We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tachena Winterhalter a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Tachena, so happy to have you with us today. You are such a creative person, but have you ever head any sort of creativity block along the way? If so, can you talk to us about how you overcame or beat it?
Making art just for the sake of making art has never been something that’s interested me. It took me years to learn that sometimes I’m not going to create as much as I did last month/year/etc. Creativity, like anything in life is ebb and flow. I used to try to force myself to paint if it had been weeks or months that I hadn’t produced a thing. Because I had such a passionate love affair with creating art. What came out of me when I forced it was not something I loved or enjoyed. So when a block happens, I wait it out until it passes. You’re still an artist even if you don’t produce every day/month/year. It’s not about the quantity of art you make, it’s about the quality.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I am an artist. Generally, I stick to painting. However, I love making art in any form. I have an extremely active mind. Now tack on having an eidetic memory, as well as thinking equally with both sides of my brain. It becomes overwhelming. Making art shuts off my brain. It also, connects me deeper with the spiritual side of life. I often have no idea what my painting will look like in the end. Sometimes, I’ll just start to paint and then boom we have something beautiful. Something that I’m not sure where it came from. On those occasions I feel a deeper connection to the universe. It’s exciting in a way I can’t explain. I suppose I could correlate it with automatic writing. My work is largely expressive and surreal. Painting heals me. It helps me. It’s definitely a part of my selfcare routine. Before my move a couple of months ago I was focused solely on large canvas. Since I haven’t the space for that currently, I tried something a little different. I started making smaller paintings. Which, was a challenge not having all of the space that I was used to. I still really love how they come out. They’re just not like BAM! In your face. I’ve also started painting on clothes. Also, a little challenging but it’s so cool. Printing things for mass production, is not my brand. So, a friend and I had come up with this idea. I kind of just ran with it. I could use all the images from the many paintings I’ve already created to make shirts out of. It’s been a lot of fun so far!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Number one keeping an open mind. Art school definitely helped me in the technical skills area, but I wouldn’t say that going is essential to being an artist. I’ve met plenty of great artist with no formal background. Number two you have to be able to take criticism well. As artists, we are our own worst critic. Outside of that you can not lose it because someone doesn’t like your painting or how you created something. Art is the most subjective area. Just because one person doesn’t love it, does not mean that others won’t. If you allow yourself to absorb every negative criticism, you will stop creating. Number three if you feel called to and have an intense for art. Go with it. This is your life. You deserve to be happy. A lot of people are going to try to talk you out of it. Believe me I know, they start young by telling you that you’ll never make money from it. I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t matter. As well as, you honestly don’t know if you don’t try. Chase your dreams, life really is short.
Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?
My ideal client is anyone who connects with my art. Someone who really connects with it. I make these things because I love them. So, when someone wanted to buy my work solely because it matched the color scheme in their living room I turned them down. Did I need the money? Absolutely. But was I really willing to let my painting go for something so soulless? I was not. My paintings are like my kids, I brought them to life. I put so much of myself in them to the point of exhaustion. I don’t sell prints. So everything I make or put out is an original. That’s just what I prefer. I had a lot of teachers in art school tell me not to just make what I love because I’d never be able to sell it. What I’ve learned that they actually meant was, that I’d be unwilling to sell it. I’m perfectly willing to. I’m just not willing for it to be something so disposable as matching a color scheme in a living room. If you want soul, context, color, expressiveness, with a flair of the surreal, I an your artist.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.tachenastudios.art
- Instagram: tachenastudios
- Linkedin: Tachena Winterhalter
- Other: Email: tachenaw@gmail.com
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