Meet Erica Norwood

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Erica Norwood a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Erica, 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 continually feeding my inner child. I allow myself the freedom to explore and the opportunity to make mistakes without feeling bad about it. 90% of learning how to create skillfully, comes from learning what not to do and adjusting for that on future projects. One of my most recent watercolor paintings warped because I used too much acrylic paint on the final layer. I tried everything to fix it, and eventually had to sit with the reality that it wasn’t salvageable. I pinned it to the wall and stared at it off and on, for a couple of hours, just brainstorming solutions. I finally decided to close my eyes and relax my mind, allowing my subconscious to do the problem solving for me, and in just a few second’s time, I had the answer! I got out an exacto blade and started cutting out the key pieces from the painting. I took an existing painting off the wall that I wasn’t attached to, and painted over it. This became my new background. In fact, the frame on the painting was so perfect for the new project, that I couldn’t imagine it being used for anything else!
I had no time to sit and worry about how the details might work out. I had to deliver my painting to the gallery in just 3 days. So I made a cup of coffee, turned on some music and just let my intuition be my guide. The final result was a work of art, far more interesting to me, and far more creative than the original watercolor painting! Even a careless mistake, like allowing the watercolor paper to warp, can be an opportunity for innovation, if you aren’t afraid to let go of what isn’t working. The key is to never get too attached to something that isn’t perfect yet. It’d be better to risk destroying it altogether than to end up with a final painting that doesn’t totally excite me.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I am an artist through and through. I love to paint and to experiment with unconventional materials, to try and materialize the ideas that come into my mind. I have been creating custom art for people for many years now, and I have a loyal customer base whom I love as my own family. Their support and their belief in my artistic visions have allowed me to thrive and grow as an artist on a level that I feel very blessed to experience.
I have always been very inspired by nature, and I aim to capture the emotions of the natural world on canvas. For example, I may begin with the inspiration of a simple purple Bearded Iris Flower, and the shape of the petals invoke a feeling of passion. So I’ll alter the colors of the flower to intensify that feeling, adding bright reds and rich golds to the flower. I’ll then add sculptural elements to the painting to enhance the sensory experience for the viewer. I don’t hold back. If I want to add glitter glue, I pour it on. If I want to add bits of metal in just the right color, I do. I even turn on music that matches the flower. Some flowers may be very sensual, while others feel ethereal. But every flower, every shell, every element in nature has a corresponding song, and listening to the song, and painting the song in the form of the object, enhances the overall quality to the viewer. It’s interesting to me that one can paint a flower to look like a song, while painting a song to look like a flower. Everything is connected, and I hope to convey those connections in physical form, in a way that makes people feel something.

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?

The number one quality an artist should have is fearlessness. When creating a work of art, you should never limit yourself by envisioning a specific audience and catering to them. If you want to paint a conch shell, but all you can think of is whether or not your great Aunt Bertha would approve of the colors, you’re limiting yourself. If you want to paint a tropical flower, but you’re afraid that it would be too feminine to hang in a man’s livingroom, you’re limiting yourself. You have to throw caution to the wind and paint exactly what you want, exactly as you want it to be. You are the visionary, so paint your vision. Your audience will find you. And if they don’t, then happily be your own audience, and enjoy the artwork yourself. Make your home your own personal museum.
The second quality every artist should have is curiosity. What would happen if I mixed sand with acrylic paint? How might it dry? Would it adhere well to the canvas? What might happen if I turned the canvas on its side and made the right side become the top? Might it look better that way? Try it. Try everything. Walk through the isles of Michael’s and contemplate how you might incorporate a ribbon into your painting. Get curious about new materials, and be excited about experimentation.
Lastly, don’t rush it. Don’t rush it, but also don’t move too slowly. Move at the speed in which the specific painting requires. If you ever find yourself worrying that a painting is taking too long, pause and ask yourself why you’re even painting in the first place. Painting should be enjoyable. Will it be difficult at times? Sure. But those are the times when painting is most exciting of all! Anything difficult that you can make it through, represents an eventual mastery of the skills you wish to learn. Each time you proceed with something, despite its level of difficulty, you gain knowledge and know-how. You will wake up the next day feeling proud of getting one day better than you were prior, and before you know it, someday a painting that would’ve taken you 3 years to complete, may only take you 3 hours, and you will amaze yourself!

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?

I’ve been near obsessively reading, “Georgia O’Keeffe,” by Roxana Robinson. It’s a captivating and extremely in depth biography, that leaves the reader feeling like they know O’Keeffe on a personal level. It’s a very long book as well. I’ve been taking my time with it, because I don’t want it to end, and I’ve read at least 8 other supplementary books since I’ve started this one. If I reach a chapter in which Georgia reads a book which changes her life in some meaningful way, I pause reading this book, and switch to that one. By the time I come back to this book, I’ve gained an even deeper understanding of her mindset at that particular time in her life. I’ll also pause to read about the influential people in her life, whether that’s Alfred Stieglitz, her very famous but often times challenging photographer husband, or Mabel Dodge Luhan, the very wealthy socialite who invited Georgia to come stay at her home; a move that would significantly alter the direction of her paintings, and change Georgia’s life forever.
I’ve found a lot of inspiration in her manner of thinking and in how she solved problems in her life. She was very strong, and she carved out an inner independence for herself during a time where that was frowned upon. She was even once shunned for wearing pants in a small town in Texas, during a time period where that was practically unheard of! But she did it anyway, and I respect her commitment to authenticity in that way.
She is often very romanticized as an artist, but her life was anything but easy, and I feel honored to catch a glimpse into how she was feeling during her darkest times and how she managed to get through them.
I’ve also felt incredibly inspired by her commitment to solitude and to the inspiration it can bring. She made a routine of traveling alone across great distances, in order to clear her head and paint in a pure way, without the clammer of the outside world contaminating her intuitive ideas. Because of her, I’m planning my own solo trip for 3 or 4 nights in a cabin, where I can stay up all night and paint until my hands are too tired to hold a brush. I honestly cant think of anything more exciting!

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