Quickie Artist Interview Series
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Interview With Manuela Valenti
The "Painting A Day" movement began with Duane Keiser. Duane had been painting for years and was already represented by many galleries when he began his "Painting A Day" project. He had many small paintings sitting around his studio that couldn't be sold through traditional galleries and wondered what he could do to get them sold. He also wanted to challenge himself. It was no longer enough to paint daily. He wanted to complete a project a day. When word got out about his little project, it exploded. Soon artists across the globe were taking their talent to all new heights. Over the next few weeks we'll be sharing posts about how artists have implemented this movement into their own lives and how it's helped them as artists and business owners.

So without further ado, here's the first interview...

Today I had the honor of interview Manuela Valenti, Manuela has been painting since the age of 7 and selling her work long before she began the Painting A Day project, but it was her dedication to painting something every day that has allowed her to grow as an artist and a business woman. Discover why Manuela believes the discipline of pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone is so important.

How did you get started with the Painting A Day movement?
I started with the daily painting back in September 2006. The idea of painting everyday was not new to me, I was already completing 1-3 larger paintings daily and selling them online and in galleries. Painting small postcard size paintings was not new to me either, that’s how I started in oils when I was 12 years old, doing miniature paintings back in Venezuela.

So when I heard of Duane Keiser’s project I thought it would be a great idea as a way to not only provide my collectors with an affordable piece of my work, since my larger works were getting so expensive, but to tap into many other subjects otherwise I wouldn’t even have considered to paint. I never ever in my wildest imagination would have thought I would get so much out of this discipline.

Do you allot a specific time each day or do you simply set aside x number of hours to complete your task? And have you ever been known to break your painting up into segments throughout the day, just to get it done that day?
As a professional artist I work the same number of hours any other person would in their jobs. The only difference is that I work in my homebased studio rather than driving to an office. And in many cases I stay at my studio more than 8 hours a day. My tasks through out the day are varied, not only pertinent to the painting a day movement. There are commissions I need to finish, computer jobs that need to be done, websites to update, galleries to fill (per their requests), packing and shipping of paintings to clients (throughout the world) and so on. Right now the most important task I have is occupying my entire time: preparing for the New York ArtExpo, where I’ll be exhibiting the daily paintings in a small segment of my both called “30 paintings in 30 days”.

What have been the personal rewards?
The rewards? Wow! Incredible! From the artistic point of view it has been a constant learning experience, mainly for the fact I’ve defeated my fears with respect of painting while tapping different subjects matters.

I’ve became a scavenger. I’m no longer satisfied with the landscape from Provence or Tuscany I so love to paint, but I’m going deeper into taking more detailed picture reference for my future works and dissecting them to get the most out of that special moment that captured my attention.

I was able to create different bodies of works that completely satisfy me professionally and personally which I wouldn’t have accomplished otherwise or would have taken me longer to do. I feel I’ve grown as an artist and so has my techniques.

What has been the professional benefits of committing to a painting a day?
Business wise, the experience has being rewarding to no end. These small paintings have lead to larger commissions which is always a good thing for an artist. I feel these little gems as I many times call them are the tools to open new portals to incredible opportunities.

Commissions, exhibits, shows, increased awareness, increased sales, increased prices. All of them! Professionally like I said the learning experience this has brought me personally is incredible. Commissions, exhibits, sales and increased prices as well have being an important part of it, but this wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for the artistic growth this discipline has brought me.

If there was anything you’d do different, now that you’ve been doing the Painting A Day for years, what would it be?
The only thing I would have done different is set up my websites sooner to satisfy my collector’s needs providing them with a safe place where to purchase my works. I feel this was a big disadvantage in the beginning. Today they are ready but it took longer than expected.