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

Ryniee, appreciate you joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I had enjoyed drawing in my childhood, but never thought I could pursue it as a career. In college, I was a business major at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania so my path towards business was almost etched in stone. But I took an exchange year in France to study liberal arts as time to explore what I was craving to round out my education – modern philosophy, French literature, and to revisit my love for drawing. Surely, I thought this was a temporary detour. But I was swept away by the romanticism and beauty of Paris, which fueled my drawing efforts. Art was everywhere there- all the museums to devour, public gardens, the architecture… and the food! I literally ate my way through Europe! The interesting thing about the French as well, is that as I was drawing all over the city as a beginner, they always treated my intentions with respect. They really value the role of art in culture and are proud of the legacy of their artists. I could envision working in this field the more I took classes so by the time I came home, I was ready to pivot and started my studies at Parsons School of Design.

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.

After graduating Parsons School of Design with a BFA, I was hired to do portraiture in my senior year for various projects. It gave me a bit of confidence that I could keep going with art. For steady income, I entered the internet design industry. The dot com companies were just taking off and I started working on graphic design projects there. I did freelance illustration as well. My real love still remained painting and drawing so I kept that up on my off hours. I had my day job and continued to work on my art on the side. This continued for many years until we discovered that our son had autism. I then took a career break to focus on his therapy and school. Though I didn’t know it then, this was formative for me creatively in many ways- it toughened me up to rejection (which is a normal part of the art journey), to keep thinking from many angles on a problem, and to learn to not sweat the small stuff. Advocacy is a muscle that was hard to build up, but it’s a muscle that I benefit from in other areas of my life. After my son got older, I returned to painting so that I could keep more personal hours to continue to care for my son while returning to my original love for painting. In going through all the years of advocacy, I feel I can provide a more attuned communication with my collectors, commissions, and other projects. Doing my best work and providing a great experience are my goals in any collaborative work.

Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

I think NFT’s will never replace the hand done, human quality that people crave. With the dizzying state of the world today and the rise of technology, I feel there’s a real desire to surround oneself with things that feel worked by hand. We want to feel and touch the effort and time put forth by human hands.

That said, my business side sees the appeal to those who would like to treat art as an exchangeable, financial asset. There’s a creative side to that as well- treating art like shares in the market? What will be the future of cryptocurrency? The use of blockchain technology as a method of authenticity is interesting too. So I don’t think NFT’s will ever go away.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

As a mother to a child with needs, themes of inclusion and belonging are always something I think about in my work. It’s led me also to think about the ties to we have to each other, one human to another. I’m fascinated with the idea of entanglement theory- that even though separated by great distances, a particle can effect another simultaneously. It breaks the illusion that we are separate and exist in a vacuum. We’re a vast interconnected network of the very particles we are made up of. So my mission is to remind people that we coexist together, to explore this idea of community and shared energy.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ryniee.com
• Instagram: @rynieedecheser_art