Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Marina Daniluka. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Marina, so many exciting things to discuss, we can’t wait. Thanks for joining us and we appreciate you sharing your wisdom with our readers. So, maybe we can start by discussing optimism and where your optimism comes from?
Optimism is either there or it’s not. Years ago I decided for myself that a bad mood is promiscuity and not permissible behavior. So I try to keep my optimism warm. I have one rule: why get upset about a situation if you can’t influence it. And if you can influence it, there’s no point in getting upset, but rather taking proactive action. It is forbidden to take offense. It is not good to get angry.
I also never use swear words in my language, as they destroy the whole inner essence of a person, create negativity in the world around him and inside himself, manifested as hidden depression, aggression and pissimism. But the most important thing in my optimism is my family, who always support me in all my plans and endeavors.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
When I was a child, I was always good at drawing. Teachers at school and in art circles told my mom that my drawing ability should be developed. My grandfather was an artist and his paintings always inspired me. By having finished school, I decided that creativity is a false path and it is necessary to choose a more serious profession.
I got a higher education as a lawyer, but I did not work a single day by profession. I started working in the family restaurant business. Then I studied in a master’s program on specialty: management of entrepreneurial activity.
(Somewhere my higher education came in handy, but I didn’t feel like it was exactly what I wanted to do with my life.)
In 2008 good friends of mine offered me a job in a kid-center as a art teacher. Not going to lie, I was really scared working as a teacher with children, as I have never done it before, but I thought “why not?” and started working there. I had huge groups of 10-15 kids who is passionate to learn and draw more and more. So this is how I became an art teacher. In 2012 I immigrate from Latvia to the UK, and it was in the UK that I gradually grew into an artist.
I began to learn to paint oil paintings. That’s what I’m still doing.
Creativity has become a life for me, not a hobby.
In 2020 I started painting in a unique and very difficult technique.
The paintings in my technique I call: Linkupism: game of shades.
Very few paintings in this technique have been created so far. Some paintings were created for almost 2 years.
But this is not my main technique as I often write in different styles. At the moment I’ve mainly settled on three styles.
In the last few years I started to participate more often in different competitions and exhibitions. So one of my works became the semi finalist in 2023 in the Art Basel week in Switzerland.
In November 2022, one of my Winners paintings was posted in Boston in America on a seven-meter billboard.
One of my most recent awards is the winner in World Art award second place in the category “Floral – not realistic”.
(I really hope that this is not the last of my victories, but just the beginning.)
I often fulfill orders for paintings and am always very excited about new projects.
Every order is the realization of new ideas or complex solutions.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
It’s hard for me to point out three most important qualities, but I know for sure that only practice builds experience. There are a huge number of geniuses in the world. We look back at them and say: “How talented they are!”
But as life shows behind their genius at talent is a tremendous amount of time of teaching and practice.
We don’t see their trials, mistakes or failures, we only see their final brilliant result.
So to people who are just starting their journey I want to advise them not to be afraid to do, not to give up at a small failure, even if you are failed hundred times.
Only study on your mistakes and continue practicing no matter what.
All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?
I’m a regular person so I have exactly the same problems as many people: it’s time and money. Time – there is a catastrophic shortage of it! When you have a huge number of ideas in your head and want to realize them, it’s hard to allocate the right time. At least I am not very good at it.
Painting, making prints, creating artificial flowers, teaching classes, promoting social media, maintaining my art website, preparing for exhibitions. I’ve only written about part of my workflow, but there’s also a family and two dogs! And dogs, they are like children, without constant care and attention, education, walks, they can not do without!
The second problem is money. What I mean by money in this context is getting paid decently for my labor as an artist.
Often I am afraid to name the true cost for my works and worry that the cost to buyers will seem expensive. But every painting is my labor, individual ideas, years of study and practice, and expensive materials.
For me, each painting is born, not just mechanically painted. That is why I am just now beginning to learn how to sell my paintings at a comfortable and realistic value.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.maridani.art
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maridani_art
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maridaniartist/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@artmaridani
- Other: https://www.redbubble.com/people/MariDaniArt/shop?asc=u
Image Credits
Marina Daniluka
