Tipsy Vincent Rebirth - Blog Post One

Dear Painters,

I am over the moon to be writing this first blog entry. When I started Tipsy Vincent, I knew I wanted to create a community where we collectively asked the question, “What makes an Artist an Artist?” I have struggled with that question from the time I graduated college with a studio art degree. I know for sure that the answer has nothing to do with which art school you attended or how many galleries have shown your work. I believe that the elitism of the art world often dissuades creatives from making art purely for self-expression. Here is my personal experience with losing and rediscovering the joy of being an artist.  

A long time ago, I stopped painting, stopped sculpting, stopped photographing, simply because I wasn’t doing anything with it. My work wasn’t selling, and I felt like I had fallen too far behind in an invisible artist race ever to have a shot at getting back in. I was a single mom struggling with a new identity and unsure I could ever be who I was and a mother simultaneously. I liked to be provocative with my work, and I wanted the romanticism of the starving artist, not something that works well with a baby. I could not see yet that rebirth needed to happen, so I stopped being creative altogether and felt incomplete for years. When a loved one would suggest making some art, I would blame it on motherhood, art supplies in the attic, the mess, the sobriety. I had many excuses, and quite often, I spoke them to myself, at night, when I felt restless.  

Then about three years ago, something remarkable happened. I reached a breaking point in my bare, boring world and slapped myself back to life. I felt rage, rage that I had allowed myself to forget that I need creativity to survive, it feeds me. In an hour, I turned an unused guest room into a studio. I turned tables over and squeezed oil paints onto a piece of old shelving. I poured old terpenoid into a glass, and I carried my easel, brushes, and canvases down from the attic and set up a studio. I put headphones in and turned on loud music. I painted myself naked, angry, and vulnerable. I continued to paint like this for months. People questioned my reasoning for only painting nude women in provocative poses, and my answers were pretty simple; I wasn’t painting for anyone but myself. I was healing through self-expression. I had rediscovered the wonder of art. I was freeing my inhibitions and allowing myself to be, regardless of what I did or who I was.  

From there, I decided I wanted everyone to have a shot at that level of self-expression, that private time to be vulnerable, to paint without anyone watching, and free inhibitions. I discovered a secret that self-expression evolved into self-confidence, which developed into a rebirth. That is how Tipsy Vincent was reborn.  

Every Month Tipsy Vincent will spotlight an individual that helps us understand and redefine what makes an artist an artist. This person could have a job outside of art and loves the creative process. They could be students who want exposure or who had recently begun experimenting with a new medium (perhaps Tipsy Vincent Paint?) They could be an individual just like me, who has been reborn through self-expression. 

With that, I invite you to send me your work and an artist statement. Tell me what you love about art, and I will feature you on this blog or Instagram! 

Submissions: kat@tipsyvincent.com Instagram: @tipsyvincent

Happy Painting Painters!  

Kat