Interview
Juanita Weldon
Juanita is trained as a nurse and has been painting since she was 7 years old. In college, her art professor begged her to become an artist and now 40 years later, she is fulfilling just that! She loves to create beautiful ballerinas. She feels like she is harnessing her inner degas!
What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?
“I have been paining g since I was 7. My parents always supported my creative outlet, whether it was music or art. In college, my art professor wanted me to switch majors to studio art, however, like all impetuous students, I wanted to complete my undergrad and become a physician. Life took a turn after graduation, so I completed four years of nursing school in one year and became a nurse. I always created, even though it was not in the public eye, about 12 years ago, my youngest son came to me and asked me to teach him how to draw and it launched me into drawing and painting more and wanting to turn it into a full-time career.”
What does your work aim to say? Does it comment on any current social or political issues?
“I want to bring beauty into this world. I try not to bring political statements or issues into my work due to the fact that a lot of those are very negative and or have negative connotations and may cause issues with different people around the world. With that said, I strive to produce art that inspires whether it be a ballerina, a butterfly, or the night sky or a very well crafted abstract piece I want to leave the viewer, breathless and lost, and what they see.”
“I let the world around me and inspire my art, as well as people, places and things in pictures.”
Do you plan your work in advance, or is it improvisation?
“I love this question because it is one of a two-sided coin. The answer is both. I let the world around me and inspire my art, as well as people, places and things in pictures. However, I love to listen to music, different genres mind you, and let the music create a color story on the canvas.”
Are there any art world trends you are following?
“Yes, there are. I love the look of mixed media techniques with spray paints and collage to produce varied textures and images. I also love the use of abstract with fantastic color stories and mixed with gold leaf to produce some wonderful effects. Something I’ve noticed here recently, are three-dimensional paintings with the use of a type of paste that produces unbelievable 3-D effects as the subject is jumping off of the ground.”
What process, materials and techniques do you use to create your artwork?
“I truly think I am ADHD because I dabble in three different media. Acrylics, two types of pastels, and all of the colored pencils, you could possibly imagine. Depending on the subject, I want to render and the effect I am trying to achieve, will depend on how I start the process, for example. If I want to work in a an abstract realistic end, I will just show my canvas, whatever size that may be. Then, I may use acrylic inks, and/or alcohol inks collage and array acrylic additives to produce textures. I then sub and further refine anything that may need to be refined. I use oil pastels with the acrylic, then glaze it in high gloss acrylic glaze. If so, I treat it as an oil painting and go from there. I use more techniques to render a final product that is truly inspiring, at least in my opinion.”
What does your art mean to you?
“This is a very hard question for me because art is like a diamond. It is so multifaceted and has many sides to it however, all the facets come together to produce something beautiful for the world. I love how art speaks to you and how the artists in our soul can come out on the canvas. Art can produce so many emotions in the viewer from love, anger, regret, envy, and so many other emotions that it seems the viewer and the artist can have a conversation and not even speak to each other in words. The old saying art portrays life is very very true.”
What’s your favorite artwork and why?
“Well, if we are talking about one of my pieces, it’s anything ballerina. If we are talking about a certain artist and/or artists, I love Dega and that’s one of the reason that I paint Valerie is. I love to harness my inner Dega. As far as modern day artists, I love Ellie Milan and Demetria Milan from Milan Art Institute. Their paintings described such an emotion and story that it’s hard not to fall in love with their pieces. Anyone who follows them on social media is also invited into their world to see family, life And how they paint. They have been a big inspiration to my work and I would love to work with them one day.”
Website: Jweldonart.com
Instagram: @juanitaweldon2023
