On this week’s Arts to Hearts Podcast, we have five incredible artists, Yana Beylinson, Diane Chappalley, Kianne Patrice, Hera Mysterium, and Michelle Reeves, as our guests. In this conversation, they share their journeys and talk about how art has helped them express their true selves, heal from pain, and face the challenges of being an artist.
Each of these artists has faced different struggles, from dealing with trauma to finding their voice in a crowded art world. They explain how art isn’t just a way to create something beautiful but also a way to process feelings, deal with tough times and find peace when life feels overwhelming. Their stories cover a wide range of topics, like the power of colors, the dark moments we all face, and the celebration of feminine energy. These stories show how art can really help with mental health and lead to self-discovery.
Yana Beylinson and Hera Mysterium talk about how painting is a form of therapy, helping them feel calm and understood. Diane Chappalley discusses how her art reflects the ups and downs of life, while Michelle Reeves emphasizes the importance of speaking out through her art and challenging what society expects. Kianne Patrice shares her life-changing experience in a Costa Rican art studio and how it changed her way of thinking about art and self-expression.
This conversation is more than just about art; it’s about being brave, finding inspiration in unexpected places, and standing up for what matters to you. By sharing their experiences, these artists remind us that creativity can break down barriers, challenge the norms, and help us connect with who we truly are.
Join us as we explore how art has transformed the lives of these artists and their journey to finding their unique voices in the art world. Through their words and art, we hope to inspire you to accept your own creativity and see the world in a brighter, more empathetic way.
Don’t miss out on this insightful conversation with our guests, and tune in to this week’s full episode!
**** – (): Here we go. Hey guys, welcome back to the Arts2Huts podcast. I am very excited with a new bunch of artists today on this podcast. Today we have five, not one, two, but full five set of new artists from our top 100 emerging artists of 2024. We love, I specifically love this project because you know, with 100 emerging artworks and 100 emerging artist books.
**** – (): 00:25.94
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Thank you.
**** – (): 00:25.84
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): We always try to discover fresher works, new women artists, and share it with the world in a new and beautiful way. These books we make are one of my favorites because not only the curation, but the way the book is made is always a piece of art in itself. And today I have five amazing artists, Yana, Diane, Kian, Hera and Michelle from all different parts of the world. Welcome to the podcast ladies.
**** – (): 00:52.57
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Hi, thank you.
**** – (): 00:52.75
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): Thank you.
**** – (): 00:53.37
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): thank you thank you for having us
**** – (): 00:53.48
**** – (): Diane Chappalley
**** – (): Hi, thanks for having us.
**** – (): 00:53.99
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): Thank you.
**** – (): 00:56.64
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Thank you so much. It took a lot of coordination and a lot of tech for us to actually make this happen today. But we finally have all of us sealed on the door. Okay, before we go in a conversation, we’ll do a quick round of just briefing yourself, introducing to yourself for everyone who, you know, was listening to the podcast. I will start with Hera because Hera was the one who has been here all set since then and I don’t want her to wait any longer.
**** – (): 01:22.21
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): with like ah
**** – (): 01:23.48
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): So Hera, you take the turn and let’s hear how from you. Thank you
**** – (): 01:28.16
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): ah So i I go by Hera Mysterium. I am based in Montreal, Quebec. I have been painting, drawing, creating chaos for over 20 years. um I did have a break for over 10 years from art because i other people’s opinion were getting to me.
**** – (): 01:40.72
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): very much.
**** – (): 01:49.40
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): you know, people will say you’re going to be a starving artist or not agreeing with themes.
**** – (): 01:49.63
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Thank
**** – (): 01:52.42
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): wow
**** – (): 01:55.79
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): So I stopped for 10 years and I was doing anything else but my art and I have restarted painting and drawing in April 2021.
**** – (): 02:05.42
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Wonderful. And I’m very excited to see what your journey looks like. And I’ll come back to you.
**** – (): 02:12.09
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 02:12.01
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): But then we go back to Kian, who’s also fighting the hurricane and has very graciously made a video appearance possible for us.
**** – (): 02:19.21
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): you.
**** – (): 02:20.67
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): So thank you, Kian.
**** – (): 02:23.81
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): Thank you so much for having me. So I’m Kian Patrice Tochensu. I am a digital artist, muralist, wall art creator overall. um You know, I think these days people hire me more to create kind of custom artwork for site-specific installations.
**** – (): 02:46.36
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Mm.
**** – (): 02:46.37
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): And I’ve had some fun, really fun projects along the way, including with Inter-American Development from DC. But I’m just really happy to be here and to be a part of this podcast. And thank you for having me.
**** – (): 03:02.53
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Thank you so much for making it. I know it’s not easy, but I really appreciate it. Thank you so much.
**** – (): 03:10.13
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): You’re welcome.
**** – (): 03:09.70
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Now I have someone. I i personally also love her work. Also, she’s been in our books. I don’t know, Yana, how many books? You’ve been in a few books already, and I love the gorgeous painting behind you already. So I would love to i’ would love you to introduce yourself now.
**** – (): 03:24.35
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): like Thank you so Soroka. Yes, I have been. um I feel like it’s I remember one book and well, I’m now in the second one. So thank you for including me. The books are really beautiful.
**** – (): 03:37.55
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 03:39.68
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): And as you said, they’re a work of art and in them themselves. um i ah you know I’m so used to say I’m a painter from New York City that I still say it, however, we moved out to New Jersey outside of New York City. So i I say now New Jersey, New York, because for me, there is really no difference. So I sleep here, but I go to shows very often.
**** – (): 03:59.99
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 04:03.98
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): So my my heart is in New York City. But I work in my beautiful studio in New Jersey. And i um i I’m an artist, a painter of, I would say, colors.
**** – (): 04:14.14
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Wonderful.
**** – (): 04:21.06
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): I’m in an oil painter. The size really changes. You can see one painting behind me, which is in the works for a long time. It’s pretty big, so some of them are really big. And some of them are very as small as you can see. The little one, the littlest one behind me is five by five inches. And even though I paint a lot of flowers, the real, attraction to me is color and how color can permeate the atmosphere.
**** – (): 04:46.89
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): No,
**** – (): 04:47.51
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Oh.
**** – (): 04:50.52
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): So it’s not really that much about the flowers themselves. They’re a wonderful carrier of light. And for me, the idea of color and light is the foremost.
**** – (): 04:57.44
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): yeah.
**** – (): 05:00.90
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): So how can you create an optical illusion, really, because he uses dense material in a paint. But what you really want to show is this ethereal, like, atmosphere. And it’s It’s very hard to catch, so I feel like this is really what I’m after, like how do how to create this optical illusion of this transparent color in light, in oil.
**** – (): 05:15.99
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): no, no.
**** – (): 05:25.84
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): I love that. I love that. That’s beautiful. Thank you so much, Diana. Diane, would you like to introduce ourselves now?
**** – (): 05:36.73
**** – (): Diane Chappalley
**** – (): Hi, um my name is Diane Chapelle, I’m a Swiss artist and I moved to London 12 years ago now to go to art school and study art and ah from one thing to another I’m still here.
**** – (): 05:48.57
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Thank
**** – (): 05:50.62
**** – (): Diane Chappalley
**** – (): I work predominantly with oil paint so I do large and small oil painting and I recently started working with ceramics as well so I also do ceramic sculptures
**** – (): 05:53.13
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): you.
**** – (): 06:03.93
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): okay wonderful okay thank you now let’s come back to michelle a big congratulations to you michelle on closing your show do you want to introduce yourself and share the news with us as well
**** – (): 06:11.60
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 06:21.17
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Oh, sure, sure. Uh, I’m Michelle Reeves and I live in Nashville, Tennessee. Um, I’m a floral abstract painter and I started painting when I was 52 years old. And, um, yeah, yeah.
**** – (): 06:35.74
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Wow.
**** – (): 06:38.34
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): So, um, well, you know, yeah, I’ve been creative my whole life.
**** – (): 06:38.81
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yes, clap.
**** – (): 06:44.89
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 06:46.72
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Um, and I like, um, Oh my goodness, my fellow artist here who paints florals, but I too am attracted to color. And I don’t paint what I see, but more of the impression um or movement and color and how it makes me feel. Um, and I have some very, you know, so specific paintings that tell stories.
**** – (): 07:15.81
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 07:19.46
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): One of them was, um, relating to the overturn of Roe v. Wade. And, um, what came about, um, was very vaginal and it was not my intention, but it was, it was amazing how it like, it just, it it just came out. Um, so, um, yeah, that’s me.
**** – (): 07:42.40
**** – (): Diane Chappalley
**** – (): Bye.
**** – (): 07:44.65
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): That’s too weird.
**** – (): 07:46.48
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Good thing I don’t do this for money, right?
**** – (): 07:49.80
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Oh, we’ve had such a wonderful conversation about that.
**** – (): 07:51.54
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): I mean the podcast thing, not my paintings.
**** – (): 07:54.22
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): you
**** – (): 07:57.94
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): No, you would you would make an excellent um host as well.
**** – (): 08:01.12
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 08:03.07
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Oh well, you know.
**** – (): 08:02.61
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Not bad. See, everybody, everyone, everyone enjoys a host who can keep you entertained and like and happy.
**** – (): 08:06.32
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 08:12.40
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Isn’t that?
**** – (): 08:14.93
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Okay, I have five of you, you know, you’re artists in your own different ways. We have, you know, we all work in such different ways. And we all have very different reasons of why we are doing what we do. you know there could be um There could be several reasons, but let’s let’s I want to hear from you on how what is the biggest inspiration each one of you has in your own life that drives you. Because we all know being an artist is not an easy path. Like you know Michelle, you’re starting at 52.
**** – (): 08:45.87
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): This.
**** – (): 08:47.06
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): And I’m sure we all have i once we dive into each one story, it will be so diverse and so interesting to know. But what is that number one reason? And also, can you share a little bit about the movement that you felt like?
**** – (): 09:00.25
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): This. This. This.
**** – (): 09:01.23
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Hara, you also mentioned you took a 10-year sabbatical and then came back to painting. What is that number one reason that you but keeps you going and helps you every day to get out of bed and lose art every day? Why do you do the work that you do in short?
**** – (): Well, like I would say it’s obsessive behavior. Like I really, and for a long time I thought about it as like an unhealthy obsession or almost like being sick and you can’t stop.
**** – (): 09:40.37
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 09:41.50
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Which is why I haven’t, so I like, like Hera, I took a very long break from my art and I had very good reasons.
**** – (): 09:48.96
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 09:53.68
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): I mean, there’s always the very good reasons, right?
**** – (): 09:53.77
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 09:56.13
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): So I came to this country when I was 20 and then I i got my, you know, bachelor’s degree, I got married, I had two children. So, you know, I had a career, I had my graphic design business for, for a long time. um So, you know, all the good reasons, and it’s not that I didn’t do any anything in the meantime, but I always felt like a very integral part of it was missing.
**** – (): 10:24.70
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Uh-huh.
**** – (): 10:25.65
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Like I always felt, and I i knew that it was painting, so because it’s, you know, that was clear.
**** – (): 10:25.89
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Hmm.
**** – (): 10:27.82
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Uh-huh.
**** – (): 10:31.85
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): It’s just, I had, as I said, I had very good reasons not to. And now that I went back to it, it’s been 10 years that I’m back,
**** – (): 10:37.03
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Hmm.
**** – (): 10:40.97
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): to painting, ah you know, it’s a completely like, the reason is it’s an obsession. I don’t know if people will agree with me. There’s nothing practical about this. You know, I just like, I just love it. And then everything else that it’s like a snowball effect that things that hopefully to come with it later on, much later on, is when you start showing or selling or people like a Cheruka write about you.
**** – (): 11:06.88
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 11:08.29
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): you get on the it’s so it’s almost like a side effect of this it’s not the goal
**** – (): 11:13.75
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah, I feel like sometimes I say like, breathing for me, like, I I’d rather like even if there’s so many quiet moments in an age of social media today, like, I love my most favorite moments of making art is
**** – (): 11:15.39
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): yeah
**** – (): 11:24.76
**** – (): Diane Chappalley
**** – (): Thank
**** – (): 11:27.25
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): You know, I love, ah before going to bed, I go by my table and I, for a while, just sketch something, make something, not for selling, not for social media, not for anyone.
**** – (): 11:28.60
**** – (): Diane Chappalley
**** – (): you.
**** – (): 11:38.95
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 11:39.38
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): But that’s truly one of my favorite moments. Like what drives me a lot of time. Okay, Bien, do you want to go next?
**** – (): 11:50.04
**** – (): Diane Chappalley
**** – (): Yeah, I think for me, I think art is a necessity.
**** – (): 11:49.14
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): What drives you? What is what makes you an artist?
**** – (): 11:58.44
**** – (): Diane Chappalley
**** – (): um I think for many people, they do art because it’s an essential need. And I think it has, so in a way, it’s a choice, but also it’s something that has we have to do.
**** – (): 12:04.74
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Thank you.
**** – (): 12:13.21
**** – (): Diane Chappalley
**** – (): um And for me, it’s a way to
**** – (): 12:16.14
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Thanks.
**** – (): 12:17.91
**** – (): Diane Chappalley
**** – (): understand or process experiences that I don’t I am not really able to fully make sense of it so I think my work has a lot to do with transitional experiences um you know thinking about life and death or birth um and it also has to do with trauma and how we can overcome trauma and how I think for me painting is really a space where I guess my work is very emotional about emotions things that I feel and it’s it’s almost you know it’s be yeah it’s beyond words and I find it really difficult sometimes to talk about my work because it’s it’s
**** – (): 12:46.09
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Hmm.
**** – (): 12:48.05
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): Thank
**** – (): 12:48.71
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Hmm.
**** – (): 12:54.19
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): And.
**** – (): 12:56.00
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 12:59.88
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Self connection. Yeah.
**** – (): 13:09.97
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): No
**** – (): 13:11.02
**** – (): Diane Chappalley
**** – (): it’s trying to understand something that I cannot really fully grasp in any different ways.
**** – (): 13:12.73
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): you.
**** – (): 13:13.45
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): problem.
**** – (): 13:17.86
**** – (): Diane Chappalley
**** – (): And painting is a language that allows me to make sense of things that, you know, that happened or that is happening or that I project.
**** – (): 13:18.53
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 13:28.86
**** – (): Diane Chappalley
**** – (): Sometimes there are also projections. um But yeah, I think the core is that it is very much a necessity and I’m not I mean, I’ve been lucky so far that I didn’t have to stop. I had a baby 15, so he’s 16 months now, and I have to accept that um that obviously my practice slowed down.
**** – (): 13:47.29
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): umation
**** – (): 13:52.14
**** – (): Diane Chappalley
**** – (): And I have to accept that, you know, you have 24 hours, seven days a week.
**** – (): 13:52.59
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 13:56.26
**** – (): Diane Chappalley
**** – (): you know and And so if you have a baby, you have zero hours.
**** – (): 13:57.26
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 13:58.73
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 14:00.04
**** – (): Diane Chappalley
**** – (): you know The time becomes the… And also you have to reinvent your practice. So i’m so things are shifting at the moment, but it’s um it’s such joy.
**** – (): 14:04.43
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Hmm.
**** – (): 14:05.54
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): Thank you.
**** – (): 14:11.24
**** – (): Diane Chappalley
**** – (): And obviously, I think this is also what’s so great about being an artist is that you you create your own job so you can reinvent it. You can paint faster.
**** – (): 14:19.64
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Mm
**** – (): 14:20.18
**** – (): Diane Chappalley
**** – (): You can make smaller, bigger… You know you can reshape what you do to make it suit the moment.
**** – (): 14:23.47
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): You can shift and…
**** – (): 14:26.59
**** – (): Diane Chappalley
**** – (): and
**** – (): 14:27.56
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): -hmm.
**** – (): 14:27.82
**** – (): Diane Chappalley
**** – (): So at the moment I’m reinventing a little bit the way I work and a lot can happen in our head and the projection can be quite fast.
**** – (): 14:27.35
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 14:36.00
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yes.
**** – (): 14:38.11
**** – (): Diane Chappalley
**** – (): So this is where I’m at right now.
**** – (): 14:39.24
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Absolutely. Wonderful. What about you, Michelle? But before I want to ask you, I also want to ask Lily what she’s thinking. Because it looks like Lily has some deep on the background. you Really focusing on something.
**** – (): 14:57.35
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Yes, she is. um And it’s a good thing, too, because she’s she loud. um But ah for me, it all started with the question that a gentleman asked during an interview.
**** – (): 15:08.29
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay. Okay. Okay.
**** – (): 15:14.91
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): And that was, what are you passionate about? And I’ve always been a very passionate person my whole life.
**** – (): 15:18.72
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): okay
**** – (): 15:22.77
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): but And i’m thinking I couldn’t answer the question. And I’m like, what is wrong with me? Like, i I am, I’m out there. I, I’m engaged. Why can’t I answer that? So it led me back to school to get an interior design degree.
**** – (): 15:38.96
**** – (): Diane Chappalley
**** – (): Thank you.
**** – (): 15:41.08
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): And it was through coursework that, um, I started to paint.
**** – (): 15:46.50
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 15:46.77
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): And I want to tell you when that happened, it was like the cork just burst and it was volcanic. I painted every single day, hours a day. I did hundreds of little paintings. It was, I was, I was bonkers. Okay. It was literally like I was on some, some drug and it was my own internal, you know, I had been suppressing myself for 52 years. And so, um, when I started to paint, I realized very quickly that I had zero drawing of it ability.
**** – (): 16:16.43
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Yes. Yes.
**** – (): 16:27.23
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): And to in this very true.
**** – (): 16:27.68
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Bye.
**** – (): 16:31.09
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): um i So I leaned in to what was innate in me and that was um color. ah you know Color has affected me my whole life i positive you know in a positive way or adversely. So when I just let go of whatever expectation I had um when I was trying to actually paint something very literal,
**** – (): 16:51.38
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 16:56.06
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): I’m like, no, no, no, no, no, no. you know Let your voice come out and be heard, quit being so manic, and just listen to your body. And so when I started doing that, you know the freedom of expression came, and then I realized, oh my gosh, OK, I have a lot to say. And so I realized that I could tell stories, that I can ah can relate how I’m feeling, my frustrations,
**** – (): 17:22.98
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 17:25.28
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): um that’s happening in our country or just my own personal journey. And I could put it on the canvas and nobody’s going to know because it’s all flowers than color um and And when I was talking about that one painting um that I did um um as an answer to my what I was feeling about Roe v. Wade being overturned, um It was and what happened to it, and I have it behind me.
**** – (): 17:58.38
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): I don’t know if anybody wants to see it or not, but it’s all florals. So you would absolutely never know that it’s connected to the female form, and it’s light and dark, how I was feeling so polarized.
**** – (): 18:06.44
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): That’s
**** – (): 18:14.67
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): um So anyway, for me, my number one reason why I’m doing it is because I have a voice. You know, i I’m not a succinct speaker. I don’t necessarily say the right thing at the right time. um But darn it, I’m going to tell you what I think via my paintings, and I’m not going to get censored for saying the bleep word.
**** – (): 18:36.37
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 18:39.24
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): um So um and, you know, I have a series that I just finished and it is called the Zip It series.
**** – (): 18:42.14
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Yes.
**** – (): 18:48.36
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): And I love that I’m able to give the finger to talking heads. um that are telling me how I need to live, think, and it’s also me giving the finger to those. ah ah Anyway, it doesn’t matter, but the thing is, it’s called Zip It, and I can give anybody the finger and nobody knows. You know what I mean? I mean, I don’t mean that it’s not like I’m walking around the world, you know, doo-doo-doo.
**** – (): 19:14.06
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 19:19.24
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 19:19.27
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): But, you know, as women, especially, we have a lot to say. And sometimes we don’t want to be nice. Sometimes we don’t want to be quiet. But our art allows us to say whatever we want to say in our voice. And people are going to stop, they’re going to look, and they’re going to, you know, they’re going to pay attention.
**** – (): 19:33.15
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah, so important.
**** – (): 19:39.26
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): And um so.
**** – (): 19:42.53
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): you
**** – (): 19:42.95
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Yeah, that’s that that that is it.
**** – (): 19:43.91
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): I love that. No, wife. We have some you all have something very, very important and unique to say.
**** – (): 19:49.44
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): That’s right.
**** – (): 19:49.64
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 19:50.50
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): And I want to hear every one of them. I want to get to know every one of you because you know you all have something I need to hear, or I want to hear, or I’m desperately seeking to hear.
**** – (): 19:53.40
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 19:58.58
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 20:00.10
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 20:01.83
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): And um this community of all women artists, to me, I’m telling you what, it touches me deeply. and um so you know, thank you for doing doing all this. Yeah.
**** – (): 20:16.15
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah, I’m so glad, I’m so glad.
**** – (): 20:20.25
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): All
**** – (): 20:19.62
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Hello, do you want to go next?
**** – (): 20:22.62
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): Sure, um so my brain is all over the place, i’m so sorry about that.
**** – (): 20:24.49
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): right.
**** – (): 20:27.48
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): um The reason why I restarted painting, it actually was more for my mental health. I understood that for me, painting was an essential part of healing, of self-expression, and actually because my brain is a very loud place, very, very loud, and the only time it actually shut shuts the hell off is when I paint. when it goes really quiet and I can enjoy.
**** – (): 20:53.59
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): hmm what more oh
**** – (): 20:53.73
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 20:54.73
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): of
**** – (): 20:54.68
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): I love that.
**** – (): 20:56.11
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 20:55.60
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): I love that. I’m sure most of us agree with that.
**** – (): 20:59.11
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): So it’s that’s why I restarted and I have always I have always so many ideas of what I want to think that I have a little book where I write everything down.
**** – (): 21:00.82
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): I see all the heads moving.
**** – (): 21:08.42
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): So I never have an art b blog just because my brain is chaotic. And the reason why I also started painting is because I’m also a stubborn person. I’m soborn stubborn as a thousand donkeys and I like to broach subjects that make people uncomfortable.
**** – (): 21:24.24
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 21:27.81
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 21:28.00
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): I like making people uncomfortable and I am very loud with my paintings and a lot of people, oh well not a lot of people, a lot of people did like my do like my art but also um a lot of people are offended by my art and that’s okay.
**** – (): 21:29.48
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 21:30.87
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): like Yeah.
**** – (): 21:43.14
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): I represent the the divine feminine, the strong and dark feminine as well. i’m My art revolves around women and I paint women in different ways.
**** – (): 21:50.05
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 21:55.12
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): I i paint their pain, I paint their glory, I paint their strength.
**** – (): 21:54.57
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Hmm.
**** – (): 21:55.74
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 21:59.05
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): I have many different subjects and some people create uncomfortable because I also paint our darkest places as well.
**** – (): 22:04.28
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 22:07.46
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): I find beauty in the dark and I paint it and I bring it forward and a lot of people are uncomfortable and for some,
**** – (): 22:09.64
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): a
**** – (): 22:15.12
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): reason that makes me smile because for me that means that I’m doing something correctly. So I’m not going to abandon my craft until I die. So and not to be dramatic.
**** – (): 22:28.71
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 22:28.87
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Wow.
**** – (): 22:28.04
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): No, I love that and I love that tau.
**** – (): 22:30.27
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 22:31.04
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Um, women, um, you know, women is such a big source of inspiration for myself. And I love how, uh, we, um, use our own, um, I think our own authentic what we truly believe in. And, you know, it’s not easy to go get it and to say, okay, you know, this is a truly believe in. and you know art is also very vulnerable we put ourselves out there and we let people see us like you know see through us via art and some days it can feel very intimidating not we not always we’ll have three things to say or the you know what everybody wants to hear there will be days where you will say something that not everyone agrees to or would want to hear and it takes a lot of courage to put ourselves out there
**** – (): 23:15.35
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Uh-huh.
**** – (): 23:16.60
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): Yeah, especially when…
**** – (): 23:15.81
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): yeah
**** – (): 23:18.81
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): Sorry, go ahead.
**** – (): 23:17.83
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): yeah
**** – (): 23:20.27
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): Sure, you know.
**** – (): 23:19.33
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Go ahead, Hira. No, no, no.
**** – (): 23:21.17
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 23:20.70
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Go. Yes, please.
**** – (): 23:23.91
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): No, no, no.
**** – (): 23:24.41
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): but
**** – (): 23:24.87
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): I just wanted to add that we have to accept that not a lot of people will tell us kindly what they think of our art.
**** – (): 23:25.35
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 23:30.95
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Uh-huh.
**** – (): 23:34.16
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): Especially I don’t know if anyone here went viral.
**** – (): 23:34.35
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 23:37.32
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): I went viral a month ago and I reached my first million.
**** – (): 23:39.91
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Yay!
**** – (): 23:40.63
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Oh.
**** – (): 23:42.13
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): and Thank you.
**** – (): 23:42.83
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Wow.
**** – (): 23:45.49
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Wow.
**** – (): 23:45.95
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): And people have saying to you, but a lot of people have a lot of things to say that you would never think they will tell you.
**** – (): 23:45.32
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Congratulations.
**** – (): 23:52.85
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): And you have to just brush it off and say, you cannot please everybody.
**** – (): 23:53.29
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Oh my goodness.
**** – (): 23:54.87
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Yeah, that’s because they’re not face to face, you know?
**** – (): 23:58.83
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): That
**** – (): 23:59.65
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Oh, yeah.
**** – (): 23:59.73
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 24:00.43
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Well, yeah, you.
**** – (): 23:59.71
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Also, people have so many opinions, specifically putting ourselves on the internet.
**** – (): 24:01.28
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): do Yeah, that’s awesome.
**** – (): 24:06.27
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): is.
**** – (): 24:07.52
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): Mm-hmm, yeah.
**** – (): 24:08.82
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): so that I just wanted to add that.
**** – (): 24:09.18
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Kian, what about you?
**** – (): 24:10.26
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): that
**** – (): 24:11.94
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): Sure, you know, for um for me,
**** – (): 24:12.16
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): No, yes, yes, absolutely.
**** – (): 24:16.37
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Sorry, sorry.
**** – (): 24:17.87
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): ironron for me I remember, so I started out in photography a really long time ago, and then I kind of paused, you know, got caught up in the corporate um rat race, for want of a better word.
**** – (): 24:31.31
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 24:35.37
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): And there’s nothing wrong wrong with being in corporate as well. It’s just we have to be really intentional and focused about our craft because it has a way of sucking us almost away from ourselves.
**** – (): 24:39.58
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 24:46.85
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 24:48.43
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): good point
**** – (): 24:49.13
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): So we have to really be intentional, you know, about about being true to or be ourselves.
**** – (): 24:52.84
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): Thank
**** – (): 24:55.93
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): But I’ll share with you guys a moment that I had.
**** – (): 24:58.80
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): you.
**** – (): 24:58.93
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): um I was traveling. I was, I remember really specifically, I was in San Jose Costa Rica and I was walking around and there was this studio, this art studio.
**** – (): 25:02.40
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Thank
**** – (): 25:09.70
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): And I remember I stepped in
**** – (): 25:12.66
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Oh good point.
**** – (): 25:12.86
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): and it was huge paintings I mean it was just the artist himself wasn’t there but the the studio manager was so I walked in and I remember just almost electricity I remember I just stood there just kind of this visceral reaction to seeing these large scale works and I just, I mean it’s so it’s so bizarre but it was this really spiritual experience and I remember tears came to my eyes and the studio manager came up to me and she held my hands and she was saying you are meant to be an artist and it sounds insane just kind of saying it all alone
**** – (): 25:23.22
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): you.
**** – (): 25:41.25
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Hello.
**** – (): 25:46.71
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Thank you.
**** – (): 25:52.53
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): but I remember the two of us just in the studio crying and it was just so powerful and just so spiritual and that’s just like you know because at that time I had almost suppressed the creative side in terms of art but I remember coming back home and saying okay that kind of gave me the jolt that I needed to kind of hop back on the horse and
**** – (): 25:54.03
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Hello.
**** – (): 26:16.12
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): Through that, I mean, this artistic journey has taken me, like I said, started out in photography, then experimented more and more creatively in the photographic editing, which led me into full scale digital art, into abstract. But what I would say is the thread that has tied pretty much my entire journey and all of my work to things. One, curiosity and to kind of like spiritual purpose. I just feel like it’s part of who I am and it’s part of my mandate to share and I won’t pretend i will pretend to know you know where this journey will continue to take me or what form the art will be but what I do know is that there’s purpose to it and that as I think about different things and I’m curious about different things in terms of life topics different like my my father died some time ago and I had really complex
**** – (): 26:53.97
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 27:06.56
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Mm hmm.
**** – (): 27:15.56
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): feelings and a complex relationship with him and ah you know I remember doing this art piece and it’s almost like the art took hold of me and then when it was finished I was just like oh because it ended up being kind of this close of a tear and in the tear it’s like a whole bunch um of things and it was a way of practicing so really you know what keeps me going is a sense of purpose even when it’s hard even
**** – (): 27:25.20
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): Thank you.
**** – (): 27:36.34
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Hmm. Hmm.
**** – (): 27:37.74
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 27:45.32
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): you know, when you’re not sure where the journey will go. But what I will say is a couple times I’ve i been like, okay, what is the point? I mean, I think I truly think that that God just kind of let something happen or like a great opportunity or a great project to say, keep going, you know?
**** – (): 27:53.50
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): yeah
**** – (): 28:02.90
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): So yeah, that was kind of my origin-ish story.
**** – (): 28:02.90
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah, very important, very important.
**** – (): 28:05.06
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Can I say something about that?
**** – (): 28:07.44
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): but
**** – (): 28:09.45
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): you know when What is the point?
**** – (): 28:09.08
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yes.
**** – (): 28:11.95
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Because we all ask that. like What is the point? I don’t think our art just serves ourself.
**** – (): 28:14.84
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): What is fine?
**** – (): 28:19.14
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): I think that Keon, she is supposed to connect, help,
**** – (): 28:18.19
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 28:28.18
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): and inspire somebody in this world. And she doesn’t know who it is, but by only through her voice, that’s it. She’s the one that’s going to connect. She is the only one that’s going to deliver that message.
**** – (): 28:39.47
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 28:42.91
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): And every single one of these beautiful, lovely women, including you, Ms. Host, we are we are you know here and that only we you know, will connect and impact that person in a positive way.
**** – (): 28:57.38
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 29:00.45
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): We don’t know. We may never know what that connection or what that message is. um But, so that, in my humble opinion, is, you know, when when we do, when I’m like in a rut and I’m, i I can’t get out of it.
**** – (): 29:09.87
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): I think yeah.
**** – (): 29:17.59
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Every single painting is a turd on the wall. I’m not kidding. And that’s my label. if it Not everything is great. it That sounded really bad.
**** – (): 29:25.17
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 29:27.24
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): I mean, not everything in my eyes that I look at is acceptable, right?
**** – (): 29:29.73
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): I see.
**** – (): 29:31.99
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): OK.
**** – (): 29:31.92
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 29:33.76
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): So a lot of times, it’s like, what is a point?
**** – (): 29:34.88
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): I love how you refame that.
**** – (): 29:38.22
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Yeah. So it it it yeah, that that’s all relative and subjective. um But in my head, you know some paintings, of course, stand out more so than others, especially being abstract.
**** – (): 29:50.02
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 29:51.81
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): um But anyway, I just wanted to, sorry.
**** – (): 29:57.36
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): that
**** – (): 29:56.98
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): No, no, I think you’re very right.
**** – (): 29:59.72
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): yeah
**** – (): 29:58.94
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): ah You’re absolutely right. And I think mindset plays such an important role. in a lot of our careers. And I feel like um you know what’s common in a a lot of us, among all of us, and I think a lot common um amongst artists are creative people, are creative women. We spoke about in the earlier call, we were talking, we were speaking about imposter syndrome, how we all feel differently and or how we you know we put ourselves later and all of those things.
**** – (): 30:21.76
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): that’s. yeah.
**** – (): 30:27.57
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): But I also feel like because of that, um So many artists, either start late, because for all those years, they didn’t believe in their intuition. A lot of artists do hear them in the beginning and then feel like, oh, what is the point of all of this? If I can’t make a you know living out of it, like Ian said, the corporate world or you know the pay pass and the social media or everything. There’s so many different things that we’re constantly being told that a lot of times they hear the outer world more than the inner world.
**** – (): 30:58.77
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): And a lot of time it becomes, so i i I know, you know, I want all of you to share this story also.
**** – (): 31:01.58
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Right.
**** – (): 31:05.05
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): What is the first time that you call yourself an artist? Because I still see so many people, oh, I’m an artist, but you know this, I’m an artist, but you know that.
**** – (): 31:13.15
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): What were artists?
**** – (): 31:16.80
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Let’s hear that. When did you, what was your own story each one of you? What was that moment that you felt like truly like, you know, now yeah you call yourself the artist for the first time. I still see so many people who who’ve had shows and like, if even that, you know, in that order, if that matters, like, you know, who has shows and who’s shown and like, oh, I’m, I’m an artist, but I have a job. Well, I’m an artist, but there’s so many mindset blocks and so many limitations that we keep hearing and get into ahead.
**** – (): 31:48.62
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Let’s hear from you. What was the first time you called yourself an artist? Who started? Yana, just to say, you don’t mute, okay?
**** – (): 31:56.88
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Thank you.
**** – (): 31:56.27
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yana and Lian, both of you unmute. If you plan to, then just unmute yourself. Okay, let’s hear from you, Yana. Let’s start with you.
**** – (): 32:08.29
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): No, you’re on mute. Still on mute.
**** – (): 32:14.14
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Still on mute.
**** – (): 32:15.73
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Oh, okay. How? I i figured.
**** – (): 32:16.70
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): There we go.
**** – (): 32:16.45
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yes.
**** – (): 32:18.61
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Wonderful. Um, well, it’s, um, I feel like I didn’t call myself an artist for a long time. When did the first year, like you put him on the spot now because I’m first, I feel like some years, well, yeah, I feel like when I started to show professionally, that’s when I like with less trepidation, I started seeing artists because I used to say like, um,
**** – (): 32:27.08
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): and
**** – (): 32:44.31
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Like I like to like joke a lot and to kind of like, so I would say like I would paint their bed. It’s not the one that paints walls. I try to kind of like to to minimize it or to make joke out of it.
**** – (): 32:59.29
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Why do we do that?
**** – (): 32:59.79
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): and um And then some of my friends started to corrupt me, you know, they’ll just say, just say artist and don’t add because I had the whole like explanation or like a joke.
**** – (): 32:58.93
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): yeah
**** – (): 33:04.73
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Good for them.
**** – (): 33:12.64
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): um which I feel like we use jokes kind of to minimize ourselves or…
**** – (): 33:18.50
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah a lot of times it’s our own reflection like we oh we don’t
**** – (): 33:20.24
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Oh, I don’t do that ever.
**** – (): 33:21.31
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): you
**** – (): 33:24.77
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): i do
**** – (): 33:26.25
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Oh, you did?
**** – (): 33:27.91
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): oh no I do all the time she’s absolutely right and that’s what I know that’s really hard to believe really hard but she’s absolutely right we do that we we you know make jokes because we want to make we you know we want to become smaller for some stupid ass reason and I don’t understand that and so our art is loud and in your face because no we’re not gonna no we’re not gonna you know sit back so
**** – (): 33:28.21
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): I’m like, Oh, yeah.
**** – (): 33:35.50
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 33:38.37
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 33:46.07
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah. Yeah.
**** – (): 33:56.47
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Well, it has to do also with the growth.
**** – (): 33:56.78
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): I’m just going to shut up because I agree so much.
**** – (): 33:57.17
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): It’s also how we do, we feel it’s, it’s ball. No, you’re right.
**** – (): 34:03.82
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): growth And the it’s interesting because the thing that helped me tremendously and something I would never have thought that I would do is I started teaching during COVID.
**** – (): 34:04.84
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 34:14.13
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): And again, it’s because a friend pushed me into it against my will, I should say. And if she’s listening, thank you. um
**** – (): 34:22.68
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): That’s a good friend.
**** – (): 34:23.80
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): though she literally came to my studio, she installed things. And so that was during COVID. So that started in, oh God, when did COVID start?
**** – (): 34:34.56
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): I think 2020.
**** – (): 34:34.64
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): oh so
**** – (): 34:34.97
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): 2020, 2020, February 2020.
**** – (): 34:35.04
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): twenty twenty
**** – (): 34:36.10
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): folks Yeah, four years ago. Yes, yes, so four four four years ago.
**** – (): 34:40.16
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 34:42.26
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): And ah I, again, I started with a lot of like, I don’t really know what I’m doing, but um
**** – (): 34:50.57
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): 2020.
**** – (): 34:51.57
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): I started to gain momentum and what I found is I know much more than I thought I knew. So when I say it and I’m like, wait, what?
**** – (): 34:57.39
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yay.
**** – (): 34:59.55
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Hmm.
**** – (): 35:01.39
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): So I actually know it. Not only that, I can verbalize it quite well. If I say it to somebody else. So I really use it as a method of teaching myself. So I just listen to myself. I don’t know what I, what I will say.
**** – (): 35:13.22
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 35:16.71
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): And, um, I feel like I’m honestly like that becomes like, I gain confidence. So in the end, like long answer to a question to say what, who I am, I feel like I start in confidence because I’ve verbalized so often and I kind of repeat, repeat, repeat.
**** – (): 35:27.91
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): um Hmm.
**** – (): 35:34.65
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): And, uh, things like really building of the self. started happening, but very recently very recently, as recent as maybe the last year.
**** – (): 35:47.07
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Thanks.
**** – (): 35:46.41
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah, it’s also like, you know, we have these benchmarks of when I feel I’m going to feel worthy of calling myself a certain thing, no matter if you’ve been like, if most of us have been creating for so long, even before, like, you know, in in our previous recording, I was speaking to someone and she said, Oh, I am, I am an artist only recently, but I’ve been a, I’ve been a designer, I run a fashion business for the past
**** – (): 35:51.19
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): and
**** – (): 36:12.91
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): 10 years. And I was like, you know, um you have been an artist, you just change your medium.
**** – (): 36:18.37
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Mm hmm. Mm hmm.
**** – (): 36:18.85
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): You know, we are, we are all creative people. Our expressions change. I’ve been a designer. Of course, like, you know, we will be role.
**** – (): 36:27.08
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 36:26.20
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): There’s so many artists now today working with fabric, textiles and textile designers are working with. It’s at the end of the day. A lot of us are in the business of creativity and you know, we’re all practicing our self-expression. And there’s so much, there’s so much definition of how we want to call ourselves, how we see ourselves how we want the world to see us.
**** – (): 36:44.45
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Mm hmm.
**** – (): 36:44.99
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): OK, let’s hear from you, Hera. You’ve been very quiet.
**** – (): 36:50.27
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): um
**** – (): 36:49.68
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Hera and Yang, we’ll see how I hear from both of you now.
**** – (): 36:54.13
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): i I think maybe about two years ago that I started calling myself artist, it’s when I saw what I wanted on campus because 10 years sabbatical is rough on your skills.
**** – (): 37:00.16
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Thank
**** – (): 37:05.39
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): I always, I’ve been like painting and drawing from like the age of five and until like I was almost 20 and then I did a huge 10 years break. And it was rough on my skills.
**** – (): 37:17.45
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Hmm.
**** – (): 37:18.45
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): you.
**** – (): 37:19.01
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Thank
**** – (): 37:20.16
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): And of course that made me sad because I went from my skills at late 20s were the same as of when I was nine.
**** – (): 37:20.49
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Hmm.
**** – (): 37:27.75
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): So I will i was really pissed off.
**** – (): 37:28.13
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): you.
**** – (): 37:31.12
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): So I didn’t call myself an artist at that time. I practiced a lot.
**** – (): 37:33.47
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 37:34.74
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): And when I started seeing what I wanted on canvas and on paper is when I was like, yes, this is what I want. I’m an artist. I don’t think like I’m perfect. I still have so many things that I want to do. and like I have so many artists that I’m looking up to and I want to restore their level. But it’s about two years ago when I was able to bring everything that was in there properly on campus.
**** – (): 37:49.91
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 37:51.19
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Thank
**** – (): 37:55.47
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): I love that. What about you, Diane?
**** – (): 38:01.24
**** – (): Diane Chappalley
**** – (): Yeah, I think it’s um it also took me a while. And I remember when I was studying, I kept saying, I’m studying art, or I’m an art student. And and talking to some of my peers that had similar um issues to sort of own that world.
**** – (): 38:10.99
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): you.
**** – (): 38:13.41
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Oh my goodness. This is a new art student.
**** – (): 38:18.33
**** – (): Diane Chappalley
**** – (): Yeah, you know, you yeah you can’t say I’m an art, especially when, and then, yeah, I feel like it’s something you have to own almost. And I’m wondering why.
**** – (): 38:26.80
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Mm-hmm.
**** – (): 38:27.06
**** – (): Diane Chappalley
**** – (): And perhaps I think artists has a lot of weight. And even now sometimes, also it’s very, there’s a lot big connotation around it, but also, so do you do you often have that?
**** – (): 38:31.06
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 38:38.89
**** – (): Diane Chappalley
**** – (): Like if you have a family dinner and people are, oh, she’s the artist. And you’re like, do I have to, you know, it’s the it has a sort of,
**** – (): 38:43.48
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Thank
**** – (): 38:43.80
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 38:43.04
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): yeah
**** – (): 38:49.40
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): you.
**** – (): 38:51.27
**** – (): Diane Chappalley
**** – (): So, you know you know, you’re like super interesting, even if you don’t really feel like it that day.
**** – (): 38:51.39
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): you say one yeah
**** – (): 38:55.59
**** – (): Diane Chappalley
**** – (): or oh i guess it’s I think what i I like about it is that people often I think are very interested in in what you do. all We had um did an open studio recently.
**** – (): 39:04.18
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): work.
**** – (): 39:08.30
**** – (): Diane Chappalley
**** – (): And ah the people that comes is very different than, you know, if you have an exhibition in a gallery or in a fair it’s or an institution, you know, it’s ah it’s more like local families, it’s more inclusive in that sense. And it was really, really beautiful because so many amateur people that would like to be you came and they were they were very inspired it felt and that you know, it was almost it was really nice to just show you that you know in your neighborhood there’s artists studios and professional artists working and and um Sorry, I’m like off-tracking a little bit.
**** – (): 39:46.42
**** – (): Diane Chappalley
**** – (): But yeah that world comes with a lot of like um But now I i own it and it’s I just I don’t have any but it’s a bit what Jana was saying you almost have to convince not convince yourself but repeat it and
**** – (): 39:58.43
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 40:01.63
**** – (): Diane Chappalley
**** – (): and yeah that’s what you are but ultimately you’re making art you’re making stuff you know i think it’s really the making for me that that’s but yeah it is yeah the process
**** – (): 40:01.31
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): yeah you have to tell yourself yes yes absolutely yeah
**** – (): 40:09.85
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): versus the outcome. It’s the making versus the outcome. And the making, we define ourselves as artists and the world defines us as artists as outcome, right? Because, i I mean, not that that’s right or wrong, but, you know, um I’m glad to hear you say that you, you know,
**** – (): 40:22.72
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): yeah
**** – (): 40:29.24
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 40:35.21
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): you call your, I think, you know, you’re born, some are born artists, right? They’ve just got this natural talent and some develop it over years and, ah or they go to school for it, um you know? And I think it’s, you know, if you if you want to call yourself an artist, you call yourself an artist because there’s a reason you’re tapping me on that title.
**** – (): 40:54.27
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 40:56.83
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): I used to think that, oh no, yeah you know, people who go to school and get a degree, those are artists. Well, I had my butt slapped several times And since then that’s been a long time ago, but I’m serious. That’s really what I thought. And then I’m like, Oh, you’re an idiot because here I am now just painting away.
**** – (): 41:13.43
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 41:15.99
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): And then, um, you know what, you don’t have a degree.
**** – (): 41:16.85
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 41:19.52
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): So now you’re not going to say you’re an artist when your soul is screaming to, to be one or is one, right?
**** – (): 41:25.37
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 41:27.54
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): It is one. I didn’t mean to take over and I apologize, but ah I see what she’s saying completely.
**** – (): 41:28.90
**** – (): Diane Chappalley
**** – (): Well.
**** – (): 41:28.00
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
**** – (): 41:35.12
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): I love that. What about you again?
**** – (): 41:40.47
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): You know, as everybody was talking, I was trying to pinpoint if there was and maybe one specific point that I realized or I started calling myself an artist.
**** – (): 41:47.32
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 41:53.35
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): But i I can’t think about any kind of one day or one thing or one point.
**** – (): 41:59.10
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 42:01.53
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): It’s just kind of been this journey that I’ve been on and then as I’ve gotten
**** – (): 42:04.16
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): That’s it.
**** – (): 42:08.60
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): you know maybe more exposure and this is weird thing also right because you don’t want to necessarily say that you call yourself an artist because someone externally has deemed you fit to be an artist right but um you know a lot of the time that’s what happens a lot of the time we look at these external points or these external validators
**** – (): 42:13.37
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): you
**** – (): 42:25.11
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 42:33.25
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Mm hmm.
**** – (): 42:33.39
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): to cue us in as to when okay no it’s safe to say I’m an artist because that person has sent it or because this thing has happened you know so I really you know the different milestones have occurred for like the shows and you know when the more and more major projects have come my way and then I kind of
**** – (): 42:34.79
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 42:38.76
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Yeah, baby.
**** – (): 42:39.41
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 42:41.25
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Mm hmm.
**** – (): 42:56.55
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): Okay, the fact that people are calling for me or paying me to do this, okay, no, I guess I’m an artist.
**** – (): 43:04.48
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 43:04.83
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): But then you have to check yourself because the fact that you have it in your soul to create, that means you’re an artist.
**** – (): 43:06.01
**** – (): Diane Chappalley
**** – (): Thank you.
**** – (): 43:12.61
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Hmm yeah Yeah Yeah
**** – (): 43:14.41
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): And art can take different forms.
**** – (): 43:14.44
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): i want I agree.
**** – (): 43:16.57
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): It’s not to say that if you use this medium, then you’re an artist. And if it’s another medium, you’re less of an artist. That is just some kind of weird social construct that I don’t even know where that came from. The fact that you have it in your soul to create means you’re an artist. And I think for me, my journey has evolved into nowhere. I’m saying, okay, you know what? I’m an artist.
**** – (): 43:40.28
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): There you go.
**** – (): 43:40.45
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): I’m just saying.
**** – (): 43:41.21
**** – (): Diane Chappalley
**** – (): yeah
**** – (): 43:41.82
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): I thought that was me.
**** – (): 43:42.39
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): ah
**** – (): 43:43.47
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): I’m an artist. Don’t hurt me.
**** – (): 43:44.87
**** – (): Diane Chappalley
**** – (): It’s so true that yeah it’s something…
**** – (): 43:44.85
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): i
**** – (): 43:46.93
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): I think I am.
**** – (): 43:48.94
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): glad I want to add one as a thought to this, like to this idea of calling yourself.
**** – (): 43:49.16
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Right? Right?
**** – (): 43:54.71
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): So I feel like there is a ap premise in psychology, right? So when you like there’s a problem, if you name it, you can solve it, right?
**** – (): 44:04.20
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Ooh.
**** – (): 44:04.73
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): So I feel like in naming it, or like calling ourselves artists, we like we claim our spot, like we kind of withdraw the game.
**** – (): 44:04.47
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 44:07.62
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 44:15.29
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 44:17.07
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): So I feel like it’s very important. And that’s something I, but right?
**** – (): 44:19.48
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): 100%!
**** – (): 44:19.75
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Absolutely.
**** – (): 44:23.47
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Yes!
**** – (): 44:24.56
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): So like, when you actually say it, it’s very, you know, and and the thing is, um I don’t know, like it I feel like when you really define yourself like that and then you continue to reinforce it, I think it’s very important.
**** – (): 44:36.00
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Uh-huh.
**** – (): 44:40.05
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): So I feel things like whatever signs you use or symbols, or like I have an altar in my studio, um whatever reminds you, or people maybe want to put it like a tattoo or wear something.
**** – (): 44:40.22
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): I hope.
**** – (): 44:39.62
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): a
**** – (): 44:51.56
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): So I have a necklace that I’m not wearing today, but I have, um it’s a healing cord necklace. So I feel like whatever symbols you can to have to remind yourself that this is who you are and you’re different now.
**** – (): 45:06.61
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Well, I had.
**** – (): 45:06.93
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): I think they’re very, very important. It’s visual. Clues. I don’t know. I’m just curious if if you guys use something like that to remind yourselves that you are now different and like maybe different level of your development.
**** – (): 45:22.54
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): You know I, oh.
**** – (): 45:21.97
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): i I think having a studio, even if that means like, sorry, if even if that means like, you know, um a lot of blocks that artists sometimes have and we have like, oh, if I have, yeah and this is me, I have had home studios, separate studios and all kinds of studios. And I felt in my own brain also when I’m, you know, I was moving spaces and I felt like I had to move out to my previous studio and I had home studio for a while and finally, oh, if I didn’t have a large enough studio or my studio didn’t look like this, well, maybe I’m not an artist.
**** – (): 45:45.54
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 45:55.81
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): I’m just somebody who draws or who just does this. I had to claim myself like you know it didn’t matter if i I drew from my bedside and that gave me the joy and and it is true.
**** – (): 46:05.37
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Mm
**** – (): 46:05.60
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): like you know ah Your work as an artist, it does not come from the number of paintings you make, the number of um how much your painting sells for.
**** – (): 46:14.12
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): but Okay.
**** – (): 46:16.12
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): none of those factors and like people who paint realistically take years to come to abstract or like you know childlike and then they find spotlight and then there are artists who have a very different career path so there’s if you try to put logic into it there’s no logic as long as you believe to be a creative and an artist I think at least that’s for me
**** – (): 46:30.69
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): hmm.
**** – (): 46:39.33
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): And I’d also like to say something as well. I’ve found sometimes art can be such a solitary craft and you know you’re just kind of
**** – (): 46:47.42
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 46:49.96
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Oh, yes.
**** – (): 46:49.39
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 46:51.65
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): head down doing your thing in your little bubble. And I must say even having this conversation with you guys, you know, as other women artists, it’s been so therapeutic, you know, I mean, I’ve never met any of you, but it’s just been so healing and just for us. So almost within this safe space to kind of reexamine some of the the things that we have
**** – (): 47:13.81
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): if
**** – (): 47:13.88
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Mm
**** – (): 47:14.38
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 47:18.12
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 47:18.93
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): have constructed in our minds, even about when do we call ourselves on Earth?
**** – (): 47:20.93
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): yeah yeah important
**** – (): 47:23.61
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): It’s all of these things. And to realize that we have these parallel journeys and where we’re in some weird way in it together, even though we feel so alone. And I think that that’s where community is so important to kind of remind us, you know, to stand as artists, you know.
**** – (): 47:38.22
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): yeah you know you know you’re very right on that because
**** – (): 47:39.92
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): -hmm.
**** – (): 47:44.22
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): A lot of times when we were I also felt this in my journey, when I did not have a community around me, because we were I was constantly comparing myself to people who didn’t know what being an artist meant, they had no clue about it. They didn’t know what my doubts were, my imposter were, none of them. But the moment I, you know, when I joined other communities and I started to meet people around me and I was like, oh my God, when I surrounded myself with people just who were insane mindset and skills, like, you know, just who just were where I am, who were women,
**** – (): 48:02.03
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 48:12.87
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): because that mattered to me because you know personally I was struggling that way but also as artists who were creative and I’m like oh this is just not my struggle and like look at her she’s calling herself artist she’s successful why can’t I do that oh look at her she’s doing this she doesn’t have uh why can’t I do that and then that I think you know it really really makes a deal
**** – (): 48:36.34
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Yes, I agree. I think a community of of people is so wonderful. And I want to say especially women artists, women artists. I want to stress both words because I, and for me, like, because I don’t have a formal, like I don’t have a degree in art, like this community kind of happened organically over time because I studied at the New York Academy of Arts.
**** – (): 48:46.70
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 48:51.42
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): you
**** – (): 48:53.73
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Bye-bye.
**** – (): 48:52.97
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 48:59.07
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): So I took continued education classes for a very long time. And, um, with the same professor. And it was like a live drawing, my painting. And when I came there, I never thought that I will find friends because my goal was just to, well, and I didn’t know I’m going to sit there for seven years.
**** – (): 49:14.18
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): and
**** – (): 49:16.74
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): That’s a whole other side of it. But what started is happening completely organically and without, you know, like not pre-planned was that we started getting very friendly and we had a consistent group of of people. We started to go for lunch together. and to share our, you know, like things so specific to women artists against dressing both words.
**** – (): 49:41.75
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): I love that.
**** – (): 49:41.74
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 49:44.12
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): So, so specific and like finding studio time or maybe lack of support, which honestly, like, I don’t know, I think all of us.
**** – (): 49:43.61
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah. I completely agree with that.
**** – (): 49:55.28
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): you know And that was so healing and I felt like I can just in this particular group, I can say this crazy and I can share without being judged.
**** – (): 50:01.33
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): I love you.
**** – (): 50:01.39
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 50:07.07
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): So i I completely agree.
**** – (): 50:06.52
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 50:09.63
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): it’s It’s incredibly important.
**** – (): 50:12.84
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Mm hmm.
**** – (): 50:13.29
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Incredibly important.
**** – (): 50:13.12
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Right. No, no, I think that’s why we do what we do.
**** – (): 50:16.26
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Mm hmm.
**** – (): 50:16.77
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): And I completely, completely agree with that. I think it’s extremely important. I’m just having this conversation with the podcast, with having our books. And, you know, we can we always try to bring this female collective voice and experiences in one place.
**** – (): 50:27.20
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Mm hmm.
**** – (): 50:31.41
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): And I really appreciate all of you for sharing your art with us. Some artists to emerging artists of 2024.
**** – (): 50:38.45
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Wonderful.
**** – (): 50:37.91
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): How does it feel?
**** – (): 50:41.81
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): oh
**** – (): 50:43.03
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): God bless.
**** – (): 50:43.37
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Wonderful.
**** – (): 50:47.45
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): for
**** – (): 50:46.97
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): A big, big congratulations to all of you. And everyone who’s listening to this, I hope you can grab your copy of The Emerging Artist for 2024 by the time this episode will be out. We’ll have our copies on the shop with with our artists for Fuji.
**** – (): 50:59.48
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 51:03.45
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): And it’s a labor of love. And I hope that all of you, this is just the very, very beginning of a very, very beautiful, not only a career, but a soulful experience because you’re all here for that, right?
**** – (): 51:11.32
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Thank you.
**** – (): 51:14.87
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): We, it’s not only the career, but the connection that we chase as artists and that only goes deeper and deeper. Before I let you go, I want to give you a quick round just to let, you know, so you can share where we can find you, support you and people can, you know, connect with you. We can go with Michelle.
**** – (): 51:38.70
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Oh, okay. um I have a really complicated name. It’s Michelle Reeves.
**** – (): 51:43.83
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): yeah
**** – (): 51:45.98
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Yeah. So, but that’s Reeves with an S.
**** – (): 51:47.95
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Thank
**** – (): 51:49.82
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): um So, and I’m in Nashville.
**** – (): 51:49.93
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yes. Don’t worry we’ll have everything linked.
**** – (): 51:53.15
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): you.
**** – (): 51:53.55
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): what Okay, great.
**** – (): 51:56.02
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Yes.
**** – (): 51:56.46
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Yes, reach out just reach out I’d love to hear from any of you and I’d love to be able to support my fellow women artists with high fives and and and we add a goes and so um Michelle Reeves art Nashville’s Instagram and I’d love to connect And it was nice meeting you all y’all are beautiful
**** – (): 51:58.37
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yes.
**** – (): 52:20.51
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Perfect.
**** – (): 52:23.29
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Same here.
**** – (): 52:24.48
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): And no, I did not get the memo that this was a video call.
**** – (): 52:28.25
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 52:28.24
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Oh, I am sorry. We missed. Sometimes take like technology is not on our side.
**** – (): 52:32.18
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 52:34.33
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): It was not on our side today.
**** – (): 52:36.82
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Well, it’s not on my side, whatever.
**** – (): 52:37.25
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): But you No, you’re still the one glowing amongst all of us.
**** – (): 52:39.29
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): I hear you’re glowing.
**** – (): 52:42.41
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): All of us.
**** – (): 52:44.32
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Yeah, sure. All right.
**** – (): 52:46.64
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): What about you, Heather?
**** – (): 52:47.94
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): um For me, I’m, oh, okay, go ahead.
**** – (): 52:49.35
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Okay, Kian, go ahead.
**** – (): 52:50.75
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): here Okay, right.
**** – (): 52:51.52
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): No, no, you can also go ahead.
**** – (): 52:52.78
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): um i’m I’m on Instagram at Kian.Patrice. That’s K-I-A-N-N-E dr.Patrice. And my website KianPatrice.com. But for sure send me a DM, find me, say hi.
**** – (): 53:06.72
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 53:10.20
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): I’m physically in Jamaica but my work is digital so it’s everywhere.
**** – (): 53:11.42
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 53:15.65
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): So reach out and say hi.
**** – (): 53:15.66
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah. Nothing. Yes. Thank you. What about you, Heather? You can go now.
**** – (): 53:23.66
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): Uh, you can find me on Instagram as Hera.mysterium. You can find me on Facebook. You can find me on TikTok. I’m trying a YouTube. I’m trying to be everywhere. Uh, even though I’m located in Montreal, I still, I still have customers worldwide.
**** – (): 53:33.02
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Oh, wow.
**** – (): 53:38.42
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): So if somebody likes my work, I should.
**** – (): 53:40.84
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): I admire that.
**** – (): 53:43.18
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): It’s difficult. It’s difficult.
**** – (): 53:44.38
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): I admire that. I had my, I’m on Instagram.
**** – (): 53:46.52
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): hey
**** – (): 53:47.63
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Woo. I’m just kicked off of Facebook for no apparent reason. I have no idea, but I don’t, I need to connect with you, Hara.
**** – (): 53:52.79
**** – (): kikihutch
**** – (): What?
**** – (): 53:55.80
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): I need to, oh my gosh. I need help.
**** – (): 53:58.27
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): I will be glad.
**** – (): 53:57.32
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): No, she paints these beautiful goddesses just like herself.
**** – (): 53:58.65
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Anyway.
**** – (): 53:59.15
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): It will be my honor. on this
**** – (): 54:02.65
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Oh my gosh. I cannot wait to look into that further.
**** – (): 54:07.02
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): The only thing maybe I can give as an advice to every single creative, or not even just an artist, as a creative, is don’t put your ex in the same basket.
**** – (): 54:13.87
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 54:15.98
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): Always try every single social media, because for example, me, I hate being on camera.
**** – (): 54:16.30
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Okay.
**** – (): 54:16.18
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 54:20.81
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): I hate it. I hate speaking. I hate showing my face, but I started showing
**** – (): 54:23.91
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Bing.
**** – (): 54:25.93
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): myself a little bit everywhere and I put myself ever everywhere. TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube.
**** – (): 54:30.47
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 54:33.29
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): Because a lot of the time Instagram shadow bands me for no reason. just i I get shadow bands. But I don’t have problems on other platforms.
**** – (): 54:40.18
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 54:44.30
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): I don’t know.
**** – (): 54:44.43
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): okay
**** – (): 54:44.74
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): i’m go Fingers crossed my other platforms will be fine. But I always have a backup. Something I can always post like my recent sales came from Facebook. from all places, my customers and my commissions came from Facebook.
**** – (): 54:55.61
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 55:00.29
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): So always try out everything, even if it makes you uncomfortable.
**** – (): 55:00.87
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): a
**** – (): 55:03.41
**** – (): Hera Mysterium
**** – (): I know it’s kind of like a little last minute advice, but just putting it.
**** – (): 55:06.54
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): No, it’s great advice. I hate it.
**** – (): 55:07.31
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): We’re glad to hear from you.
**** – (): 55:08.76
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Thank you.
**** – (): 55:12.05
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): What about you, Jana?
**** – (): 55:16.26
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Well, if you Google Jana Baelenson, and I think the spelling will be on on the podcast page, so my website,
**** – (): 55:23.35
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 55:26.40
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Instagram, Facebook, I’m not as spread out as Hera. Honestly, it’s I admire that. It’s honestly just an issue of time. So time is a big factor.
**** – (): 55:37.89
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 55:40.74
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): So I would like to add a platform that I like, how will I have time to even sustain that? And um and again, it’ so okay it’s almost like a last…
**** – (): 55:46.86
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Yeah. No, we can only take the man.
**** – (): 55:53.59
**** – (): Yana Beylinson
**** – (): Yeah.
**** – (): 55:54.42
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): You know, I’m just I’m just lazy because I know I am.
**** – (): 55:55.28
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Perfect.
**** – (): 55:58.56
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): No, you just, you, you just winded up a good show and you deserve that. You can take a little bit of these and rest.
**** – (): 56:09.58
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Okay guys, thank you so much. It was so lovely chatting with all of you.
**** – (): 56:12.70
**** – (): Michelle Reeves
**** – (): Thank you.
**** – (): 56:13.22
**** – (): charukaarora
**** – (): Thank you for sharing your art. A big congratulations on being on the book and everyone who joined us on this episode today. I hope to see you soon again and thank you.
The podcast featured five diverse and talented artists: Yana Beylinson, Diane Chapelle,Kianne Patrice, Hera Mysterium, and Michelle Reeves.
Michelle Reeves: A floral abstract painter from Nashville, Tennessee, who found her passion for painting later in life and uses her artwork to tell stories, express emotions, and challenge so
Yana Beylinson: A painter based in New York City, known for her vibrant color palette and atmospheric oil paintings.
Diane Chapelle: A Swiss artist residing in London, specializing in oil paintings and ceramic sculptures that delve into themes of transition, trauma, and emotional expression.
Kianne Patrice: A digital artist and muralist, recognized for creating custom wall art installations with a focus on site-specific designs.
Hera Mysterium: Based in Montreal, Quebec, Hera’s art explores the themes of divine femininity, power, strength, and the darker aspects of feminine experiences.
Episode Summary:
In this episode of the Artstohears podcast, the host interviews five emerging artists from the top 100 list of 2024. The guests share their personal artistic journeys, motivations, and the significance of self-expression through their chosen mediums. Each artist brings a unique perspective and style to the conversation, highlighting the power of art as a form of healing, storytelling, and self-discovery.
Yana Beylinson emphasizes her obsession with colors and light in her oil paintings, while Diane Chapelle delves into themes of trauma, life, and death through her emotional and expressive artworks. Kianne Patrice reflects on a transformative experience in Costa Rica that reignited her passion for art, and Hera Mysterium sheds light on her dedication to representing the divine feminine in her powerful and sometimes controversial paintings. Michelle Reeves shares her late but intense journey into painting, using florals and color as a means of self-expression and social commentary.
Key Takeaways
The power of art as a form of self-expression, healing, and storytelling.
The diverse inspirations and motivations behind each artist’s work, from personal experiences to societal issues.
The importance of accepting authenticity and expressing one’s voice through art.
The impact of art in challenging societal norms and provoking emotional reactions.
The journey of rediscovery and reinvention in the artistic process, from personal healing to social commentary.
Notable Quotes:
place, the only time it actually shuts the hell off is when I paint.” – Hera Mysterium
“I have a voice. I’m going to tell you what I think via my paintings, and I’m not going to get censored for saying the bleep word.” – Michelle Reeves
Charuka Arora is the founder of the Arts to Hearts Project and Host of the Arts to Hearts Podcast. She is also an acclaimed Indian artist known for her contemporary embellished paintings. Her unique blend of gouache, collage, embroidery, painting, and drawing explores the intersection of art, culture, heritage, and womanhood. Through her work, she tells stories of female strength and encapsulates them in pieces that can be treasured for generations.
Charuka’s work draws inspiration from Hindu mythology, recognizing women as vessels of Shakti, the cosmic energy. She beautifully portrays powerful goddesses like Durga Maa riding a tiger or lion, symbolizing their unlimited power to protect virtue and combat evil.
Through her art, Charuka invites us into the world of women, showcasing their beauty, strength, and resilience. Her creations not only exhibit exceptional talent but also serve as an inspiration and a symbol of hope for those challenging societal norms.
Arts to Hearts Podcast is a show delving into the lives and passions of renowned artists. From running creative businesses and studio art practices to cultivating a successful mindset, Charuka Arora engages in heartfelt conversations with her guests. Experience your personal happy hour with your favorite artists right in your studio.
Through candid discussions, Charuka and her guests reveal the joys and challenges of a vibrant creative life, both within and beyond our studios. Get ready to be inspired and uplifted as you tune in.
Investigating themes of spirituality and our connection to the divine, painter Yana Beylinson dives deep into the botanical complexities of floral composition, employing the immediacy and ephemeral nature of live subjects as a catalyst for purposeful and focused action without the interference of daily distractions. Beylinson is particularly interested in the study of light and its interaction with surfaces, both opaque and translucent. From this perspective, colors and shapes become independent entities, equal to the physical subject matter she represents. This multi-faceted approach allows Beylinson multiple access points into the invisible world of the spirit.
Image taken from the Website
Diane Chappalley
Diane Chappalley (Born in 1991 in Switzerland, lives and works in London) creates figurative landscapes in oil paint and ceramic sculptures that draw on transitional experiences of death and birth, loss and love, trauma and resilience. She addresses themes that are both personal and inherently universal. In her large canvases, among vast washes of colors that suggest both soil and skin tones, the human figures are still – as if they are carved from stone, statues lost in time. Surrounded by anxious flowers as markers of ritual, her work is deeply spiritual and psychological.
Hera Mysterium
Hera Mysterium, a Montreal-based multidisciplinary artist originally from Jerusalem, humorously describes her creative process as arising from melancholy and ADHD, where she grabs a mangled brush and a bottle of whiskey to paint whatever comes to mind. She often jokes about using different shades of black, red, and green, avoiding pastels, and the affordability of her work, claiming she charges only one’s soul. Her chosen pseudonym means “Lady Mystery” in Latin, and her artistic practice spans acrylics, oils, watercolors, charcoal, ink, resin, digital painting, and photography. She often uses unconventional materials like melted candle wax and dried roses, playfully suggesting that the joy of creativity is worth the mess it might cause. Hera’s work is deeply inspired by a shadowy figure she calls Melancholia, which embodies sorrow but transforms into something beautiful through her art. Her creations delve into the dualities of darkness and light, horror and delight, and good and evil, expressing her belief that one cannot exist without another.
Michelle Reeves
As a self-taught painter with a background in make-up artistry, Michelle Reeves approaches each canvas as a learning opportunity. Her deep sensitivity to color, shaped by her past experiences, influences her work, which is inspired by nature but focuses on impressions, colors, and movements rather than literal representation. She embraces a “what if” mentality, taking risks like applying a black wash to create award-winning pieces. Floral beauty, a lifelong sanctuary for her, often bursts forth in her paintings, reflecting her joy and memories. Her approach to art is impressionistic, using color, texture, and nature to express her emotions. Influenced by Monet and childhood hours spent with coffee table books, she incorporates both impulsive and thoughtful energy into her work. Her experimental techniques, such as painting with her hands, reveal new methods and push her creativity forward. She expresses deep gratitude for her artistic practice and eagerly seizes inspiration as it comes.
Kianne Patrice
Kianne Patrice Hutchinson, a Jamaican photographer, digital artist, wall art creator, and muralist, reflects on how her passion for art began with a small film camera she received as a child. She constantly seeks the art in everyday life and aims for her images to resonate with viewers, evoking curiosity and wonder. Photography and digital art form the core of her work, and she merges these mediums to bring a modern twist to traditional elements. Her creations range from brightly colored abstractions to clean lines and monochromatic shades, all with a contemporary flair. Additionally, she sometimes uses augmented reality technology to add interactive elements to her artworks.
Art has a unique way of touching our lives, whether it’s through a beautiful painting, a thought-provoking sculpture, or a powerful song. For many artists, creating art is more than just a hobby or a job; it’s a way of expressing their deepest feelings and experiences. In a recent podcast, five amazing artists opened up about their personal journeys and how art has helped them overcome challenges, heal, and find their voices. From mental health struggles to exploring femininity and defying societal expectations, these artists share stories that show how art can be a powerful tool for change and self-discovery. Let’s explore their inspiring stories and see how creativity can transform lives.
I’m not going to abandon my craft until I die.
Hera Mysterium
Emerging Yet Talented Artists
Every artist, whether they’re new or have been creating for years, starts their journey with different reasons and passions. In a recent podcast featuring five talented artists, we got a glimpse into how art changes lives. From dealing with mental health and healing to boldly representing femininity, each artist had something powerful to share about how creativity makes a difference. Let’s look at the themes that stood out from their conversations.
I have a voice… I’m going to tell you what I think via my paintings, and I’m not going to get censored for saying the bleep word.
Michelle Reeves
Art Serves as a Healing Tool
Art has always been seen as a way to deal with emotions and personal experiences. For artists like Yana Beylinson and Hera Mysterium, painting is essential for their mental health. Yana talks about how her need to paint goes beyond just putting colors on a canvas—it’s about expressing deep feelings and emotions. Hera, meanwhile, finds peace in painting, using it to quiet the noise in her mind and give her a space to reflect and express herself during tough times.
In Hera’s words, “My brain is a very loud place, and the only time it shuts off is when I paint.” This shows how powerful art can be for healing and why creative expression is so important for mental well-being.
Michelle Reeves
Balancing Vulnerability, Creativity, and Bravery
The artists’ stories also highlight how creating art involves a delicate balance between being open and being brave. Diane Chappalley’s reflections on the emotional depth of her work, dealing with themes like trauma, life, and death, show how art helps make sense of complex emotions. Her work is a testament to the courage it takes to put one’s deepest feelings on display, inviting viewers to confront their own emotions.
Michelle Reeves, on the other hand, uses her art to tell personal stories and challenge social norms with bold symbolism. Her Zip It series, for example, is all about not staying silent and using art to speak her truth. This bravery in art is a powerful reminder for many women artists who reclaim their voices through their work.
And painting is a language that allows me to make sense of things that happened or that are happening… Sometimes there are also projections.
Diane Chappalley
Art’s role in challenging societal norms
The podcast also discussed how art can challenge social norms and start important conversations. Kianne Patrice shared her experience in a Costa Rican art studio, which was a turning point in her creative journey. This moment highlighted how visual art can provoke emotional responses and encourage people to think deeper. Kianne’s story shows how art can help individuals reconnect with their true selves and break free from societal expectations.
The artists’ commitment to pushing boundaries and accepting vulnerability is a powerful statement about art’s ability to inspire change and encourage authentic self-expression. In a world full of distractions, these artists remind us of the profound impact art can have as a tool for healing, courage, and social transformation.
Kianne Patrice
The insights from these emerging artists tell a compelling story about the limitless potential of creativity to bring about personal and societal change. Through their stories and artworks, they challenge us to rethink our views on art, vulnerability, and courage, reaffirming the lasting power of artistic expression in shaping our experiences.
The journeys of these artists highlight the significant impact creativity can have on individual lives and our collective consciousness. As we reflect on their words and artistry, let’s be inspired to accept our own creative sides, face our vulnerabilities with bravery, and use art as a powerful tool for self-discovery and social evolution.
This article captures the unique perspectives and voices of these artists, offering an engaging and comprehensive look at art’s transformative power.
To read more about the Arts to Hearts Podcast and its episodes, click here.
Submit your work to get featured in our expertly curated books highlighting the work of women artists and distributed to art lovers, gallerists, artists, curators and art patrons all over the world.
Submit your work to get featured in our expertly curated books highlighting the work of women artists and distributed to art lovers, gallerists, artists, curators and art patrons all over the world.
