MAKING WORK WE LOVE IS THE BUSINESS PLAN (Suggested for Stage Three; Learning)
Raquel Baldocchi’s beautiful, rich paintings seek to present characters from potentially distant eras and locales set into a modern, abstract construct. It has come to be very personal work for her, drawing inspiration from historical portraits, vintage photographs and family memorabilia. Her great aunt made innumerable scrapbooks filled with charming images of flora, fauna, and illustrations of all types of human interaction, which often influence the content of her paintings.
Raquel did not arrive at this work overnight. It has been a journey of seeking to find the work that made her happy and personally resonate. Interestingly enough, once she found her voice in the paintings, her work began to get noticed and sell. In this interview, Nicholas and Raquel talk about her path as an artist and how she has come to where she is now.
In this interview, Raquel shares:
-Through focus, consistency and persistence she came to find work she loves to make
-When you look back at all of the work you create, you’ll find a thread
-Once she understood the principles to making strong work she was able to find her voice and expression
-Being influenced by another artist is temporary, and can actually be a helpful way to learn the principles
-How shifting her approach to galleries made a difference in their response
-When collectors and gallerists see we’re excited about the work, it resonates