Meet Lydia Gatzow

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

Lydia , sincerely appreciate your selflessness in agreeing to discuss your mental health journey and how you overcame and persisted despite the challenges. Please share with our readers how you overcame. For readers, please note this is not medical advice, we are not doctors, you should always consult professionals for advice and that this is merely one person sharing their story and experience.

I have been painting and drawing my whole life as a way of taking refuge, from the trauma I experienced as a child and also clinical depression that runs in my family. It wasn’t until the recovery of a near death experience that “plein air painting” became a life line. I remember the nurses helped to gather up my paints and set up a chair down by a pond. They walked me slowly down the hill just behind the facility, as I awkwardly shuffled with my crutches and full torso brace. And there it was. A lifelong pursuit took root. For the next hour I disappeared into bird song, dappled light, bright green algae blooms floating across the water, that was reflecting everything. Dragon flies were everywhere, landing on my hand and the rocks in front of me. I felt a jolt of vitality as I mixed colors, my heart opened as I laid them on the canvas. Each fleck of light I felt move through me and onto the surface. After 3 months of dealing with the aftermath of falling off of a 4 story building into 25 windows of glass, in Brooklyn NY a week after graduating Art school, I had found my calling. I found something ground breaking in the seemingly simple and ordinary. It wasn’t the first time I had painted outside, but this time I was shown the depths of the healing powers this practice holds.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I am a contemporary impressionist landscape painter, and plein air colorist. I explore nature with my paints and try to bring the experience of being outdoors into my work. The process is both therapeutic for me and also helps me to study the light and colors of a particular place with its unique weather patterns and geology. I am passionate about wilderness conservation and strive to showcase the beauty of wild places. Nature connects me to Spirit, and my greater power. I have a background in organic farming in Sweden and Vermont and also have been practicing different forms of yoga and meditation for many years. Painting outside feels like a meditation and is another way to practice mindfulness with our surroundings, and to see the world in a way that goes beyond the mind. I do studio paintings based on my studies and time in nature, and also paint other subject matter, but plein air is the foundation of my art. My work is represented by Mountain Trails Gallery in Tlaquepaque in Sedona, AZ. I will be participating in the Grand Traverse Plein Air Festival in Michigan from June 14th-21st, as well as staying at Ghost Ranch, NM in May to produce work; this is where the Southwest painter Georgia O’Keefe lived and painted for most of her adult life.

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?

The three qualities that helped to succeed the most as an artist were and still are: curiosity, dedication, and passion. Curiosity is what drives us to know something deeply, to always experiment and to have a hunger for learning what is necessary to make our vision tangible. Dedication or devotion, keeps our focus on the work and not the rejections or failures, which are many in the path of the artist no matter the skill level. Passion comes through as your unique expression. It is the love for what you are doing, which makes everything possible. The best advice I can give is to just go out and do the thing; over and over and over again; and find a mentor that can teach and guide you. Mentorship is what set my art on a true career path and journey of rapid growth.

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?

A few months ago I launched my career as a full time artist and have struggled with keeping a consistent work flow. It’s hard to find the balance between working enough and working too much. Project efficiency is also something that’s come to my attention. I’ve been learning to protect my time in the studio by not getting carried away in other unrelated tasks, making lists of what I’d like to accomplish for a given day, and deleting apps on my phone when I’m not using them.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Kelsey Erin Sky

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