Meet Bonnie Teitelbaum

We recently connected with Bonnie Teitelbaum and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Bonnie, so excited to have you with us today, particularly to get your insight on a topic that comes up constantly in the community – overcoming creativity blocks. Any thoughts you can share with us?

When I am dry and out of ideas the best way to get inspired is to fill my head with images. A great way for me is to take a road trip and see the sites of America. My car is a convertible and driving the back roads less traveled always fills me with inspiration. Closer to home a trip to a history or art museum works as well. I love to study the art work and critique it. Why it is good or bad in my opinion gets my art muscle moving and analyzing why a painting works or not helps in my own painting analysis.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I was born in Tucson, Arizona to a military family. I lived in Japan the Philippines, Germany and many states before attending college in Arizona. During that time I married Alan Teitelbaum and settled in Santa Fe, NM in 1992.

My first career was founder of Jameson Teitelbaum Designs, a graphic design firm. Ran this business for many years with a small staff working with large corporations.

I changed from commercial designer to fine art painter in 2002 when I entered a gallery in Santa Fe, NM. I have been in galleries on Canyon Road since then. I built an art studio in 2008 where I continue to work.

I love working in my studio creating new paintings. I love when collectors seek out my work and I especially love when I introduce myself to someone and they respond “I know your work”.

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?

First there must be a passion there to carry you through. The art world can be a roller coaster and one must stay vigilant when expressing your voice. An artist’s voice comes through in the style of painting you do. The larger the body of works the stronger your voice the more you are recognized..

Learning your materials and techniques. They are the tools in your tool belt. Analyze art. Where your eye enters a painting, where it goes from there. What kind of tension do you like in the work, serene or busy. What about the colors?
Focal points? How long does the composition keep you looking or is it a fast exit?
By doing this you can inform your own work.

Find your style and try to stick with it. Jumping around too much in your painting leaves you a master of nothing. Some artists try to paint what the market wants and there is no consistent voice. Find what is unique about you and your art. Don’t try to be like anyone else. People want an “Elvis” not an “Elvis” impersonator.

Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?

There are two books both written by Nancy Reyner.
Acrylic Revolution, 101 acrylic techniques. This is where I learned all the ways I can express myself with paint. These techniques are my tools.

Create Perfect Paintings, An artist’s guide to visual thinking. This is where I learned how people are hard wired to enter and view a painting. Why paintings work or don’t. This book changed the way I look at paintings now. Instead of do I like it or not, it’s now does it work or not. Before it was about feeling, now it is looking at elements and seeing how they relate. I learned to incorporate left and right brain thinking. It was major in informing my own work.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Bonnieteitelbaum.com

Image Credits

Photography by Beau Lippman