Eva Volf - Paint Every Day, Making Small Plein Air Studies, Observe the Light, Values, Edges, and Colors in Nature (Artist from USA)

My work has been featured in American Art Collector and Vogue Magazines, 'Artists at Work', a Cable 9 TV Show, Fox 8 News, Fox 8 Morning Show "Kickin' it with Kenny", WKYC News, NPR Ideastream, News-Herald, and other news outlets. Before COVID I was working with several Cleveland galleries but currently, focus on selling my work online through my own website and online galleries.

1. Tell us about your background and journey.

I am a full-time fine artist best known for peaceful atmospheric seascapes. I am also a world traveler 21 countries for now and live with my husband and three kids in the Cleveland area, Ohio, the USA, by Lake Erie, where I often paint Plein air or just watch spectacular sunsets at Headlands beach. I’ve been painting and drawing for as long as I can remember myself. It’s always been the fun part of my life and personality.

My parents always supported me in my artistic endeavors and I always had all the art supplies needed and was free to experiment with whatever I wanted, always inspired by the beautiful nature around me and my own rich imagination. However, before becoming a professional artist I worked as a teacher, maybe that’s why I still have this passion for sharing my knowledge and skills I now realize through my YouTube channel, where you can find painting tutorials, time-lapses, tips, and tricks, as well as inspirational videos.

Ten years ago I took the plunge and opened my Etsy shop, and then Artfinder and SaatchiArt online shops. With their help, I became a full-time artist and now my work is held in numerous private, corporate, and public collections in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Europe, and Asia. Over these years I have participated in many national and international juried shows, won awards, including several “Best of Shows” and “First Places”, joined the Oil Painters of America and Artists Archives of the Western Reserve.

2. What inspired you to pursue art?

It has always been my dream to make a living doing what I love doing most paint and be by the water and I feel blessed to be able to capture the beauty and tranquility of inspiring beaches I visited in oil on canvas. Conceptualized at the source, each seascape is sketched at the beach to capture the vision before completion in the studio.

I am inspired by the atmospheric, luminous seascapes of J.M.W. Turner, Winslow Homer, E. John Robinson and Byron Pickering. With every new painting, I challenge myself to grow artistically, and seeing my progress and growth, getting feedback from my fellow artists and art collectors is what drives me to create.

3. What kind of theme inspires you and how would you define your style and aesthetics?

My love of the ocean flows deeply from childhood memories, renewed with every breathtaking sunset and cleansing water splash. Passionate about traveling and the world’s beaches, I capture the emotions these inspiring places evoke through oil on canvas. My favorite places on the East Coast are Cape Elizabeth (Maine), the Outer Banks (Hatteras, NC, St. Augustine, and Ft. Lauderdale in Florida and Clearwater (the Gulf of Mexico).

I usually take these inspirational tours every two-three months to paint on location and take reference pictures for my studio pieces. For me, the ocean contains the wisdom of life in its intricate foam patterns and secretive depths and its infinitely changing character is a useful metaphor to keep life in perspective. I define my style as painterly realism, I’m not striving to paint every detail, but capture general colors, values, light, and atmosphere.

4. Which mediums do you usually work with and why?

I am in love with the feel, texture, and even smell of oils and the effects I can create with this medium. I find the flexibility and versatility of oils perfect for rendering water realistically.

5. How do you overcome creative block?

For me traveling and new impressions are the best way to get inspired and overcome creative block. I live 5 min drive from a beautiful glacier lake and 40 min drive from Lake Erie, so when I’m feeling down I just hop into my car sometimes take a kayak with me and just drive there to swim when it’s warm or just watch the waves or sunset and slow down.

6. What message would you give to budding artists?

Paint every day, making small Plein air studies, observe the light, values, edges, and colors in nature. The ultimate key to a painter’s success is practice. Also, in the modern social media era, it’s easy to get intimidated by other artists’ skills or success. My advice is to measure your progress against your own work from the past and experiment, try to find your own unique voice, style, and brushwork that no one else has.

7. Which is your favorite book and why?

My all-time favorite book is “Blue Mind” by Wallace J. Nichols, where the author shows how proximity to water can improve our performance, increase calm, diminish anxiety and increase professional success. Since my childhood, I noticed that my happy place has always been in, on, under, or simply near water.

In his book, J. gives a great scientific explanation combining cutting-edge neuroscience with compelling personal stories from top athletes, leading scientists, military veterans, and gifted artists. No wonder, that seascapes are my subject of choice. I just paint what makes me feel good, inspired, and connected to the Source.