Yep, that’s her in her studio right here in DUMBO. She is one amazing woman, let me tell you. She was overly excited for us to be there and she loved every minute we were there. And we loved every minute we were there too. She was such a wonderful character to be around. She answered all of our questions and even let us in on some of her trade secrets about her techniques and tools. It was amazing and some of it was simple . . . At least in words.
It’s not often we meet a lot of abstract artists. Most of us work in the realm of representational imagery so this was definitely an invaluable trip. Not only does she have a command of what she paints, but she also has finesse with surfaces. Though she works with the sporadic nature of abstract painting, her paintings are very smooth, both conceptually and in actuality. It was clear that she is very experimental in her art when she recalled in a brief anecdote that she sometimes has to tell herself “Be brave Nola,” when she does something new for the first time in her paintings.
Not only did she bring us into a realm of a different art form, share tips and tricks, but she even took a look and comment on our handy little portfolios. Though I think that one of the most interesting pieces of advice and possibly one of the more important parts of this visit was that she told us to make sure we have a family when we start out in our real world art life. Our day already had a weird air looming with a previous conversation at an earlier visit about isolation and loneliness, so it was good to hear someone tell us to find that someone special to balance it. I’m sure most of us know how important it is to have someone there to break up the long stints of isolation of working, but it was nice for someone to openly encourage it.
It was a great trip with a completely sweet, open and amazing artist. If you want to learn more about Nola or see more of her beautiful work, visit her site at: http://www.nolazirin.com/
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