Astrid Pühringer - It's Never Too Late to Follow Your Heart (Artist From Austria)

We live in a system where the path is predetermined and the expectation of following this path is high. It takes courage to stand up for yourself and to tread new, perhaps thorny, and stony paths. It takes patience to explore and try new ways. And everyone has to explore it in his own way and at his own pace. But it's never too late to follow your heart. Have fun and don't give up!

Tell us more about your journey and background.

I was born on October 11th in Schwanberg, a small, picturesque spa town at the foot of the Koralm in Austria. A village where everyone knows everyone. The understanding and the connection between colors and color gradients was put into my cradle and fascinated me even as a child. Inspired by my parents and grandparents, who ran their own businesses, I did a business degree.

After completing my training, I began my career as a bank clerk and worked as a corporate customer advisor. My tasks also include the financing of new company projects. This gave me the opportunity to express my creativity to a modest extent. I got married and my daughter was born. The foundation for a “completely normal” life was laid. On the outside, it seemed like a perfect life, but on the inside, I determined that something was missing, that it didn't reflect my existing opportunities and talents. I was a seeker and tried tailoring, ceramics, and various painting techniques.

The artist Erika Johannson, who lived in my hometown at the time, enabled me to enter the world of silk painting through art workshops. White and light-reflecting Habotai silk, which speaks with a mysterious crackle, was something completely new and fascinating for me as a painting medium. The silk paints are liquid and have a very special luminosity. And they are in motion, they mix, they form drops, they follow their own rules, and effects are created that can only be created on silk. A new world and a fulfilling pastime had opened up for me. I'm still successful in my banking career and still wasn't satisfied.

My marriage is falling apart. My daughter, now grown, moved to another city. I was only responsible for myself. Massive changes in the banking landscape caused me to reconsider my professional situation. And a serious car accident at night and snowfall made my whole "perfect" world shake. 

My perspective of seeing the world and life was turned upside down. What had previously driven me was no longer desirable. I can feel like I'm on a roller coaster. I no longer knew what would come after the next corner. I realized that there is no control over one's life. I became more and more aware that I was following the expectations of others on a well-trodden path. But my soul had something completely different in mind for me.

To get some distance and time to think about the next steps, I booked a trip to Mexico. A 2 week trip from Mexico City to Tulum. Traveling and exploring new cultures has always been a very important part of my life and the longing for the sea has always driven me to travel to coastal areas around the world. I was overwhelmed by the Mexican landscapes, the people, and above all by the unexpected blaze of color in the markets, in the villages, in nature. Life itself presented itself to me in a much freer and lighter version. Back in Austria, I had the feeling that I wasn't "whole" anymore.

That part of me stayed in Mexico. Further changes in the banking landscape made it difficult for me to practice my profession and the nagging question about the meaning of life could no longer be turned off. I decided to take a break of 6 months and took a Spanish course in a renowned language school in Playa del Carmen, Mexico with the option to continue working in my previous job after this time.

I experienced a feeling of freedom like I had never known before. I had unconsciously taken the first step into my new life. Although I arrived alone in Playa del Carmen, I found my way around the New World easily. After many Spanish lessons, I slowly realized that I can't go back to my previous life. 

Everything in me resisted it. I had some savings and decided to move my life to Mexico. I had no plan on how I would earn my money in the future. I just followed my heart. Playa del Carmen is a thriving tourism destination with a well-established artistic community. I visited exhibitions and art markets and contacts with the artists came naturally.

The painting came to the fore and after a visit home I returned to Mexico with a suitcase full of materials for silk painting. I realized that silk was not used as a medium in Mexico and that I had discovered a niche in the market. I painted Mexican markets in a naive Caribbean style. 

All on silk! The artist group "Caminarte" accepted me and I was able to present my first small exhibition in 2016 with 4 large works of art on the well-known Quinta Avenida. I took the fact that I had sold 2 paintings after only 2 hours as a sign that I was on the right track. Many collective and individual exhibitions followed along the entire Riviera Maya of Mexico and I was able to sell silk paintings to all continents of the world.

When did you decide you wanted to be an artist?

I think that I unconsciously decided to be an artist a long time ago. At the time I started silk painting. However, I lacked the courage to admit this to myself and to change my life accordingly. The door was opened to me in Playa del Carmen. I just had to follow my intuition and everything came together like individual pieces of a puzzle. It's a big step from becoming an amateur artist who paints his works of art for himself to an artist who presents his creations to the public.

Is it a financially stable career?

Working as an independent artist means unlimited freedom. Of course only up to the point where money has to be earned. One should be aware that it is basically a company that creates, produces, promotes, seeks markets, and sells.

The artwork is just the beginning. And after a few exhibitions, I got an idea of which motifs my customers liked. What works of art sell well and what is not accepted. For example, I found out that people love their dogs and cats sometimes like kids. So I started to offer pet portraits. These orders bring stability and enable me to create "crazy" works. Which then do not have to be sold immediately in order to be able to live well. Of course, it takes time and a lot of commitment and perseverance to become well-known. In the meantime, I have a customer base who collect art and also recommend me to others. So to be honest, it takes time and patience to develop stability.

Who is your favorite painter/artist and why?

I have a whole bunch of favorite artists. My absolute favorite is Claude Monet. Claude Monet, the epitome of Impressionism, paints his paintings with very short brushstrokes, creating a color gradient as in the watercolor technique. He captures his motifs at different times of the day, light, and weather conditions. His "Water Lilies" series is spectacular and spans more than 100 meters of the canvas. I get lost in the soft tones he uses and I can feel the energies he captures.

What is your inspiration for creating art?

I have learned through good and bad experiences to follow my intuition and to listen to my heart. Many motifs of my pictures come from Mexican markets. A scene catches my eye and I start to draw it. This is what I actually experienced. I intuitively create scenes around this reality, which I combine to form a harmonious overall picture.

In this process, my presence does not exist. I live in the moment in this picture and the renewed perception of the surroundings seems like waking up. Current events are also an endless source of inspiration, such as the global pandemic reflected in my pictures.

The sea is incredibly important to me. I feel "at home" in the sea. I love observing the underwater world through my diving goggles and being inspired by its beauty and tranquility. One of my favorite motifs is the sea turtle.

What piece of advice would you like to give to future aspiring artists?

I think everyone is born with an extraordinary talent. The difficult thing is to discover this talent and then to live it. We live in a system where the path is predetermined and the expectation of following this path is high.

It takes courage to stand up for yourself and to tread new, perhaps thorny, and stony paths. It takes patience to explore and try new ways. And everyone has to explore it in his own way and at his own pace. But it's never too late to follow your heart. Have fun and don't give up!

Which is your favorite book and why?

My favorite book is "Soul Paths" by Ina Ruschinski. I bought the book at the airport in Vienna before I left for Mexico to read on my flight. It describes the magical journey of a woman to herself, who after a lapse in memory finds herself in a yurt with a shaman in Mongolia and spends a few months there. I think every person comes to different forks in the course of their life that give them the opportunity to change their life or to continue it as before. Everyone has the freedom to choose a direction. Everyone is responsible for his own life. And every change of path brings us closer to ourselves, lets us see who we really are and what extraordinary abilities are in each of us.

Interviewed by - Yashika Khanna

Short Bio

Astrid Pühringer, a visual artist, grew up in Schwanberg, Steiermark, Austria.
After completing economics training, she started a career in banking.
In her spare time, she takes private art lessons in silk painting with the artist Erika G. Johannsson.
She further developed the techniques of silk painting through experimentation and continued to work as an autodidact.
Since moving to Playa del Carmen, Mexico in 2014, she has been only working as an artist and creating naïve Caribbean-style artworks on silk. She loves the Caribbean lifestyle and the Caribbean sea, which is reflected in her pictures.

For the past 7 years, she has created hundreds of artworks on silk with great passion. She has successfully exhibited her artwork and internationally sold it.