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

Nina, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with 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?

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My interest in the arts began when my mother volunteered in public elementary schools with a program called “Art Goes to School.” This innovative program exposed me to a variety of artists and their work. The volunteers explained the color wheel and how colors work together. My father, an award winning photographer, also shaped my own lens. We did not have a lot of money, but my father always had fine art reproductions in our home like William Michael Harnett’s “My Gems” and “The Old Violin.” I would stare into these works trying to understand why he treasured them.

Today I am being asked to conduct workshops and classes of my own. I absolutely love to share my experience with this medium, and to see someone get hooked just like I did is priceless. I have learned a great deal through experimentation and taking chances myself. My enthusiasm for this medium is genuine and it is truly contagious.

I would want people to know that alcohol inks can be quite demanding but also highly rewarding. They are not just a “craft” but a true art form in their own right. My website promotes several videos that reveal my process, how I manipulate the inks and create a piece from start to finish. I also love to incorporate acrylics and fine liner pen detailing to add more dimension.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Being an artist allows for self-discovery, acceptance of self, and brings such joy to me on a personal level. I also feel a tremendous sense of delight when someone connects with a piece I have created. My medium is highly meditative, intuitive and challenging, all of which I find to be extraordinarily beneficial to my self-worth, my sense of purpose. It fulfills a passion within me that I wasn’t even aware of. My collectors have said that the pieces they purchase add serenity and comfort to their home, very much needed with all the chaos and uncertainty in their lives.

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 am a self-admitted control freak. I have a very hard time letting go. Somehow I think if I let go the world will come crashing down. So I have to unlearn that gut reaction, that almost instinctual resistance and default to be in control. When I do let go, that is when the creativity and spontaneity shines forth. If I think too much about what I am doing, my mind is in control and it stops the creative process. When I get lost in my medium, when I truly let go and allow the painting to reveal itself to me, that is when a portal opens up directly to my soul. My heart and my head are connected and I am at peace.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ninayocom.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ninajeanyocom/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nina.yocom