Episode 024 ✿ Oil Painting, Community, & Practicing Self-Compassion as an Artist ft. Emilia Cruz

For today’s episode I had the pleasure of talking to visual artist and painter, Emilia Cruz. Emilia’s work is incredible and magical. She is most known for her detailed oil paintings which explore the themes of her Mexican American culture, family, spirituality, and her experiences as a woman of color. Her work has been featured in many galleries, and you may have also seen it on the Netflix show Gentefied, which she created multiple artworks for. We talked about her childhood and how she was always creating from a young age, feeling lost as a young adult and eventually finding her path as an artist, her creative process for paintings and learning to be gentle on yourself as an artist and coping with feeling overwhelmed. 

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Topics discussed:

-Emilia introduces herself

-Emilia reflects on visiting Tijuana often growing up

-Her experience growing up and living in Simi Valley, CA

-Simi Valley being very conservative and having no arts scene

-Commuting from Simi Valley to Pasadena for school

-Being creative as a child

-Her love of miniatures

-Her aunt encouraging her to pursue the arts

-Feeling lost after high school going to community college

-Discovering artists on social media who she related to and feeling inspired

-Deciding to go to art school and her experience there

-Postponing her graduation until after the pandemic

-How and when she started painting

-Emilia’s creative process for painting

-Collecting references either intentionally or just through her daily life

-Knowing when a painting is done

-Learning to accept a slower pace of working

-Resisting the unhealthy, capitalistic work-ethic

-”Delusional girl era”

-Coping with feeling overwhelmed

-How Emilia started showing her work in art galleries

-Using Craigslist at the beginning to find places to display her art

-Building community through showing at art galleries

-Being shy as an artist and doing challenging things

-Emilia’s shop and Patreon

-What Emilia likes to do for fun- being with friends and family, dancing, going to arts events, etc.

https://emiliacruz.com/

Emilia's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cruzemilia/

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