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

Yana, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?

Are you happy as an artist or creative? Do you sometimes wonder what would it be like to have a regular job?

It took me many years to arrive to a place I am in now – a full-time artist with a studio and an audience. This is not something I take lightly. It was an achievement just to get here.

Now I am exactly where I was always meant to be. The question of having a regular job – or a regular life, for that matter – never arises because I have had regular jobs. I’ve had desk jobs in New York City for years. I worked for a trading company while I was in college, followed by an internet startup after I graduated, followed by a publishing company.

As I was trying to appear normal, I always felt like something didn’t quite fit. I was happier when I opened my design and illustration business. However, I knew for as long as I knew myself that my ultimate goal was to be a full-time painter.

As I surreptitiously started to dip my toe into the real art practice, I was tortured by the impracticality of it. I was torn apart by my deep desire to paint always, every day, and my ties to normalcy.

It is only when I let go of trying to keep up appearances, and made a conscious decision to go all in, real shifts started to happen in my practice and in my career.

I feel that this is what allows me to teach and speak to people on the brink of this decision. I went through this intense search, I know exactly what it feels like, and I know that letting go and accepting the practice with all your heart is the only way to go.

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

I always knew since I was a child that I want to be an artist. I was incredibly lucky to receive an early classical training. After coming to the United States as a refugee from Uzbekistan (the former Soviet Union), I realized the necessity of being practical and building a financially stable career.

After graduating with a computer information science degree, I started working for an internet startup. I was on the tech side, moving towards the design and client presentation work. After the internet bubble burst and I had my first son, I moved on to work for a publishing firm where I oversaw their website. From that point, I built my own design company incorporating illustration and pattern art.

During the 15 years of my design business, I worked with a multitude of clients and created numerous book covers, product and fabric design, wallpaper and logos, culminating in large-scale installations in Hong Kong and China. My design work can be found on Behance at https://www.behance.net/LiquidPixel

Throughout all the years that I worked after graduating from college, I kept the overarching goal of becoming a full-time painter. With the advantage of living in New York City, I took evening and weekend classes in every art school. I studied with well-known artists in group setting and privately. I went to museums and galleries and read up on art history. I was obsessing over contemporary artists and old masters. I was relentless in my search for ways to become a professional fine artist.

I am proud to say that my perseverance and my dogged determination to become an artist paid off. Faced with financial difficulties, an enormous push-back from my family and my own fears I was able to stay on track and achieve my goal.

This is what qualifies me now to speak and to teach people privately and in group setting. I feel that I am an effective speaker and a strong and compassionate teacher because it has not been an easy road for me.

I do my best work as a coach for artists. While I pay close attention to the technical, I can inspire my students to reach for the stars. I teach them how to be an artist, realizing that this is not an ordinary level of being. You must be on a higher plane of existence and realizing it and embracing it is the first step towards your goal!

My students are people who:

– Are looking to go to the next level in their work.
– Would like to develop confidence and determination.
– Are struggling with establishing structure and routine.
– Feel isolated and without a community.

More than anything, I want to inspire and prove that absolutely anything is achievable if you are determined and steadfast!

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Resilience in the face of obstacles, confidence, when you are getting rejections, deep belief in yourself, and self-love, are far more important to develop than talent. While natural aptitude and love of painting / music / literature are essential, it is your obsession and perseverance that will take you to your higher goals.

On my road to becoming a professional artist, I had to develop spiritual strength and a great degree of confidence to keep me on track. I had to overcome my natural shyness to become a speaker and a teacher. I pushed aside my deep insecurity to start putting my work out into the world and on social media.

In short, I had to become someone else.

My mission is two-fold. One part of it is to deepen my artistic practice, while the other is to inspire as many people as I can and act as a catalyst on their journey of self-discovery.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is just that – being an artist. I allow myself to have time to play and explore, realizing that at those times of navel-gazing, I create new ideas. I spend time meditating and being in nature. I freely allow myself to go to a higher vibration knowing that this is where the most wonderful works of art are created.

When I paint, I let myself be a clear channel of divine energy. I allow myself to be a pathway for joy, kindness, empathy, and universal love.

A day I spend painting is a wonderful and meaningful day. I feel that I am making a change in the world by doing my part and creating positivity in the face of all the bad news, climate change, political instability, and general strife.

“We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change toward him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.” – Mahatma Gandhi

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.yanabeylinsonartist.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yanabeylinson/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yana.beylinson.9
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liquidpixel/
• Other: https://www.yanabeylinsonartist.com/mentorship My Private Mentorship Program

Image Credits
McKay Imaging https://mckayimaging.com/