Marissa, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

I think that a great way to be successful is to love what you do, and to always strive to continue growing.

I am so passionate about the work I create, and I truly feel that I learn something new from every project. One of my greatest mentors from Hartford Art School, illustrator Dennis Nolan, once shared with me that whenever he would receive any kind of award or accolade for his work, he would say, “That’s great! Now I am going to go draw.” No matter where you are in your professional career and how many successes you have had, there is always something new to learn. I believe that being open to this growth and continuing to work hard is a true path to success.

Marissa, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Marissa Madonna, and I am a professional illustrator. I always loved to draw and create since I was very young, but never really pursued it until I signed up for an art class on a whim my junior year of high school after encouragement from friends. I immediately fell in love with it and decided to go to college for art.

I received my BFA in illustration from Hartford Art School in 2012. While I was there I made many lifelong connections in mentors and friends. These meaningful connections have continued to support and guide me in my life, both in and outside of the studio. In art school I learned the meaning of truly putting my all into the work I create and seeing where it can take me. This has continued to inspire me on my growth path as an artist today.

Since graduating from Hartford Art School, my projects have included children’s book illustration and sports illustration. I worked with ESPN in 2012 illustrating a television segment about Peyton Manning’s “Art of the Comeback”, and then again in 2016 drawing the trophy for the UEFA Euro Soccer Tournament. Most recently I have been creating illustrations for Hartford Symphony Orchestra’s yearly concert production “Tales of Halloween” with composer John Jesensky. This has been one of my favorite collaborations in my career so far.

One of my greatest artistic passions is portraiture. I love doing portrait commissions and getting to know the story of my subjects in this way. I have always embraced my foundation in traditional art techniques, most often working in a mixed media approach combining acrylic and colored pencil. One of the things I find most rewarding is being able to use this skill set to create something completely new – like bringing family members together in one portrait or recreating old damaged photographs.

In between projects I love to work on practice portraits of friends and people who inspire me. I feel very fortunate in my life to have a great support system that I can always look to for inspiration. My work is very detail oriented, and I love quilting together all the details (both on the surface of the artwork and the narrative behind it) to tell the story of my subjects in a new way.

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

For me, the most rewarding aspect of what I do is being able to tell stories. With every illustration project I do, I get to not only tell the story of my subject, but also continue the legacy of my artistic mentors through the techniques handed down and wisdom that they have shared with me over the years. I hope to make an impact by being able to tell these stories and hopefully one day inspire a new generation the way my mentors inspired me. I think that would be the most rewarding thing of all!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Over the years, I have actually found that creating art itself has been a path of resilience. I have realized that some of the best and most meaningful pieces I have created were often following a period of great stress or struggle in my life. One story that comes to mind is a still life painting called “Timeless Collection” that I created following Hurricane Sandy. The still life features objects I recovered from our house at the New Jersey shore that had been destroyed during the hurricane, and I think that being able to share the sentiment in that way and continuing to grow from it was a great form of resilience.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.marissamadonna.com
• Instagram: @marissa_madonna_illustration
• Facebook: Marissa Madonna Illustration