Meet Angela Greene

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

Angela, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?

I keep my creativity alive by not limiting myself to things I know. In the art world, it’s easy to fall into a wormhole of artists creating similar art pieces, but it’s our job to find something in ourselves that we may never have envisioned. Asking questions about what I can paint that is out of the norm, or bringing a new color to the palette, usually will get the job done. It doesn’t have to be anything groundbreaking for me, just a new subject to pique my interest.

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?

I am an oil painter among other variations of art, such as ceramics and drawing. I was born and raised in San Diego, California. My creative journey started at my performing arts middle school, and there I experienced my first art class and my love for drawing, which quickly progressed into painting. Years down the road, I attended San Diego Mesa Community College, where I gravitated towards charcoal art and was introduced to acrylic and a variety of other mediums. It wasn’t until I moved to Racine, Wisconsin, and began my journey at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside that I was introduced to oil paint, and I completely fell in love. I find inspiration from the greats such as Michelangelo, Caravaggio, and many more. It is always my goal to incorporate feelings of comfort, nostalgia, and emotion in everything I create. In the near future I hope to open my own studio for painting sessions to the community. I am excited about getting others excited about art and how this creative outlet could broaden they’re love for creating and art in general. I also have commission artwork services. I love bringing to life the ideas people have and letting them see that the outcome was only possible with their creativity.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Persistence, open-mindedness, and growth are three qualities that have been impactful in my journey. I realized that when it comes to painting that sometimes the process of painting can be tedious, but that is where perseverance comes in. Sometimes, when the process doesn’t look like how I envisioned, it can become discouraging, but my professor used to tell me all the time, “Keep going and if you don’t like the results, let it dry and paint over it”. From these experiences, I have learned to have an open mind. I have come to realize that sometimes the new version is better than what I had planned. In previous experiences with painting or ceramics, if the art didn’t look like the picture in my head, I would give up, but then it dawned on me that I was standing too close and I needed to take a step back and be receptive to change and any opportunity for growth. I think growth is a wonderful quality to have, and through all these experiences, I have found the confidence to know that in each experience, good or bad, we have the opportunity to grow. My advice for someone who is on their journey is to never forget why they started their passion. Persist and fight through the valley of the unknown. Keep an open mind, you just might surprise yourself, and you’ll find the slightest change in your plans will allow you to grow.

Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?

My parents have impacted me greatly by showing me what it means to keep going even when you don’t know what the result will be. They taught me what it means to do what I love with my whole heart, because people will connect to what is honest. What comes from the heart reaches the heart, is what they used to tell me. My father to this day says, “We want to make an impact that is unforgettable”, and that is what I strive for in my art pieces. I want people to feel something when they see my work, and maybe even connect that feeling with a memory. They made an impact that was unforgettable for me, and I want to do that for my viewers.

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