Today we’d like to introduce you to Lori Elm.
Lori, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
Like many artists, I started drawing at a very young age, probably as soon as I figured out how to hold a pencil. I have a distinct memory of drawing on hidden parts of my bedroom furniture and walls and turning every pad of paper in the house into a flipbook animation. My childhood was filled with many hours of drawing animals (mostly dogs) and writing and illustrating stories. When I was twelve, my mom enrolled me in an oil painting class during summer break.
I excelled in my high school art classes, and after graduation attended Long Beach State University with the intention of majoring in art. I changed my major many times, mostly because I felt that I needed to choose a more practical career path. I didn’t personally know any professional artists, so I believed that the only artists who earned a living were Picasso and other famous painters that were no longer alive. Sometime later, after working in a variety of dead-end jobs and taking as many college courses, I had the opportunity to attend San Jose State University and finally decided to major in what I felt passionate about. I received my B.A. in Studio Art, with an emphasis in drawing and painting.
After graduating, I still didn’t feel I had the skills of Picasso, so I enrolled in computer graphics courses and worked as a Graphic Designer for about twelve years. I stopped drawing and painting for a long time. Though I enjoyed working in print graphics, it was becoming more and more difficult to keep up with the technical end of a rapidly changing industry. I decided to shift my career and enrolled in photography classes at a community college. As much as I love taking pictures, I soon came to realize that, once again, I was feeling uninspired with the high level of technical skills necessary to be a professional photographer. I decided to step back from the computer and rediscover my true creative outlet, which is drawing and painting. I pulled out my old watercolors and started painting. Eventually, I experimented with acrylics and ultimately fell back in love with oil painting in June 2018, coming full circle from my summer break oil painting class.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I’ve always been a keen observer of the world around me. From a very young age, I noticed things that other people didn’t notice or seem to particularly care about, such as the vibrant pinks and oranges of a sunset, early morning light spilling through a window, or long shadows stretching out in the late afternoon. I felt awed and amazed at the world around me, and still do.
Nature is my muse, an endless source of inspiration for my oil paintings, whether it’s oceans, waves, clouds, landscapes, or animals. The translucence of light and reflections, especially on water, is fascinating. When I paint ocean scenes, it is my hope to transfer to the viewer the same sense of peace I experience while watching the sunlight dancing on the water. Since I grew up on the beaches of Southern California, I feel that the Pacific Ocean is a part of me, and painting it feels very natural and lifts my spirits, perhaps also lifting the spirits of someone who observes my work. Just like Rumi said, “When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.”
Any advice for aspiring or new artists?
My advice to other artists is to always follow your heart, and work your butt off at the same time. Talent is actually doing what you love and doing a LOT of it. I believe that being an artist is a gift, and if you feel the need to create, then, by all means, do it, even if it is for only ten minutes a day, even if you think it sucks, just keep at it. Don’t let the inner critic or self-doubt take over, but at the same time, let other artists see your work and offer constructive critiques. Of course, you don’t have to listen to them, but there is always something to learn. Allow yourself to jump into the creative flow, like a river, and let it take you where ever it’s meant to go.
If I had it to do over again, I would have listened to my intuition and stuck with my art practice without wavering, and also found a mentor to guide me on my artistic path.
I think Carl Jung got it right when he wrote, “Art is a kind of innate drive that seizes a human being and makes him its instrument. The artist is not a person endowed with free will who seeks his own ends, but one who allows art to realize its purpose through him.”
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
At the moment, my work is only available online at www.lorielm.com or Instagram.com @lorielmpaintings. I’m currently working on a body of work that focuses on a variety of photos that I took of the Pacific Ocean, and when they are completed, I hope to show them in a physical location so folks can see my paintings close up and personal. It’s hard to capture the depth of a painting in a photograph, so even though I am proud to show my work online, there’s nothing like the real thing! If anyone is interested in purchasing a painting or would like to connect with me, I can be reached at lorielmpaintings@gmail.com.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.lorielm.com
- Email: lorielmpaintings@gmail.com
- Instagram: @lorielmpaintings
Image Credit:
Lori Elm
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