Today we’d like to introduce you to Whitney Winkler.
Whitney, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
Born in central Illinois, I’m a simple Midwestern girl at heart. Growing up in a household where bluegrass was the background of life, and banjos were second nature, I too have expressed myself through music since I could talk. Painting has only come in recent years. I married my husband very young, and had three babies while I was in my mid 20’s. While they were in their tiny baby years, I decided to started to paint as a creative outlet because I never had enough time or introspective energy to put towards songwriting. Painting was a tangible way to express myself and often see a finished product in the same sitting. The art you see coming from me now has been born of hours and hours of quiet mistakes and late nights when I probably should have been otherwise lying in wait for a newborn to cry out. I just couldn’t sleep when there was so much beauty to be expressed and understood. Now that my kids are growing, I have been able to make time for art as fun AND as business. It has been such a surprising…surprise.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I work in three basic creative realms: paper, ceramic, and print.
On paper, I paint primarily in ink and watercolor. Someone once described my work as having a “roots” thread throughout, meaning almost everything is based in elements of nature. Rocks, moons, landscapes, earthen hues. and flowers are some of what I’m most magnetized and mesmerized by. I am most motivated by a design aesthetic. My favorite thing is to work with a client on making art around their space or vision. I love a blank slate to design around, but I also love the unique challenge of bringing art into an old design context in order to bring new life to a space. When I’m painting a piece, I’m visually balancing color and “weighing” it out in my head, and the room it’s going into is almost always at the forefront of the motivation. Even when I don’t know where it’ll end up, I’m still daydreaming about that along the way.
My hand painted ceramic coasters came out of a desire to bring another dimension to the style I was already painting on paper. I wanted to make functional art for the home that was representational of my style, because I’m so tied up in the homes my pieces land in. These coasters are my shiny little babies; my love project. I loved working to create something as functional and well-made as it is beautiful. I want them to last, and tell a long, old story in the rooms they land in.
My print line is mostly roots-based too. My line of city and state prints is all about where you have and will call “home,” but it doesn’t leave out the wanderlust. My “Grow Here” print collection emerged out of a sincere hope to seed life’s gardens anywhere I’ve been put. This is far easier said than done, but I wanted to convey it in a way that was honest and not trite, all while putting an affordable piece of art on the wall.
Any advice for aspiring or new artists?
The best thing I’ve learned is to create what is naturally pouring out of me. I never set out to make a business of art, or asked myself “will this sell?” I think when you’re making something that is natural to you; that which MUST come out of you or you’ll explode, people will see the genuine outpour and be drawn in.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
Find me at www.whitneywinkler.com or on Instagram at @whitneywinkler_art.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.whitneywinkler.com
- Email: whitney@whitneywinkler.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/whitneywinkler_art
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/whitneywinklerart
Image Credit:
Photos by Josh and Aleah Photography, Katrina Warme Photography, Avery Louise Photography.
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