We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Margalena Lepore. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Margalena below.
Hi Margalena, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
What a deep question. One that doesn’t have a direct answer. I think first defining purpose (at least the way I see it) will help. I believe purpose is something bigger than me that I am invited into while I walk this earth. My purpose should affect others. It should inspire others. It should also be the guidepost to the decisions I make. For me, my purpose has always been to love others, and hopefully love them well. As time has gone on, my purpose has changed my art. Through painting, I hope to connect with others in story and color. I want to love them by seeing them. I know this is a felt need of mine…to be seen. I find that so often we go through life and not actually get to know or understand someone…see them. So, my work in capturing skies is my way of seeing people in their journeys, triumphs, and struggles. Which comes back to loving well.
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 capture skies because I believe in the perspective of looking up.
A few years ago, a car accident drastically changed the course of my life. I was on the path to a career that I knew would support my bigger dream. But in one quick instance, that all changed. The career was gone as was the dream. I was faced with a real choice. Do I become bitter and angry or do I find joy in this heartbreak? I don’t believe any of this was a conscious thought, but something that formed over the next few years. As a step of faith, I started painting full-time. A year into that painting, the Journey Series emerged. A divine meeting that began the story of skies, perspective, and looking up.
I paint these skies because they are a very real reminder that everything that happens in life is bigger than you and me. I am walking this daily path to remember where I have been, the faithfulness of the journey, and the hope and rest I want to bring to others through paint.
I was recently asked about the three words that I use most often in my studio: Joy-Perspective-Paint. And yes, while painting reminds me to choose joy and have perspective, my mission is to bring joy and perspective to others with paint.
Over the past year, I am learning more and more about the journey of grief. Moving on and making the best of a situation isn’t all there is in healing. Grief needs its place. And out of grief comes some of the most beautiful work. I want to invite you into my story. I hope that when you view or own one of my pieces, it starts a conversation about life. In your own words.
What can you advise to those who are just starting out?
Listen, ask questions, try, fail, try again. Just keep going. Stop comparing yourself to everyone else and their journeys. I can promise you yours will look nothing like it and you don’t want it to! Be authentically you. Show up ready, real, and present. I think you will be surprised by what will take place if you are willing to see it.
What do you look forward to? Any plans?
My challenge in this season is time. I have had to take a step back from creating to pursue my degree and work full-time. I have fought it tooth and nail and felt at all levels a failure. But I am beginning to see this a little differently. I think this season of minimal creating may bring a new freshness to my work. It has given me time to reflect in specific ways about areas of my life I haven’t faced head-on. Grief is one. I think there is something here. What? I am not sure yet…but stay tuned. I will be painting about it in no time.
Contact Info:
- Website: margalenalepore.com
- Instagram: MargalenaLeporeStudios
- Facebook: Margalena Lepore Studios
- Linkedin: Margalena Lepore
Image Credits
Alex Finch Photography
