Art is subjective. But every artist needs to be given credit where credit is due. And Bahrain has no shortage of talented artists specializing in various mediums. So we thought we could shine a spotlight on some of these artists, in a segment called Local Artist of the Week In Spotlight. Our next feature? A member of Art Attack Krew, Stella.
Stella is an acrylic and oil artist. Let’s take a dive into her mind.
Local Artist of the Week
• Could you give our readers a general introduction about yourselves?
My name is Stella Auxtero, 31 yrs old and I am from the Philippines. I am a self-taught artist but graduated with a degree in Financial Management. I can say that my chosen career is really far from my real passion which is art. Moving from my home country to another was not easy where I sorted everything out by myself. I began to fall in love more with my passion and it has become my refuge. I get my inspiration from creating portraits/human faces where it makes me feel the”WORTH AND HAPPINESS”. The freedom of composition in portraits made me inspired to do more and challenge myself to make it better. I believe that through this I can deliver different emotions, feelings, and expressions.
I actually started my art journey when I was young as part of my hobby and my refuge. In that sense, I pursued art passionately in isolation as I am self-educated myself and kept on creating without the intention of it being art. I sketched and drew furiously for years before ever picking up a brush to begin adding colors to my work. I started using pencils and drew mostly faces, flowers and animals.
It took me time to delve myself into the spectrum of art and the progress throughout this journey has changed my perspective as an artist and each day I get to know myself where I fine tune my craft to a level I am confident and happy with. When I decided to commit to my artistic journey I began to use acrylic and oils in most of my work but definitely, I ended up in mixing medium. I like to mix different techniques in different mediums as I am not having a set of styles for my creative pursuits. I believe that artistic style is the equivalent of a language, through which you can express yourself in different ways and convey your soul out of your work without the need of explaining it.
• How and Why did you join Art Attack Krew?
I was introduced by one of the old members of ATK I know, Yousif. He saw my works and told me about Art Attack Krew. He is actually one of the people that believes in me before I joined. I joined ATK to surround myself with people with the same interest, mission, and enthusiasm about art. In that sense I can develop my skills and creativity as I believe that
somehow we are the product of our own environment.
• Could you tell us a little about your process? How an idea ultimately becomes a finished piece?
I honestly start my process the moment I am feeling like doing an art piece which means that in this process my emotions or feeling was conditioned. This is very important because while making an art piece you don’t just simply stroke paint to impress but rather put your heart and soul to make you feel at peace. I don’t plan to create something but I just let it flow and be free on the process, it’s like wanting to paint an orange but ending up painting an apple. I this process I start with a simple graphite sketch directly to the canvas and mix techniques, mix mediums and apply the elements of art.
• Who are three artists you’d like to be compared to?
It’s more of an artist that I like to look up whom I admire is Talia Stanton which always conveys vibrancy, warmth, and light in her art pieces. Also, I admire Pablo Picasso as he could break down a subject into its core elements, removing what wasn’t necessary and focusing on what matters.
•What wouldn’t you do without?
I basically wouldn’t do without my pencils and sketchbooks.
•What memorable responses have you had to your work?
When my first oil painting turned out to be as an official logo of a certain product in Turkey.
•What role do you think art plays in society?
In my own opinion, art plays in society as a universal trigger, and in that sense, artists exist because the world is not perfect.
•There is an old saying, “All good art comes from misery”. Do you agree?
Not all good arts come from misery or shall I say great pain because I believe all good art comes from the place of great emotions.
• What’s the biggest obstacle you have run into while pursuing art?
I believe that some of the obstacles in pursuing my art were discovering myself as an artist and becoming hesitant to create because of criticism. But I just hope to achieve and inspire people to do not stop creating and to not be afraid to be the real you as an artist. Nobody believe that I would do what I do today, nobody told me that I can draw, and was even less in painting. And that never stops me. I am here still demonstrating what I do in the face of criticism. In the face ‘of rejection, fighting for my passion to feel my worth. As a self-thought artist, I believe that if you believe yourself to be an artist and you do the things you think an artist should do – like paint, draw, or whatever. Then you should have no hesitation in calling yourself an artist and be proud of it. If you think an artist has to go to art school or practice on a daily basis, then do those things if you’d like. However, if you wait for someone with clout to bestow this title on, you’ll likely have to wait many years for that to happen. No one is going to take you seriously as an artist until you do first. Be passionate about learning and don’t be afraid to explore new techniques as every artist was once an amateur.
La Belle Indeed!
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