Artist Q&A with Clare from Exsultate Art
Hello friends!
Today I'm so excited to share with you my first official "Joyful Artist Q&A" interview! I'm especially excited because this Q&A is with a very talented artist who I'm also blessed to know as a friend in real life. Her name is Clare Prezzia.
Clare is such a lovely, kind, and peaceful person and she is so talented. All of her work is beautiful, and I am especially drawn to her soft pastel landscapes.
Below are my questions and her answers!
Can you tell us a bit about who you are and what you do as an artist?; I'm a child of God, a daughter of the Church, daughter, sister, sister-in-law and aunt to a very large and lovely family, and fortunate friend of some very delightful people. I design full time for a craft company and when I'm not freaking out about my ridiculous standards for art, I occasionally paint.
What is one of your earliest artsy or creative memories?; I was four or five when I drew The Most Magnificent Card in the History of Ever, and I have never been able to come close to replicating that pièce de résistance ever since, despite many attempts.
What part(s) of your art process do you most enjoy? It depends on the project and how confident I feel about it, but typically the product making process is pretty fun. The art itself is complete at that point, so I'm done stressing about whether it's going to turn out well or not, and then I can play around with how to make it come to life in other formats.
What led you to start your art business? My brother is a seminarian for the FSSP, whose patron is our Lady of Guadalupe. He asked if I could paint her and then turn the painting into notecards that he could use as thank you cards for his donors. I had never done a painting of a person before, but as I also had a love for our Lady of Guadalupe - her image was very helpful for me during my religious discernment - I thought it would be a fun challenge. I painted the lovely Lady, found a supplier that could print the cards with beautiful gold foiled effects, and got my brother his thank you cards. They turned out so pretty that I wanted to share it with friends and family that were interested, so I started my Etsy shop.
Have you always considered yourself an artist? Why or why not? No, definitely not. As someone with strong perfectionist tendencies, I think I considered "real" artists as those who could paint and draw super well in the Classical method, and that is something that is far beyond me. I think I'll officially consider myself an artist when I've painted something that all eight siblings - who also have strong perfectionist tendencies - are impressed with. ;)
What has been one of the greatest challenges you've encountered as an artist or with running an art business? When it comes to making fine art, blank canvas fear is real. Other than a short community college portrait class, I haven't taken any formal art classes, so I don't know much method or technique. Without confidence in a method/technique, the perfectionist side of me can really struggle with the process, so it's typically very difficult for me to start projects.
What are some of your art business goals? I like to keep a low internet profile, so I'd love to find local shops and classy online retailers to share my artwork.
Do you have any words of wisdom or advice you could share with someone who wants to start an art business? Honestly, I'm probably the last person to ask as I'm not a very committed art business owner/operator ha. But maybe in that statement, there are the words of wisdom - after you've discerned opening an art business/shop, be committed to your shop and your goals.
A big thank you to Clare for being willing to answer my questions! I really hope you enjoyed reading along and feel inspired : ).
You can find Clare's Etsy shop HERE and her Instagram HERE.
If you'd like to stay in the loop about future blog posts and Artist Q&As, you can join my monthly "Joyful Art" Newsletter HERE.
Thanks so much for being here. Until next time!
