Ali Cavanaugh is an internationally represented fine artist who is known for her watercolor paintings on clay, in a process she calls modern fresco painting.
Her paintings have been featured on book covers, print publications like The New York Times Magazine, American Art Collector, and American Artist Watercolor, as well as internet features such as the Huffington Post, Fine Art Connoisseur, Hi-Fructose. She currently lives in St. Louis, Missouri with her husband and their four children.
In this episode, Ali discusses:
-Her modern fresco painting process and how it came about.
-How she used her family as an excuse for her not being successful.
-How your twenties should be about playing around with your art and your style, and how you shouldn’t stress too much about your end goal.
-The unrealistic idea of coming out of school and immediately being able to sell your art.
-Why you actually shouldn’t want your career to take off exponentially from the start.
-One of the toughest times of her art career and her life, when she had to battle post-partum depression.
-How it is not your fault when you have to deal with some of the things that your mind and body put you through.
-How your work and your life goes through cycles and you have to know that you will come out the other end eventually.
Quotes:
“It didn’t hold me back at all. In fact, it opened up a whole new world.”
“Sometimes I think you have to take that step into changing some little tweak with it.”
“I made my family an opposition to me creating my art.”
“Your twenties should be about playing around.”
“If I could tell my younger self something it would be, Don’t be so hard on yourself, you’re where you need to be.”
“It snuck up on me and I didn’t really know what happened.”
“Your work goes through cycles. Life goes through cycles.”
Resources Mentioned:
“Art and Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking” by David Bayles & Ted Orland
“Why Beauty Matters” by Dana Gioia
“A Sense of Place: Dana Gioia’s Ted Talk”
Connect with Ali:
Website / Archives / Facebook / Instagram / Tumblr
