Featured Artist: Gribanessa

The birds are chirping, the flowers are in bloom, and this week’s Featured Artist Gribanessa is here to announce the arrival of spring. This artist’s adorable artwork with soft pastels, soothing watercolors, and beautiful floral patterns is the perfect way to welcome spring into your closet. So, instead of boring old spring cleaning this year, go ahead and add a few new spring-inspired tees to your wardrobe instead!

Gribanessa, or Olga Gribanova, is a self-taught 40-year-old artist who jokes that she still hasn’t gotten “used to the fact” that she is no longer in her thirties. As a self-taught artist, she often finds herself torn between feeling proud of her independent creative journey, while also having “constant doubts” about her skills. However – more than anything – she confesses that drawing still “makes me happy.” She admits that she is looking to find her unique style and it can feel like a “pretty chaotic search” at times. She loves drawing flowers and animals in soft watercolors and “seamless patterns.” Nonetheless, she believes that “the world is beautiful, it is an endless source of creativity.” In fact, she wishes she had “extra hands and free hours” to capture all the beauty around her.

However, even with endless inspiration, Gribanessa confesses that she runs into creative blocks; she sometimes finds herself panicking when she compares her artwork to other artists. She says, “it seems that everyone around is growing in their skill” but that she has somehow stalled in her progress. She calls this the “peak of the crisis” in her creative journey. Although she has learned that it can be helpful to take cues from other artists, she now recognizes that she does not need to make immediate changes in her style. Instead, she needs to be patient and find a time and place to use her newfound skills. She has accepted that “there is no magic, only practice and an honest look at the result” and she reminds other artists to follow this mantra as well.