I dream of paintings, then I paint my dreams
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| Wollenberg's Original Art for sale on etsy & her blog |
SchulmanArt: How long have you been selling professionally?
Cheri Wollenberg: After we raised our children I taught art in public schools until we relocated to NW Arkansas for 10 years. By then, I was already painting daily and selling a few paintings. I began selling on Etsy February 29, 2009 when a young friend from my church encouraged to place some of my cow paintings on Etsy. It has been one of the most exciting things I have ever done. I am not one of the vendors that has quit their day job, but I am still excited when I sell and I have loved the interaction with people that have bought from me.
SchulmanArt: Where did you study art?:
Cheri Wollenberg: I received my BA in Art Education at USAO in Chickasha, Oklahoma and I earned a Masters Degree in Art Education from SWOSU in Weatherford, Oklahoma. When I worked on my BA I took many extra painting classes because I loved it so much. I cannot resist oil painting. I have expressed to others that I love to see the rich color being squeezed from a tube of oil and to smell it makes my creative juices flow. I've enjoyed other media, but painting with oil brings a special delight to my soul.
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| Cow Prints for sale on etsy |
What is your greatest source of inspiration?
CW: My home and studio are in Lindsay, Oklahoma. My husband and I live on a ranch/farm. Cattle roam behind our Century old house, we garden, and six months ago we acquired chickens. We have always been connected to rural life through our jobs and life styles. Our farm life has been the greatest influence in the inspiration of my art. I sell many still lifes and cows in my shop. I get a real charge from painting things around my environment and things I love to use in my home. I am a farmhouse chic person...a dumpster queen and I love repurposing things. At the moment I am finishing a cow painting that I will be placing in a studio in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma as a guest artist for the month of February. As with most artists my head is creating the next painting as I drive, eat,and sleep.
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| Follow Cheri Wollenberg on Facebook |
CW: My studio space is on the north side of our 100 year old ranch style home on the second floor. It is packed with and adorned with paintings, still life articles, and tools of the oil painters trade. I store dried paintings in a studio off the house. My view overlooks pastures, and a wide countryside including our cousins home about three quarters of a mile to the north, a little community church to the east and my husband's home place to the west.
How do you stay focused?
CW: I sometimes need a reprieve from thinking about what I'll do next. I discipline myself as an artist because focusing is a little more difficult. There are many interruptions in life that will carry you away from creating.
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Discover Farmhouse chic @etsy |