Q&A :: We Paint Live
Amanda Maccagnan and Vera Malitskaya have a common passion : live painting. That’s when We Paint Live was born. This group, bringing together these two great artists reinvent the concept of visual reality art entertainment. Their passion and talent allowed them to create and perform beyond their talent for the greatest happiness of the people of Toronto.
Amanda Maccagnan
Age: 32
Occupation: Strained Glass Artist/ painter
Instagram: @amandamaccagnan
Describe your art in a tweet:
“ I love to push the limits of my artwork. No medium is out of bounds and I love wandering where the crowds have yet to arrive, or have left years ago… Let me reinvigorate the dying, and breathe life with innovation.”
Vera Malitskaya
Age : 27
Occupation : artist/ graphic designer/ live painting performer
Instagram: @vera_malitskaya
Describe your art in a tweet:
“Art is my language. I’m inspired by the spiritual aspects of life which unveil people’s emotions, thoughts, beliefs and inner turmoil.”
What is your definition of the word “art”?
Vera: “Art” is a celebration of life in any medium, shape and form it may take.
Amanda: “Art” is anything which is created for the express purpose of creating a connection… call it a bridge between minds, or a universal translator. Like an emotional ripple effect… Art creates connections between people.
For how long have you been an artist?
Vera: I was painting since I was a kid so it is hard to say how long exactly I’ve been an artist. I started my education in Art and Design college in 2004 and then entered a university in 2009. I quit my day job and became a full time artist in 2015.
Amanda: I suppose I have been in denial that i am an artist for my entire life. But i left full time employment in 2015.
What are the pros and cons of going into your practice in an entrepreneurial way?
Vera: There are a lot of pros and cons to it in my opinion. The biggest pros are: being in charge of your own schedule and actually LOVING your job! That definitely did bring a lot of motivation in me, I love that I am in charge of my time and I am not exchanging my time for money to survive. I also know that it is entirely up to me to keep up a great work, to learn, to grow and to be successful, so responsibility is all mine. And the biggest cons in my opinion are: financial uncertainty and judgements that people pass on you when they find out that you are a “full time” artist. I know by experience that it can be quite nerve racking when you don’t have a stable income but do have stable bills to pay. But again pros of this highly outweigh cons. You will probably spending a lot of time reaching out to people, searching social media, sending proposals and connecting with others online but it’s worth it! If you are self motivated and have a vision — this path is for you!
Amanda: The pros are that i can work when i want and on what i want with no-one dictating my creative content, and the cons are the exact same response. It starts to become difficult to self motivate when you are the only one pushing yourself and your artwork forward.
What inspires you daily?
Vera: People! I love people! I am also highly inspired by God and the ways he works in our lives. He is the perfect CREATOR after all!
What is your greatest challenge?
Vera: At this point of my life my biggest challenge is definitely trying to find time for myself and time to do something “just for fun”. You see, once you become entrepreneur you think that you will have time to do all this little enjoyable things that you always wanted on a daily basis, cause you will have just sooo much time. But truth is quite the opposite, at list it is in my case. I am definitely much busier right now trying to grow my businesses then when I was working for someone else and when art was just a passion of mine.
Amanda: My greatest challenges are keeping self motivated, and the business end of the art world. I don’t enjoy the business part, and would like to hire someone to do all that so i can just make art all day and not have to worry about it at all! lol.
What is the most exciting part of your creative process?
Vera: I am a planner and a visionary, I love making plans and creating a vision for art project and then planning it all out. That is my favourite part. Seeing a thought become a vision, then become a plan and then come to live!
Amanda: The most exciting part of the creative process is seeing a project come together. Whether its glass or painting or a live performance, these projects often take weeks and months of planning and work. To finally see all your work in front of you is very exciting.
What recently came true into your life that you would never have thought possible?
Vera: If I be honest with you, I never thought I will be able to make the money that I am making right now by being an artist. I know it sounds silly but I grew up with mentality that artists are “broke” ones and you can get appreciation for your art but you will live all your life “starving”, but turned out that was not true.
Amanda: I recently started doing portraiture in stained glass. I never thought that was possible in the medium to achieve that kind of detail. which has made me realize i can do anything with glass!
What would you like to see more of in the art world/industry?
Vera: Interactive art and art performances, I am all over this! I love when a person can communicate with an art piece and “participate” in art experience. I’ve been to many many many art shows during my life and I don’t like the disconnect that is happening between art and a viewer.
Amanda: I would like to see a world that steps back away from the disposable lifestyle… I think a fast food nation has makes it much more difficult on the art world… nothing has value.
Which artist would you want the world to discover?
Vera: Amanda Maccagnan of course! She is BRILLIANT stained glass artist, I’ve never seen anyone like her!
Amanda: I would want you to discover Vera Malitskaya — she has a massive amount of talent, and drive like you wouldn’t believe!! She not only is an incredible painter, but she also designs phenomenal large scale murals as well!!
What can we wish you?
Vera: Please wish me to meet more like minded people with a passion for live arts, dreamers and doers who can join our team or/and partner with us. So we can create strong community with a new vision for interactive arts and change art scene for better!
Amanda: Please wish me quick fingers, as i ofter get hung up on the details!!
