We were lucky to catch up with Nicole Renee Ryan recently and have shared our conversation below.
Nicole Renee, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. 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 learn best by playing. What I mean by that is that I dive right in. The process is the best teacher. What colors to use? What brushes do I like? Even what I want to say. For example, I have taken 0 classes in painting oils. If I have a problem, I will research it, but experience is for me, the greatest teacher.
To speed up my learning process, I probably should have taken some classes, watched videos, read books. And I do those things, but not at the beginning. I am so anxious just to dive right in that I have a hard time slowing down.
Essential skills: Risk taking. I have heard about people being stuck at the beginning, being intimidated by a blank canvas. But this is the best part for me, I am always excited to start a new painting. I also start with no end in mind, so the risk feels more like playing. I also work on multiple pieces at once so that I don’t stress too much about any one painting.
Obstacles in the way of learning more: Time. I never feel like I have enough time to paint as much as I want or read as much as I want or meet as many artists as I want. My desire to learn grows faster and faster and my time seems to shrink and shrink.
Nicole Renee, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I got into art on a whim. I was a secret passion of mine for years, but it was when we moved from VA to PA and were selling our house that I decided to use this transition point to take a break from a traditional job and do art full time. It was supposed to just be a 1 year experiment but that was 11 years ago!
I create paintings and murals mostly of imagined landscapes, I work in oils and watercolors and have branched into some mixed media pieces. People who like fiction, strange worlds, and color tend to like my work. It is whimsical, strange, and anthropomorphic. The landscapes seem to move and become their own active subjects.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
Visit artist studios, go to art openings, buy art if you can and if not, just send out encouraging messages about the works you love. Share the work of the artists you admire.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Getting to create something from scratch. Whole worlds, narratives, stories, combinations of colors etc.. It’s frustrating at times, not knowing where these paintings will go, but it is soo soo satisfying when it all comes together finally, months or even years later. You struggled to create this thing, and then you are also (hopefully) delightfully surprised by it.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.nicolereneeryan.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicole.renee.ryan/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nicolereneeryan
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-renee-ryan-78112ab/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaRi6WNauJ_07syt9d8xxDw