We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Elizabeth Tucker. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Elizabeth below.
Hi Elizabeth, thank you so much for opening up with us about some important, but sometimes personal topics. One that really matters to us is overcoming Imposter Syndrome because we’ve seen how so many people are held back in life because of this and so we’d really appreciate hearing about how you overcame Imposter Syndrome.
I think imposter syndrome is more prevalent than we acknowledge. The challenge is two fold: We don’t really talk about it so everyone assumes the ‘other person’ really is THE expert. And when we start out we seem to have to pretend we actually do know what we are talking about even though we don’t have nearly as many answers as we want. My family called me an artist well before I thought of myself as an artist.
I think the way to get over imposter syndrome is to acknowledge what you do and don’t know. This will definitely temper expectations and allow learning to be a collaborative process between me and my students and me and my teachers/mentors. Personally, one the most exciting things about being a teacher and artist is that there is always something more to learn or to experiment with. In pursuit of building my knowledge base and confidence I’m finishing my Masters of Studio Art through the Florence Academy of Art.
I don’t know if I will ever fully get over imposter syndrome. Though I’ve taught one thing or another almost my whole life, I started my art career late. Starting art later than most forced me to work hard and show up every day. When I can share what I know it helps me to understand that I really do have a lot of valuable information to share and that helps to tamp down imposter syndrome.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
When I was in college I thought I might go into theology or medical ethics. But after graduating I realized that I didn’t really want to pursue those fields. Out of the blue my husband gave me an easel as gift. I didn’t know what to do with it so it went into the basement. Then, a couple of months later, he gave me money to use for art classes. Once I started down that path there was no turning back. I wanted a field that was creative and had no end in sight of what I could learn. Because I started relatively late I wanted to use my time and money efficiently. I knew that classical art was what I wanted to pursue and I’m really lucky to have excellent schools near me. I went to Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art (LAAFA) for several years and then started studying with Ryan Wurmser who has since become a good friend and mentor. I still study with him. Along the way I ran some art groups and learned the business of art. At the same time I was painting, having art shows, sales, and teaching both online and in person. In addition I was doing a lot of writing for my students.
There came a point in my painting career where I felt I needed to declare, if only for myself, if I was a teacher who paints or a painter who teaches. I decided I was a teacher who paints. This allowed me to have a clearer reason for learning: I wanted to be able to share what I knew and what I was learning with others.
Teaching is definitely a passion of mine. I absolutely love sharing what I know and helping my students unlock ways to see and understand what and why they are seeing what they are seeing. Teaching also allows me to keep studying and growing and finding ways to use my knowledge in ways that might not be ‘traditional’, For example, though I’m a traditional artist, I’m very excited about abstract art. If we take a traditional painting and break it down to its core, it will have an excellent abstraction. In other words, the ‘bones’ of a good painting or drawing is a good abstraction. The ordinary person will look at a piece of art and not tire of it because it’s beautiful, but also because there is a good abstraction which hold the whole idea together. This helps the viewer move through the work in a way that is similar to hearing a good piece of music. There is a rhythm. There is a beginning, middle, and end. There is a structure.
Another area I’m passionate about is color and how it works. Like understanding the foundations of abstraction, if one understands color bias and its interactions, you can understand why you can or why you can’t get certain colors from the colors on your palette. This knowledge is crucial when choosing your tube colors for a painting. Another part of knowing your colors and their quirks is knowing a colors value. Within the value pattern, part of the abstraction, you can really play with the chroma of color to help tell a visual story and keep a painting visually interesting. Again, like music, this can be the chord and key that the work is set in.
Though Covid closed down in-person learning for a while, it allowed me to really broaden my online teaching and get very comfortable teaching via Zoom. In addition to these kind of classes I also have two classes on Udemy. One is “Understanding Color and How to Mix It: Teaching Your Colors to Play Well with Others” and the other is on composition and design, “Using Notan and Dynamic Symmetry in Composition and Design.” Additionally, I teach regularly at Creative Arts Group in Sierra Madre and I also have private students.
This coming year, in addition to finishing my masters in August, I will probably start more internet sales of my small paintings.
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?
I read a line from a blog the other day that encapsulates my philosophy…..When in doubt, remember the way of the turtle. It moves slowly, yet everything gets accomplished. In other words, to go fast, go slow. Be thoughtful. Be deliberate. But keep moving.
When I was at LAAFA I asked one of my teachers if I was going to be good at art. He said, “I don’t know. But I’ve seen students who seem to come in with no visible skills and work hard and do really well, and I’ve seen students who come in with a lot of skills and rest on their laurels and stay the same.” “So,” I said to him, “are you saying if I work hard I will definitely improve?” He said, “Yes”. That was all I needed to know. I painted or drew every single day, without fail, for years. His answer still resonates.
Find a teacher who will push you but whom you respect and then be comfortable being uncomfortable. This comes from my husband and has been an important mantra. Learning to paint and draw can be very uncomfortable because showing our work makes us vulnerable. We work really hard to get things on paper or canvas and then people look and judge. Stay open to their judgements and thoughts, but also remember we can only learn so much at a time. We have to master one area to allow another to open. It’s a process and our head will always be further along than what our hand can do. Some days are better or worse than others. This is normal no matter how good you get. Manet was feeling he was ‘just starting to understand’ as he was on his deathbed. When things are going really badly for me I (almost) get excited because it means I’m just about to have a break-through. I can’t wait to see what’s on the other side of the carnage.
Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
Right now I am president of a rather large art group. That, along with my teaching schedule means my biggest challenge is finding more quality studio time. In addition, I can procrastinate really well! I should have only a dedicated time to work on my computer, unsubscribe from anything and everything that I don’t open on a regular basis, turn my computer off and go into my studio every single day. I used to do this as I had a daily painting/drawing practice. I did it for several years and I’m finding I need to get back to it.
I love a paper calendar and live by it. Anything that needs to happen goes onto my calendar. So I will start to calendar in my studio time. And I’m looking forward to the Fall when my obligations lighten up and I can really focus without interruptions.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.etuckerart.com
- Instagram: etuckerart
- Facebook: E. Tucker Art / Elizabeth Babbin Tucker
- Linkedin: Elizabeth B. Tucker
- Youtube: Elizabeth Tucker
- Yelp: Art & Portraiture of Elizabeth B.Tucker
- Other: Udemy: Elizabeth Tucker Michael Wilcox School of Colour: Registered Teacher: Elizabeth B. Tucker
