HOW NATURE INSPIRES WITH ADDIE MAGYAR
Ever since I was little, I loved to make art. I was always drawing, whenever I had the chance. I took art classes throughout elementary, middle, and high school. I really developed a passion for art particularly in my freshman year of college. I had been accepted into the university as a double major in Studio Art and Public History. However, in my spring art seminar class in my freshman year, I discovered the possibility of a career in art conservation and restoration. I switched both of my majors, changing one to Art History, and creating the other completely from scratch. I developed the first self-designed Pre-Art Conservation degree at Appalachian State. Ever since then, I knew how hard I had to work to reach this goal of one day conserving art. I had to get serious about my plans, and how I planned to develop my skills.
I am taking painting classes for my Pre-Art Conservation degree, which really gives me an opportunity to create art, but only for the semesters that I am in the classes. I’ve always struggled a bit with finding the drive to keep creating and mustering up the motivation to paint or draw even when I get busy with school, work, and other things that life throws at me. A huge benefit of the Student-Made Store for me was that it gave me a reason to keep creating art. I have the opportunity to brainstorm different ideas, and then work with some of those ideas that I might not get to experiment with in the classroom. I typically tend to lean towards an impressionistic style when I paint. It creates emotions with the brushstrokes, the blending, and the thickness of the paint that I just don’t feel from a lot of other styles. It’s more energetic. In classes, though, they often expect realism. I like to work on realism projects here and there, but the Student-Made Store allows me to paint how I like to paint. This prevents me from getting burned out from painting and creating, since I always have different projects to work on.
It also gives me the chance to create art as a fun, relaxing activity, rather than a chore or an assignment for class. It’s a very different feeling. I go through periods of time where it’s really hard to even pick up a paint brush. Artist block hits me hard sometimes, but it’s nice knowing that I will get back to it eventually, and when I do, I will really enjoy it. The satisfaction of painting and being happy with it is a huge part of this experience for me and turning it into a business is just a bonus. I have always wanted to sell my art; I just never really knew how. People always told me that I could definitely sell my art, that I should try using Etsy, all good intentions, but I didn’t even know where to start. The Student-Made Store gives me an opportunity to get my foot in the door in regard to the business side of the art market. It’s a smaller step than something like just starting my own business, which I really appreciate. It also gives me some validation when my pieces sell, that maybe I am doing something right with everything that I do. It’s a great way to start this process, especially while I am still in school.
Going to school at App State and living in the Blue Ridge Mountains is another incredible opportunity that a lot of people take for granted. I have been using the inspiration of the nature around me to create most of my pieces that I have up on the store. It’s such a beautiful area, and I want to capture that and share it with others, especially if they don’t live here themselves. I hope that the art that I create brings that same energetic feeling for whoever ends up with one of my pieces. I hope that my art can capture the beauty of my surroundings, and ultimately I hope that my art makes people happy.