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Tuesday, 09 Jan 07
Anika Youcha painting at home in Victor, Idaho
SheJumps: Have you taken a jump in life?
Anika Youcha: It seems that these days, everything I do is taking a jump in life. I have jumped head first into becoming a full-time artist, not knowing whether or not paintings will sell, not knowing where income will come from, if I will be able to buy food next week, or make insurance payments. But because I feel that art is what I am meant to be doing, I am willing to take that leap. And a big leap it is!
SJ: What is it about painting that you love?
AY: I love everything about painting. I love how I can reproduce the feeling a place or person brings to my heart and mind by putting it down on canvas with paint, or with pencil on paper. I think that I am such a sentimental person that the places and people I love and actually feel something for are the easiest for me to re-create. Most painting subjects are of my choosing and those always come out the best. Commissions are difficult, especially when the subject is someone else's idea because I have no emotional connection to that person or place, and don't know its spirit. I do not think myself to be a creative person, actually, so my art is always a re-creation of something real. I love painting!
SJ: How has being color blind affected your craft and how have you risen above it?
AY: Being color-blind, in my opinion, has affected my craft in only positive ways. Despite the difficulties I face when attempting to re-create an image (portraits, for example) and get coloring exactly right to appease the buyer, I am more free to paint things how I want to. I guess I just don't know how things could be any different for me. I tend to see in tones instead of hues, and thus paint the same way. I have had people want to buy a painting of mine from galleries, but find one part of it impossible to deal with - the salmon color of a few trees, or a red streak through a mountain. I've gotten several commissions out of making a new piece for them, so I guess financially it was to my benefit, because the already existing paintings sold, too!
I have risen above this deficiency by developing my own style that actually allows me to paint how I see (or don't see, for that matter). I don't think my work fits into any one genre of art, and thus there is no mold for me in which to fit, no rules to follow. The director at the Wyoming Gallery at Jack Dennis, Corrinne, said that people either love the paintings I make or hate them; there is no in between. I'm not sure if that is a good or bad thing, but that's how it is. Like everyone else, I have my doubts and insecurites about the things I do and whether or not it will all work out. However, I know what I love, and I know that I was born colorblind and with a brain that can reproduce what I am looking at for a reason. One-in-a-million women are colorblind, so I have to use this as a tool!
SJ: If so, are you where you want to be? And if not, what will it take to get there?
AY: I am sad to say that I am not quite where I want to be. I know that I am only 28 years old and have years to make progress with my art, but sometimes impatience comes into play and I want to be a better painter NOW! And I want to make a real impact on the world, not just by selling landscape art – because that really only benefits me financially and the person who buys the piece. I hope to one day start some sort of nonprofit using art to depict the spirit of things that are going on in the world, selling the art through the non-profit, and using those funds to benefit the people I am painting and their environments. (i.e., A.I.D.S. victims and orphans in Uganda, slums in Calcutta, etc. What it will take is a lot of diligent work, progression with style and technique, more landscape sales, and just plain elbow grease. And an often overlooked virtue, patience).
Profile: Anika Youcha
Comment on this Post ANIKA YOUCHA is a smiley, talented person. You would never know it by looking at her artwork that she is color blind. But it's not an ailment to her, it's just life. There's more to think about like trying to make a living as a new full-time artist and achieving her longterm goals like creating a nonprofit to benefit the world's poor through art.
Anika Youcha painting at home in Victor, Idaho
SheJumps: Have you taken a jump in life?
Anika Youcha: It seems that these days, everything I do is taking a jump in life. I have jumped head first into becoming a full-time artist, not knowing whether or not paintings will sell, not knowing where income will come from, if I will be able to buy food next week, or make insurance payments. But because I feel that art is what I am meant to be doing, I am willing to take that leap. And a big leap it is!
SJ: What is it about painting that you love?
AY: I love everything about painting. I love how I can reproduce the feeling a place or person brings to my heart and mind by putting it down on canvas with paint, or with pencil on paper. I think that I am such a sentimental person that the places and people I love and actually feel something for are the easiest for me to re-create. Most painting subjects are of my choosing and those always come out the best. Commissions are difficult, especially when the subject is someone else's idea because I have no emotional connection to that person or place, and don't know its spirit. I do not think myself to be a creative person, actually, so my art is always a re-creation of something real. I love painting!
SJ: How has being color blind affected your craft and how have you risen above it?
AY: Being color-blind, in my opinion, has affected my craft in only positive ways. Despite the difficulties I face when attempting to re-create an image (portraits, for example) and get coloring exactly right to appease the buyer, I am more free to paint things how I want to. I guess I just don't know how things could be any different for me. I tend to see in tones instead of hues, and thus paint the same way. I have had people want to buy a painting of mine from galleries, but find one part of it impossible to deal with - the salmon color of a few trees, or a red streak through a mountain. I've gotten several commissions out of making a new piece for them, so I guess financially it was to my benefit, because the already existing paintings sold, too!
I have risen above this deficiency by developing my own style that actually allows me to paint how I see (or don't see, for that matter). I don't think my work fits into any one genre of art, and thus there is no mold for me in which to fit, no rules to follow. The director at the Wyoming Gallery at Jack Dennis, Corrinne, said that people either love the paintings I make or hate them; there is no in between. I'm not sure if that is a good or bad thing, but that's how it is. Like everyone else, I have my doubts and insecurites about the things I do and whether or not it will all work out. However, I know what I love, and I know that I was born colorblind and with a brain that can reproduce what I am looking at for a reason. One-in-a-million women are colorblind, so I have to use this as a tool!
SJ: If so, are you where you want to be? And if not, what will it take to get there?
AY: I am sad to say that I am not quite where I want to be. I know that I am only 28 years old and have years to make progress with my art, but sometimes impatience comes into play and I want to be a better painter NOW! And I want to make a real impact on the world, not just by selling landscape art – because that really only benefits me financially and the person who buys the piece. I hope to one day start some sort of nonprofit using art to depict the spirit of things that are going on in the world, selling the art through the non-profit, and using those funds to benefit the people I am painting and their environments. (i.e., A.I.D.S. victims and orphans in Uganda, slums in Calcutta, etc. What it will take is a lot of diligent work, progression with style and technique, more landscape sales, and just plain elbow grease. And an often overlooked virtue, patience).
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