Main Feature Photo is me in front of Favorite Color(2010) by Roy McMakin, part of the Murals of La Jolla Project.
Today we’d like to introduce you to Ingrid Westlake.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
My art appreciation blog was born from my constant reinvention, also called living a full life.
I never ever stop looking up and beyond, taking photographs to frame what I find beautiful and inspirational. Yet as much as I love art and photography, I never had the chance to study these subjects properly. I enrolled in one course and the rest is, well, art history!
Studying art made my looking at art go from inspirational to transformational. I started the Reinventingrid blog as my 2017 resolution. My intention was to share my insights and appreciation with a voice which could resonate with my adult readers, as well as their kids.Making art more accessible and understandable while spreading the word on exhibitions worth seeing, I am hoping to encourage people to include more museum visits into their family life, making sure our kids become the museum goers of the future.
Wonderful art encounters have recently led to another axis for the blog which I am really excited about: artist studio visits.
My blog is all about sharing an aesthetic love of life and how using art as a filter or prism enables me (and hopefully you!) to reach a more grounded state of mind.
Please tell us about your art.
I write a weekly post on Reinventingrid. It typically covers art exhibitions in San Diego, Los Angeles or wherever I travel to. And I travel a lot. All my content is original, from my writing to my photographs.
I provide my views as well as some art historical context and any additional academic research I think can help towards better understanding the artists’ intent while also enhancing the viewers’ interpretation and perception of the art in question.
Many of my readers tell me they had not heard about some exhibitions I have posted about so I feel my blog is a nice complement to museums and art galleries communications. Many readers also tell me they learn from the blog, that it gives them ideas for things to do during the weekend or a holiday. Just the thought of people wanting to go and look at art after they read my blog is enough to keep me writing about it all.
With my Artist Studio Visit category, I am hoping art may not be solely kept to the museums. Maybe people will fall in love with an artist’s style and decide to start collecting. This would be a wonderful way for me to give back to the artist community.
Choosing a creative or artistic path comes with many financial challenges. Any advice for those struggling to focus on their artwork due to financial concerns?
I can’t really comment on this point as my content creation is all done during the free time I don’t really have 🙂 as it only involves visiting exhibitions, taking pictures and writing about it all.
I really admire how artists juggle it all. I am hoping that giving them some exposure is a form of help which can free more of their time towards the purely creative part of their art.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
My blog can be found online at:
https://reinventingrid.com/
To support the blog, people can subscribe to receive it directly in their inbox by email, share it with friends but more importantly, I love when people exchange their views with me, what they thought after going to an exhibition I featured. Did they like it or not, and why?
Contact Info:
- Website: https://reinventingrid.com/
- Email: ingrid@coffeelips.com
- Instagram: @reinventingrid
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reinventingrid/
- Twitter: @reinventingrid
Portrait of Mildred Myers Oldden (1937) by Alice Neel, exhibited at San Diego Museum of Art.
Peter Shelton, Littlesister (1999) and Louise Bourgeois, Spider II (1995) at Palm Springs Art Museum. © 2017 Ingrid Westlake
Barbara Hepworth, Figure for Landscape (1968) at San Diego Museum of Art. © 2017 Ingrid Westlake
Larry Bell, Pacific Red II (2017)at the Whitney Museum of American Art in NYC. © 2017 Ingrid Westlake
Salvation Mountain. © 2017 Ingrid Westlake
Niki de Saint Phalle’s Queen Califia’s Magical Circle. © 2017 Ingrid Westlake
Mural by Monty Montgomery in North Park San Diego.
Mark Bradford, Moody Blues for Jack Whitten (2018) at Hauser & Wirth Los Angeles.
Image Credit:
Photo Credits @reinventingrid
Getting in touch: SDVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
