Painter
Tell us about your background? (did you study art, has it always been a hobby, or perhaps you took it up later in life).
Making art for me is like being on a long creative and spiritual journey. The art process has always been a consuming, stimulating passion in my life. I live to create…it is something that keeps me going every day. Creating art is a meditative experience and helps to bring a deep connection within myself.
Tell us about a workflow quirk you’ve picked up over your artistic career?
I was lucky to have such wonderful art teachers in my life early on. My college art professor inspired and encouraged me in so many ways which helped me establish myself as an artist and learn about the business of art, which is still continuing…
When I first started painting I was always intrigued with people’s faces, especially eyes. My love for animals and using them as subjects in my art has always inspired me. And I was strongly influenced by dance at an early age, since I danced (tap and jazz) and performed for many years. This exhilarating feeling of how I felt when I danced was brought across visually in the art I painted or drew at that time, which were theatrical in nature.
Tell us about your artistic style?
For the most part, I work in a stylized manner. See my Art Nouveau paintings as an example of that style. I work in various mediums, mostly archival and acrylic ink, alcohol ink and colored pencil.
When did you realize you were an artist?
I’ve always known that I was born to be an artist. Born in Washington D.C. and raised in the Northern Virginia area, I began creating art at a very early age and have never stopped. I was always interested in art and by the time I got to high school and then college I was totally immersed in it.
To learn more, please visit Dee Van Houten’s ARTDEX Profile.
