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

Seline, appreciate you joining us today. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?

A typical question that people ask you when you make art is: “but why?” The answer is, there are million reasons artists have to make art, and billions of reasons why they shouldn’t. It takes a strong artist to ignore the moments of doubt, negative feedback, and judgement of those around you and continue to make. If you can ignore the billions of reasons of why not to make art, and listen to just one reason why you want to make art, that makes you an artist.

Life could be easier, life could also be harder. Either way, listening to the need within your soul, I believe that is being a true artist.

Seline, 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 am a contemporary artist and artist educator living in Boston, MA. I moved from a small town in New England to Boston where I received my BFA in Art Education and Painting from Massart, the only only publicly funded art school in the country. Choosing Massart to be the college where I earned my degree from was a very important choice, and one that I will never regret. While living in Boston since then, I am proud of the artist cohorts I have met and am a part of, especially since Boston is a difficult place for artists currently.

I use my voice, art, and art educational practices to comment and reflect on the city around me, and the people in it. Most of my work if figurative and focused on color, but ranges from collages, to oil paintings, to print making. I use found imagery within Boston to create stories focused on color theory, and explore them further using traditional mediums. There is nothing traditional about my art, but that it was I enjoy most about it.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

Trying to survive solely on your artist practice alone can be difficult and even feel impossible at at times. This has pushed me since I was a teenager to work as much as possible to sustain my artist practice. This has led to desperate jobs, service industry work, and more. Though working all these jobs can be difficult and some people may see the easier route as finding a steady office or other related job, that is not something I can do. I agree-it is easier to do something like this, to have a set plan, to know your future, but I don’t believe that is how true artists function.

Every person has their own passion, and that can vary from work to cooking, to sports related hobbies, etc. What society has a difficult part understanding is that creating art and showing art are some people’s passion. If everyone has a right to have their own passion, why can’t artists?

Viewing art can be difficult to understand at times and if it is, that is a sign reflective of the times and the society around it. That is all art ever is. Artists see, feel and understand things differently than others, what truly makes them artists is when they translate these notions into art to support an important message to themselves and to the public.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

All of my favorite teachers have said this quote, “We would not be where we are today without art. Art is everywhere you look.” I love this so much and say this to my own students today because it is inherently true. The color, life and basic everyday objects you surround yourself with were once throughout by an artist. Whether they designed it or inspected it, artists throughout history have crafted the world we live in today. it is our duty as artists to continue this legacy, and keep the world changing.

This can not be done alone; this comes with acknowledgment, interest, and support from the general public. Living in Boston for the past 10 years, a city that has a strong focus and support for education, medicine, sports and science, there is not much support left for the creatives. This will happen in any city or area for that matter, but you will find the creatives constantly grouping and supporting each other as it is a need.

What society can do to support artists is to first, be open and receptive to art. It does not matter if you “enjoy” the art, but to go out, take the time to experience it first hand, that is the real importance. This is what leads to more people experiencing art, and then leads to change.

Contact Info:

• Website: selinemsmithpainting.com
• Instagram: @selinems