We were lucky to catch up with Wendy Costa recently and have shared our conversation below.
Wendy, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
I always loved art, in all it’s forms, since I was a child. I was involved in every type of craft, art, performance, music, craft fair, business idea, back yard entertainment as far back as I can remember. I was looking for magic. That path was set early, but it didn’t give me my purpose. Purpose is a different thing. I think that became clear to me when I was in my early 20’s. My sister had a young son who was diagnosed with cancer at age 5. I moved from New York to California to be with them and to help out. It was there, working in a live music café that my purpose revealed itself. I like to look at my life and the world as something alive that is giving me breadcrumbs in the woods to follow by way of symbols and messengers. In California I met a young nurse who was administering chemo therapy to my nephew. We talked and she asked me about myself and my work. She knew the music café where I worked and said it was her place to go to escape. She went to see the paintings I had there on display and told me she wished she could paint.. because to her…art was the escape and the pleasure away from the pain of the medical world. She was my hero. She was stoic and smart and strong up against all of that trauma. But she needed my art and the artworld to escape. She gave me my purpose without ever knowing it.
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’ve been painting and designing for 37 yrs. My design line features my paintings on a wide range of home and fashion accessories. Recently I started working again with a friend who sculpts my 2D paintings into these fabulous 3D sculptures. He also animates my paintings into these little film vignettes and I’m super excited to go forward and create more together. We are also working on some small boxes that are taken from characters in my paintings. Our work together is so fun and lively. We’ve done a few store windows together and I’m looking forward to doing more. Don Izzo’s work can be found on my site here: https://stores.wendycosta.com/red-girl-harlequin-sculpture/
Soon we’ll be posting our new projects on social media and my site: www.wendycosta.com
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?
I think learning art history was really important. Those classes, although super difficult to get through, were impactful on everything I see and create. I can’t imagine working in the world of visual art without that foundation. Visiting the Small Businessman’s Association monthly was free and really helpful for me on business matters when I started. Although I studied Fine Art, I did not have any background in business, and that was easy, free and gave me real world skills. Keeping a manifestation journal has been something I’ve always done. I’m astonished when I look back at them and see how many of my dreams I have manifested. We tend to be overwhelmed in our heads, especially imaginative people, but writing things down not only carves the path for the future, it serves as a road map of where we have been,
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
I always love collaborations. Currently my work involves sculpture and animation as I spoke about earlier. I love creating retail windows with these installations. I am always looking for stores, galleries or public spaces to install these pieces.
Contact Info:
- Email: wendycosta@frontier.com
- Website: www.wendycosta.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wendycostastudio/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wendycostastudio/
Image Credits
Window photo by Sarah Beck
