We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tatiana Dolfine a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Tatiana, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

My painting career started with a strange dream and a quiet wish for more artist friends. I’ve always created things. I taught art, worked as a graphic designer, and could draw anything I focused on, but my paintings hadn’t bloomed yet. I didn’t have a voice.

Years ago, sunlight filled the white cubicles in my office. I watched people walking their dogs near Town Lake and felt miserable. My coworker, Jieun Beth Kim, curated the Central Library Gallery at the time. I admired her from a distance because she carried a calm confidence and a deep knowledge of art shaped by formal training and years of practice.

That day, I walked by her desk and felt compelled to share, “I had a dream last night that you taught me how to paint.” I felt stuck in my life, and saying those words felt like stepping off a ledge, sharing something so odd but true. I barely knew her, yet that moment changed everything.

She was intrigued and agreed to mentor me in exchange for design help. My first painting challenged me in every way. I could draw well, but painting with intention felt like learning a new language. Progress moved slowly, but I kept working because I didn’t want to disappoint her. She taught me to build depth with translucent layers and to let meaning move through abstraction. She showed me that a painting doesn’t need to mirror a road to speak about roads. A single line of color can hold an entire idea.

My first finished piece expressed my frustration with how cars carve up the environment and take priority over people and nature. For the first time, a painting of mine carried my voice.

Around the same time, I studied online with the Milan Art Institute and learned to paint more realistically with oils. My skills improved, but I still felt unsure. After finishing my mentorship with Jieun Beth and showing at the Austin Studio Tour with a few early sales, I traveled to a workshop in Miami and met artist Rita Vicari.

Rita became my next mentor and pushed me in ways I still needed. She pushed me to fix proportions and sharpen my voice. She encouraged me to apply for shows and asked what I could create in one and a half months. Suddenly, I had another deadline and accountability from someone I respected. That pressure unlocked something in me. I finished the work, showed my art at Ten 20 Gallery beside her beautiful work, and everything clicked. She insists she “didn’t do much,” but good mentors know exactly when and how to push.

From there, more paths opened. Galleries led to print sales, which led to my own studio at ArtUs Co in Austin, Texas. More shows, more deadlines, and more connections followed. Most importantly, I found a community of artists who feel like home.

Now I don’t carry the same old misery because I finally found my voice and I’m sharing it through my art. I’m busy in the best way, and I get to express ideas that matter to me. That dream I shared with Jieun Beth set a direction I didn’t know I needed. This year, I was named Emerging Artist of the Year by ADC Fine Arts. I carry all my mentors’ lessons with me. If you ever find yourself wanting to ask someone you respect for mentorship and accountability, don’t hesitate. It can change the entire trajectory of your life.

And yes, I’m much happier now. It truly feels like a dream.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I create paintings that help people reconnect with themselves. My work encourages viewers to look inward, slow down, and notice the thoughts and patterns shaping their lives. Many people move through the world with looping worries, childhood wounds, or constant negative self-talk. My paintings act as invitations to pause, notice, and show compassion to your inner world.

This path started with a vivid dream that pulled me back into painting. That moment reawakened my intuition and reminded me to trust it. I want others to feel that same clarity. My art explores perspective, emotion, and the mental frames we use to interpret the world. When you shift the lens you look through, the world shifts with you.

I draw inspiration from Alan Watts, Eckhart Tolle, Jed McKenna, Krishnamurti, and Thich Nhat Hanh. Their ideas stay with me in the studio and influence the energy my paintings carry. I often think of my art as “therapy in visual form”, succinctly said by one of my collectors. My paintings hold space for reflection, acceptance, and stillness.

I create original oil paintings, prints, and sometimes wearable pieces that follow the same themes. My style blends realism with dreamlike abstraction and fantasy. I gravitate toward figures suspended between worlds, intuitive creatures, and landscapes that feel like the mind turned inside out. Houses often appear in my work because they symbolize creating a warm inner home, a safe place to exist within your own thoughts.

As a child, I escaped chaos through comic books filled with elves, quests, and worlds where monsters were easier to understand than real life. Today, I paint those realms, photograph myself in those roles, and let pieces of those characters influence how I dress. It brings me strength, joy, and a sense of wholeness.
What sets my work apart is that it comes from lived transformation. I know how it feels to be overwhelmed by my own thoughts. Learning to see them and accept them allowed me to create from a grounded place. My art carries that journey and invites others into it. If someone looks at one of my pieces and feels even a small shift in perspective, the work has done its job.

What I want people to know is simple. You are not your thoughts. You can change how you see the world and what it reflects at you. You can live with more presence and joy. Art can help you remember who you already are at your core.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

Several books and teachings shape the way I think about creativity and business. The Power of Now taught me that I’m not the voice in my mind. The mind serves as a tool, not an identity. That clarity helps me approach my work without letting every passing thought control my direction.

Thich Nhat Hanh’s Understanding Our Mind introduced me to the idea of watering seeds. Every thought or action plants something. Good seeds grow when we nourish them, and the same applies to the media we consume and the environments we choose. This insight changed how I protect my creativity and stay mindful about what surrounds me each day.

The 12 Week Year taught me to focus on what matters. I choose the top three tasks that move my work forward each day and each week. Small, focused actions create meaningful progress far more effectively than trying to do everything at once.

These ideas continue to guide how I run my studio, manage my time, and care for my mindset. They help me stay grounded and aligned with the artist and business owner I aim to be.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

My resilience appears in the thousands of drawings, paintings, and sculptures I’ve created throughout my life. It also appears in the five years when I stopped painting or drawing. During that period, I stayed connected to creativity through graphic design, photography, and dance, but my hands felt distant from the deeper practice of making art. I felt like some part of me was missing.

Starting again felt impossible. My skills were rusty, and the gap between my vision and the work appearing on paper and canvas felt overwhelming. The resistance was heavy.

Then a YouTube video shifted my mindset. It offered two ideas. First, commit to five minutes. Sit down and draw or paint for five minutes. Once you start, momentum usually carries you. Second, look honestly at what your work needs. Name the missing pieces. Maybe it’s proportions, color relationships, layers, or edges. Find someone who can help you see this clearly or build your own checklist.

I started with five minutes. Five became twenty and then hours. Art became a meditation and flow state for me again. I noticed what needed improvement and reached out to mentors who could guide me when I felt stuck. Slowly, my confidence returned. That willingness to begin again shaped everything I’m doing now. It taught me that skill comes back with patience, growth accumulates over time, and progress appears when you show up even on the days you don’t feel ready.

Resilience doesn’t shout. It lives in the quiet moment when you decide to keep going.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://tatianadofine.com
• Instagram: @tatianadolfine
• Other: https://artusco.com

Image Credits

ONE STOP SMM, Liza Roberts, Rose Colored Studios ATX, Paintings by Tatiana titled, “The Oracle” “The Prophet” “S’elf”