Artistic Influences: How is an Artist created?
My compositions and style in art making are an accumulation of all that has been taught and experienced. Art & crafting was a pastime enjoyed in my early childhood, encouraged to explore and try new creative ideas, my mother was always close at hand helping and teaching everything from knitting, sewing, painting, and cooking. I reflect back today and say thanks to mom for making it possible to let us kids be creative and make a mess. Fortunately, TV was either non existent to very limited, so she kept us busy with our hands and imaginations.
My family was a military family, home was where ever you where for the moment, and friends where made then lost regularly. Some of these adventures took my family to living and traveling Europe’s historical villages full of art and a year spent in Churchill living amongst Eskimos and polar bears. The constant change, language barriers, and total unfamiliarity in my surroundings, sparked an active imagination and the inner motivation to entertain myself through art and craft.
Formal education guided me to study; Interior Design, Fine Arts, Modern & Jazz Dance, while expanding my skills to eventually be living my life as an artist/painter/writer. I am most happy to be my own boss, an influence that was encouraged in my youth to be an entrepreneur so I thought it best to complete a Masters Degree in Business Math Sciences to balance the creative artsy side of my bliss.
Over the years, in between life, going to University, raising my young son as a single parent, I managed to budget time and a few bucks to take a variety of community courses, art workshops, and attended several fantastic Master classes over the years with the Vancouver Art Academy, learning from different art masters like Paul Chizik, Thomas Anfield, Michael Britton, Gordon Finlay, James Lindfield, & Natalia Vetrova.
As a teenager I worked in my mother's store called 'Ucandu' Handicrafts/Arts supplies and Gifts. I learned the basic lessons to managing my own talents including how to teach market goods, store displays, and develop my own designs and courses for many projects. Moving to White Rock, BC in the 90's had an unexpected twist of fate where I was to work in a gallery/frame/art store where I enjoyed connecting with artists, art students, art collectors, hobbyist and teachers where I certainly felt at home in this creative work environment.
During the 90's while working in the White Rock Framing & Gallery, my networking and friendships connected with some influential professional artists who where most instrumental to encouraging me to take my art work from personal to public display. This was exhilarating and inspiring to showcase my beginner paintings, compositionally filled with naive symbols of my inner struggles, passions, and convictions painted in mostly acrylic with the brilliant choices of color. For most of the paintings, I crafted creative frames from foam core with faux-finished surfaces for a most unique painting incorporating the frame described as Byzantine influenced.
I designed a creative dance class to teach at a local fitness center where one of my students was my first connection with a local White Rock artist who is a most delightful creative woman named Elizabeth Hollick. Later, I discovered her paintings to be full of whimsy, an explosion of character & color, compositions that challenge any topic from erotic nudes, broken down furniture, to painting bagels. Elizabeth was the first one to set me up with a public showing of my art works in a local coffee/book store called Whitby's, to which my paintings set off a spark of shock throughout the community because my paintings where topless nudes exposing nipples.
I had a few more art shows with my naive style of art which I described as 'Lounge Art' for it's ability to show brightly even in dim light. One popular show was in a local popular cafe which was always filled with a creative energy, great homemade food and funky art displays supporting local artists. My 'Lounge Paintings' grabbed the attentions of a local artist Robert Genn, who eventually we meet in the gallery where I worked. He talked about my paintings and also encouraged the screaming artist within me to come out and play. Robert Genn's a sensational man of character who travels internationally to paint landscapes and to write books, as well as his twice weekly email insights.
Robert Genn, during the 90's, became a strong mentor and fantastical muse, supporting my beginning journeys of embarking on the road to living a full life as an artist. He not only encouraged me to keep exploring new methods, topics, and styles, he also donated art supplies including paint, canvas and opportunities to do my first sessions in 'life drawing' with an elite group of BC artists to draw from professional nudes. I had only drawn my nudes of the past from my imagination. I was inspired by the live professional nudes to continue to draw the figure over several years to eventually hiring my own professional nude models to pose for me & friends in my loft.
Another gem of encouragement came from Robert Genn's intuitive insights to the other need within me to write creatively. Discussions of finding me a lap top to do so eventually manifested and so I started to write creatively. My eventual written and illustrated book 'Spinderella Soap' was completed over several years. To read more ABOUT the book 'Spinderella Soap...
Good teachers are gold but Master teachers are priceless and here is where I honor my friend, mentor, and Master Teacher, Tony Oregan. While attending Mount Royal College Interior Design program in the 80's, I had heard about Tony as mentioned from second year Interior Design students that he was a 'real' teacher who actually teaches art by demonstration and not just makes comments. Years later, I met Tony casually in White Rock and we began to connect the dots to begin an opportunity for us to not only become friends but to work along side him on several projects and to be his assistant to his group art workshops where I got to observe an inspirational Master Art teacher and fine entertainer rolled up into in one jolly genuine man.
Over the years, interesting folks have asked me what it takes to become a successful artist. Number one at the top of the list and a must for any creative persons is self motivation skills with a protective armor to buffer the nasty people who may say unpleasant things about your works of art while still staying motivated to keep exploring and creating. I have an ongoing list of things to do while keeping myself learning everything from how to do marketing, exploring new topics and mediums, to eventually combining luck and life experiences to potentially earn a decent living from my art works. For me, right now my successes has been to tackle as many opportunities placed in front of me that I can accomplish, to keep being a student of something, and manage a tight budget on my basic living expenses so more time and $$$ can go to towards efforts in living the life journey as an artist.
Inspired Naturally, Minaz Jantz
