Spotlight on
IRENE CARRANZA 
HOPE artist and entrepreneur

"Color is a power which directly influences the soul. Color is the keyboard, the eyes are the hammers, the soul is the piano with the strings. The artist is the hand which plays, touching one key or another, to cause vibrations in the soul.”    
-Wassily Kandisnsky

Carranza had her first exhibit in 1996 at Marlbough Gallery in Hancock Park, followed by multiple exhibits at various Los Angeles galleries, including a solo exhibit of her Maria Felix paintings in 2001 at El Pueblo Gallery. She has enjoyed a solo show at Carlotta's Passion in L.A., representation at Centerlight Gallery and Eagle Fine Art in La Jolla, and Soho Gallery in Studio City. Her work has been honored with a one-woman exhibit at the Cultural Center and Museum in Ensenada, following an exhibit of David Alvaro Siqueiros. Carranza's paintings have been exhibited at the Museum of Latin America Art in Long Beach, Latino Art Museum in Clairmont, and the Museum of Man in San Diego.  

She has lived in La Jolla, California for the last 2 years with her daughter, Annalisa Noel, and is a beach jogger and a yoga practitioner. She is enjoying indoor rock climbing, learning French, and having her sons teach her to surf. She will be returning to the LA area this April.  

HOPE: What prompted you to start your professional art career?

I have always been an artist. My teachers often told my parents I was talented. I often won art awards, and I remember one time one of my drawings of a butterfly being featured in a local newspaper when I was 9. My parents did not understand where this gift came from, yet they encouraged me to follow where it lead. I would often study and draw horses, dancers and insects. And girls, always girls.

At 12 I started selling my drawings of leggy girls with over-sized heads to my playmates at school. My art teachers were supportive in spite of a tiny art department in high school. I received a couple of scholarships for my art education. I lost my nerve to be a painter in college, after an instructor told me I couldn't draw. I changed my major to graphic design. A year after completing studies at Art Center, I got married. I worked as an art director for a large humanitarian organization for a few years before and during the birth of my first son. I gave up my art, had my four children, taught them art and academics at home, freelanced as a graphic designer. I was diagnosed with chronic depression. I now attribute that to not living my purpose as an artist. After coming out of it, I became a private art tutor and a private school art teacher. . A few years later I picked up painting and printmaking again at the ripe old age of 39. Following my divorce at age 40, I began the mysterious and bewitching task of creating art for my livelihood. I felt like some alien, dropped off in a strange corner of the planet. Very different from the life of a homeschooling mother of four who thought for many years she couldn't draw. I can write a book about that period since there is so much more. 

HOPE: What is your artistic direction?

I create very organic and richly layered oil pastels, using mineral spirits to blend. I also work with acrylic and oil paint, and printmaking such as woodcuts, etchings and collographs.

My work is very fluid, with circular and sensual shapes that are considered "feminine". I chronicle a feminine lineage from a great and glorious circle of women, past and present, of with depictions of spirituality, sexuality and healing. In my works, feminism is expressed in innumerable forms, including virgins, prostitutes, mothers, mermaids, field workers, and musicians. I am most interested in portraying females with all our complexities, beauty, and strength of character. 

I believe art is the expression of a personal, sensual experience. An artist may communicate information, simple or profound, across time and space to the viewer regardless of his background or epoch. My paintings have had success with a Latino audience since 1997. We may be speaking the same language. I   hope to continue to follow that trend.

HOPE: What is your business model?

My business model is to create art and build multiple income streams from it. I show in galleries, non-profit organizations as an alternative venue; I participate in corporations and non-profits that are open to exposing female artists as viable business owners; I manage a couple of online stores, I am looking to publish posters and archival prints of the artwork. I am developing a line of home decor items to distribute globally.  

Being a businessperson and an artist has been the way to build a bridge between the art and the viewer, the art appreciator. It’s a beautiful collaboration and allows the art to be accessible to the community in a broader scope. Organizations such as HOPE, NHLI, SEIU, American Heart Association, Wescom and Nordstrom have facillitated this.

I am in the business of distributing and making available fine art for the masses, for the average human being that appreciates beauty and art and wants to see it on a daily basis. One way I do this is by providing extended payment plans for my customers, especially those who want to begin their art collecting. Whatever it takes to get art on their walls, with payment options they can be comfortable with. Art is considered a splurge purchase and I can understand the necessity of budgeting for it with monthly payments. I myself have bought art that way.

I want to continue to build my name and get my work out into more galleries and also develop more licensing opportunities. I want my work to be considered on the level of the male artists, which for many years have dominated the art scene. Women have been grossly misrepresented, though that is changing rapidly as more women take the leap into an artistic life, with all its risks, perils and challenges.

HOPE: What is your “life’s work” as an artist?

To be "an artist in the spotlight with a message for the masses" (from a psychic's reading 7 years ago, who did not know I was an artist). What that message is I have yet to discover.

To express myself creatively and to bring beauty and joy into peoples lives.

I also want to share what I have learned with others and see them succeed.

To find time to paint and travel more. The best paintings result from my travels.

HOPE.: What peak moments have you had?

I have been blessed with many. These are a few of the "art-career" peaks:

Pubisher of People en Espanol magazine Lisa Quiroz visits my studio to purchase original art for her home and for the magazine headquarters at the Time Inc. building in NYC.

My solo exhibit at the Centro de Cultura in Ensenada that hung in the same walls right after Siqueiros.

Being interviewed by one of Oprah Winfrey's producers for an upcoming show of "rags to riches career moves".

I wasn't wealthy enough to appear at final selection (by their standards).

Lucille Roybal Allard and Edward Allard visit my studio to buy several original paintings for their home and offices and encourage me during a difficult time with their message of "We want to keep you painting!".

Meeting Carlos Santana and knowing that one of my paintings hangs in his Maui home.

Having one of my pieces hanging at his Walnut Creek restaurant, Maria Maria, amid his record cover art.

"Madagascar Jasmine" is chosen by Nordstrom as the icon art for their Hispanic Heritage Month exhibit.

I get to unveil it at their Seattle headquarters.

Being published in Contemporary Chicana and Chicano Art book, Volume 1.

Being compared to the Mexican painter, Jesus Guerrero Galvan, by Telemundo anchorman Ruben Luengas during an interview in the morning news show of my Maria Felix paintings the week of her death.

Having my daughter and I filmed and photographed at my LA studio in 2005 for a Telemundo advertising campaign of interesting LA people. We were in the commercials and billboards.

HOPE: How do you define success and how do you celebrate it?

Great relationships with my sons and daughter, family and friends are most important to me. The incredible feeling I get when I finish a piece of art, contributing back to the community, being able to support my family financially, being a kind person...these are all components of success.

Success would be to let go of representing myself and allow an art rep and galleries to step in.

I celebrate life as often as possible. Going to the movies with my daughter or a night on the town, which for us is the local bookstore and dinner out. I love going out to cafes and, being a "food geek", cooking a healthy organic feast. Or I sign up for unlimited yoga classes for a month. Five years ago, after completion of four vineyard portraits for the San Antonio Winery, I went to Madrid, Barcelona and Paris...that was a memorable celebration.  

HOPE: What obstacles have you encountered in your art business and how have you handled them?

There have been plenty of setbacks, plenty of plateaus, and I have learned to look at them as growth opportunities. I ask myself, “What have I learned from this experience, or how can I do it better next time?” There is almost always a "next time", t that's the beauty of second chances (of course, this realization arrives after the moping, raging and weeping).

 I've been disappointed when an institution or a non profit organization discredits artists by asking for donations of art yet not having room for them at their gala dinners or events, along with their other contributors. When this has happened, besides not taking it personally, I just asked nicely that the only option is to find seats! HOPE is always good at accommodating its artists as equal contributors and business owners.

 I learned that a “no” is only for that moment and has nothing to do with what will happen tomorrow, next week, or even next year. Our job is to stay on our path and not get derailed by what other people say or don’t say. You do the best you can, that's all you can do at any given moment. There will always be the nay-sayers, listen, and still do what you need to do.

A recent obstacle was discovering the lagging art scene in San Diego. Guess what? I began to take it personally! This forced me to redefine my vision, which encompassed so much more. I began to truly awaken to an appreciation for the wonderful network and community already established in Los Angeles. I have been humbled by this very difficult period as I return.

A final consistent challenge is that of creating when it's not flowing, dealing with lean financial times, remaining open and non-defensive.

HOPE: What opportunities has a professional approach to your career brought you that you might otherwise not have had?

Accepting opportunities from political organizations and other non-profits has afforded privileges to meet many wonderful, interesting people, especially the remarkable women of all ages and professions at HOPE events with their unique and moving stories. This inspires me to return to the drawing board, and serves as an impetus to fuel creative expression. I am grateful that Helen Torres, executive director and friend, continues to direct visionary projects my way, like the "Flight of the Goddess" awards artwork and many others in the years I have worked with HOPE.

The knowledge that I belong to a community that continually affirms what I do and encourages me to continue when I contemplate quitting and getting a "regular" job. 

One enriching opportunity came from a large credit union, Wescom, based in Pasadena. They set up a temporary studio for me to work in at the bank's headquarters. The project was to create faces of children for the theme " Building Better Lives". After 3 months and hundreds of sketches, Yesceni Ramirez and Joe Schaeffer, VP's in charge of this venture, chose 4 faces for posters, notecards, bookmarks and other printed pieces to give to their customers. The credit union also bought the paintings, framed them beautifully, and after hanging them in one of the lobbies hosted a wine and cheese reception to celebrate the grand finale with the CEO and other executives. I was immersed in the world of banking executives.

HOPE.: Who are your role models and mentors?

Georgia O'Keefe, Henri Matisse, Marc Chagall, Tamara de Lempicka, Elizabeth Peyton, Wassily Kandinsky, Jesus Guerrero Galvan, Jose Clemente Orozco, David Siqueiros, my parents Juan and Cecilia, my sons Adam, Andrew and Alex and daughter Annalisa, my sisters Lulu, Ceci, Ana, and Susie, brother Tomas and wife Gidget Carranza, my best friends Connie Holguin, Michael Villalobos and Rick Lopez.

HOPE.: What advice would you pass on to other artists at all levels?

Keep a vision of who you want to be and where you want to go with your life and be open to it happening in unexpected ways.

Be non-judgmental about your work, remain detached once you are done. Don't take it personally if someone doesn't like your work. Let go of your creations and know that they belong to the world, not to you.

Find role models and see how they did it, and still do it your way. Learn about other artists you admire.

Keep your expression your own, and keep it fresh, perpetually evolving. No need to copy someone else's.

Stay grounded in reality, rooted in faith and present in today.

And, above all, don't take yourself so seriously.

www.irenecarranza.com for additional information