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

Sabrina, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you take vacations? Why or why not?

I think traveling is one of the most critical keys to a successful artist. It’s important to take a pause from the studio and take in the natural beauty of the world. Traveling to a new destination stimulates our brain by exploring new terrains and cultures. These elements naturally create curiosity and creativity. My own body of work has been inspired and shaped by my travels. Most of my work has been inspired from my time on the Pacific coast of Mexico. Sharp, jagged cliffs, smooth sands, and colorful sunsets have all been captured from my travels and brought back into the studio.

Sabrina, 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?

ABOUT ME: Creativity begins with curiosity, curiosity turns into passion, and passion turns into a lifestyle. I am very grateful to have a career that I not only love, but am passionate about. As an artist and an educator, I have the joy of bringing creative expression into the local community of Canton. I am where I am today through the natural talent that God has given me and from a collection of instructors who pulled out the gold in me and poured it into me. I attended a high school that celebrated and supported the arts. My instructor was one of the very best in the business and really worked with me to develop my voice as an artist. I was very fortunate to use those tools to receive a full ride to Kendall College of Art and Design. I felt like I walked into college with a very strong set of tools to support my vision as an artist. My time spent at KCAD really launched me into the community and building a network of local connections. I have a huge heart for community collaboration and making the arts accessible for all. After college, I moved to San Luis, Mexico to help a local organization launch innovative ways to connect with the community through visual art based projects. Now I am a working artist and I teach art in Canton City locals schools. My dream is to inspire the community around me to step into all that they have been created to be through their own creative pursuits.

ABOUT MY ART:
Water surrounds us constantly. Our own bodies and the earth are composed of 70% water. It is the source of life for ourselves and our environment. I speak through the language of water. My artworks embody the unique nature of water. Never static, always changing, water has no definite shape. Exploring and discovering its nature, I constantly surround myself with bodies of water.

I am an artist who has fallen in love with the ocean. I love to create paintings that visually represent the peacefulness in find in the ocean. I am most well known for my oversized, textured paintings of ocean-scapes.

I don’t think I could ever make it as a digital artist. I really enjoy experimenting and trying new techniques with a variety of media.

I am very proud and very grateful that I keep pursuing a career that I am passionate about. I think what sets me apart is the vision I carry. It is my joy to empower others in their creativity. Someone once asked me what my favorite physical trait of myself is and my answer is my eyes: not for how they look but for how they see.

The best part of my job is that I get to play all day. As an artist, we get to have a child-like mindset of discovering and experimenting through a variety of different mediums and concepts. I hope when people encounter my work it gives them a glimpse into my vision.

SUPPORT:
One of the best ways you can support me and other local artist is by cheering us on and supporting our social media pages. It means the world to me when someone writes a word of encouragement on my posts. Another way is by shopping local. You can collect my original artwork, prints, and goods on my website. (www.sabrinauranga.com). I also teach “Created to Create” classes all over Ohio to encourage individuals of all ages to step into the fullness of their creativity. This class is perfect for small groups, events, church’s and schools.

CHALLENGES:
As an artist, I think the biggest challenge is prioritizing my schedule to find time to paint. Life goes by fast. I am an elementary school art teacher, a wife, and a mom. My time is divided into many different spaces and it is important as an artist to keep space to create. My students and my family are my whole world. I have a deep passion to educate my students in the field of fine arts. It is important to me to continue to grow as a working artist and share everything I have learned to my kiddos in the classroom. Being their teacher is not a job, it is my whole heart and I would do anything for my students. I am not an artist who wants to keep everything to myself, I want to share it with everyone around me.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me, the most rewarding part of being an artist is pursuing a career that I am deeply passionate about. As an artist, our job is to play ,discover, explore and create. It’s a life full of freedom and joy that is shared with the world through the lens of art. I am passionate about my work and I am passionate about my students. It is an honor to be their teacher and to learn how to create together. Art is so fun and teaching is very rewarding!

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Something I had to learn and unlearn over and over again was discovering my own voice as an artist. It’s easy to get caught up in other opinions and loose your vision. Something I had to process and discover for myself was what I wanted to create and what message I was portraying. Something I have been attracted to is working with my hands and experimenting with mixed media. In collage I began experimenting with a lot of unconventional textures to see how I could integrate them into my body of work. I had an idea for a huge 7 foot ocean scape using a really heavy and thick texture to create a high relief for the ocean waves. Before starting the artwork I made a small experimentation. During the experimentation I learned how to use the material, but it didn’t dry the way I wanted it to and I understood how to fix it for the final. I shared the idea with my professor and she told me It won’t turn out the way I want and to just leave it alone. This was a pivotal point in my career. I decided to pursue my idea anyways because I carried a strong vision for this artwork. I am so glad I trusted my gut instead of the voices around me because that artwork launched my into my artistic style and has won awards around the world. It is the only artwork I will never sell. It holds too much value to me and that is worth more than financial gain.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sabrinauranga.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/sabrinauranga
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SabrinaUrangaArt
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiVPG8I6k8zKRDpY-AENK8A
• Other: TikTok: @sabrinauranga