Each Month We Feature An Artist That Inspires Us
Name: Tanya Heidrich
Location: Valencia, Spain
Medium of Choice: Black pens & paint markers
Social Media: Instagram: @stillonoir
Website: www.stillonoir.com
Questions
1. If you could meet any artist (past/present) who would it be? And why?
There are too many to name! More so than any one person, it's great to constantly meet and talk to all kinds of artists and designers across disciplines, whether it's folks whose work I already know and admire, or people whose work you discover as you get to know them. There's always so much to learn from everyone!
2. Did your childhood environment have any influence on your creativity?Absolutely! Every place I've lived or visited has influenced the work I create. Growing up in a village in Switzerland, I took a lot of inspiration from surrounding nature, from Alpine flora to seasonal crops in fields, as well as architectural details in cities and towns.
I was also very fortunate to have a family that supported my creativity, and excellent art classes in school that taught me about technique and a variety of mediums.
3. Do you have any tips or inspiring words for others?Find time to be alone and silent for at least 20 minutes every day.
I'm inspired by the quiet details of my surroundings: I love to focus on what may otherwise be overlooked in our busy lives, visually extracting details from their context, and stripping them down to their essential textures and lines, to the point of abstraction.
There's something really exciting about reproducing what you've noticed into a monochromatic, simplified pattern, and hearing what others see in it: Ultimately, it shows the universality of patterns surrounding us, and how core designs repeat themselves, worldwide, across nature and man-made creations alike.
4. What does “being creative” mean to you?
A person finds himself in a state of creativity when, while creating, something is fully in contact with the deepest part of himself. Most of the time we are "constructive" and not creative. Being constructive means putting together the things that are known and experienced in an original way. Being creative means finding something completely new. It is a very abused word in today's communication. Creativity is a state of grace that happens every now and then and has no fixed rules. For the rest of the time, we live on the income of these pure moments, being dignified constructive.
5. Do you have any tips or inspiring words for others?
Something that's been on my mind a lot lately is the importance of diversifying your efforts if you want to be an independent creative/artist/designer. That can mean a lot of things and can vary for everybody, but essentially applies to things like your online presence (not relying too heavily on any one platform), your medium (staying curious about new programs and techniques and continuing to grow), and your income streams (from illustration work to print sales to private fine art commissions to speaking and teaching gigs).
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