Today we’d like to introduce you to Gabrielle Siekman.
Hi Gabrielle, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have always been into art and creating since I was old enough to scribble with a crayon, and I know this because my mom has kept several giant boxes of memorabilia full of my drawings and creations throughout my life. She has always fed mine and my siblings’ creativity by setting up all kinds of art projects for us over the years, including painting the cool rocks we found while exploring in creeks and forests. Simply put, my mom is my first and biggest fan. I come from a large family, being the oldest of seven on my mom’s side and the second oldest of four on my dad’s side. I grew up in Northern Kentucky, and my challenging past shaped my outlook on life and is the reason that I work so hard to inspire and create positive change in the world. While in high school, I gave birth to my daughter, and her and my partner definitely changed my life for the better. As you can imagine, being a young mother came with its challenges, but I am all that much stronger because of it. I attended Northern Kentucky University, where I earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts focusing on Painting. While art didn’t seem like a financially stable career choice, I wanted to prove to not only myself but also my daughter that going after what you love and doing what fulfills you is the right choice in the long run. Since graduation, I have shown work in galleries around the Tristate and completed several indoor and outdoor murals and public art projects. My personal work has focused on the negative impact humans have on the environment, such as pollution and deforestation, as well as human rights issues. Making art about these subjects was not enough for me, as I felt it didn’t quite create or inspire the change that I wanted, which was to create a better world for my daughter to grow up in. I began marching in various protests, participating in trash cleanups, and writing letters to elected officials. I also made many changes in my home life for the better: using toxic-free and plastic-free products, implementing a “leave it better than you found it” rule whenever we went hiking or camping, and growing my own organic vegetable garden. While there are plenty of trials and errors, growing your own food is an important skill that I feel everyone should experience. Sharing this knowledge is important to me, so I began a YouTube channel called “Gabby’s Garden,” where I do my best to be educational and share what has worked for me and what I do to solve any problem that may come up. Spending so many hours out in my garden has influenced the art I have been making lately. I really enjoy painting the various beneficial insects I cross paths with! Spending time among the bees and flowers feels at home to me, but I have also pushed myself to feel more comfortable in a public setting. For the last year, I have taught multiple beginner courses and workshops at Baker Hunt Art and Cultural Center. I love it there and plan to continue teaching as long as they’ll have me! Currently, I am a lead artist on a large, interactive mural project called “Immersion Alley.” This is a very exciting and one-of-a-kind public art space that will completely immerse the viewer in the art and challenge them to go on a “treasure hunt” of sorts. We are looking at a summer unveiling, so stay tuned!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The financial aspect of being an artist has definitely been one of the challenges I’ve faced. My original plan after graduating was to be an exhibiting artist and make a living from selling original paintings and prints. I knew I was good and had begun to feel a bit cocky about myself after multiple professors told me I had surpassed their own skill. However, I was quickly humbled in the few following months post-graduation with more gallery rejections than I could count on both hands. At the time, it was very disheartening, but now I am able to look back on my naive self and smile. Even with skill, building a career takes time and lots of networking. My paintings couldn’t do it all for me. And so I made most of my living by doing portrait commissions of people’s pets, partners, children, and grandchildren. Don’t get me wrong, I am extremely grateful for each and every one of those commissions! It is an honor to be chosen and trusted to memorialize a loved one. But art isn’t easily accessible to many because of the price, so I was constantly juggling pricing my work at an affordable rate so that I wouldn’t scare potential clients away, and also making what I knew I deserved for my time and effort. I often went lower pricewise than I wanted to secure the job, and because of this day and age’s cost of living, it left me with little time to put into my own personal work. Along with the depression I have constantly battled over the years, I felt guilty for not “enjoying” doing art. Yes, I was making paintings for a living, but it wasn’t the kind of paintings I wanted to make. Making art was beginning to feel like “work” instead of doing something I was passionate about. I have since found a way to balance the necessary “income from art” while also creating for myself. A combination of mural work, teaching art courses, and the occasional commission is enough to make ends meet, and the variety of work helps to prevent me from experiencing burnout.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I like to do a little bit of everything, but my main specialty is painting. I primarily use oil paint, and my work is typically vibrant, bold, and colorful. I love painting the figure and enjoy to create figurative paintings that tell a story, make a strong statement, or contain a call to action. I take pride in my attention to detail and the fact that I build and stretch my own canvases. My craft is important to me, and the quality of a hand-built canvas is so much nicer and sturdier than one you would buy at an art store. It makes the work much more valuable, in my opinion. I have also begun to dabble further with woodworking and now build shadow box frames for my paintings. It feels good to know that I not only poured my heart into the painting itself but the canvas and the frame were created by me as well. As you can guess, I don’t like taking the easy way out, and I don’t mind putting in the work.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
The world is constantly changing, and we have recently seen the rise in AI “art.” My initial reaction to this was one of disgust and slight fear. Reading about how artists’ work has been ripped off (and without their permission) to feed the machine infuriates me and also makes me not want to post my work online. I don’t want my profession to become obsolete because anyone can type a few lines, and then BAM, they have the art they want. But after discussing this topic with peers in the art world and outside of it, I now know that many people share my sentiment: There is nothing like the “human touch” and soulless, computer-generated images do not even slightly compare to true art that came from a person’s heart and passion. There will always be a greater value in human-made art, even if AI images continue to grow in the spotlight.
Pricing:
- My paintings range in size and are between $200-$3,000
Contact Info:
- Instagram: gabriellesiekman
