- It's hard to describe what inspires what I'm doing just because it just sort of happens, so I don't like sit down with a thought in mind of like what I wanna paint.

It kind of just ends up reflecting how I'm feeling at the time so I can really, it's kind of how I express my emotions.

Yeah.

(chuckling) It's just how I express emotion.

(solemn music) So right before, a little bit before the pandemic, I moved out to Minnesota.

My dad had moved here to help with the family trust after my grandparents passed away and I was working five jobs in San Jose and like sleeping in my car so I needed a change and I came out here and I could just work one job and maintain and like buy a home, whereas I was never gonna do that in San Jose.

Like I was never gonna have $2 million to buy a home with so I came here instead.

(upbeat music) Growing up in California was a lot, it was congested, it was very crowded.

It was like there was so much to do that there was nothing to do, if that makes sense.

There was a lot going on all the time, but so many people that it was hard to go do anything.

(upbeat music continues) My grandpa was born here in Montevideo and my grandma was from Milan, so we came here most every summer.

A lot of really good memories.

(upbeat music continues) Come on, come on.

(turkey gobbling) Come on.

Come on.

Are you guys scared of the weather?

Come on, what are you doing?

(turkey gobbling) Is it too scary?

Come on.

Little monsters, come on.

(turkey gobbling) Come on.

(goats clunking) Come on.

(goat bleating) Come on, girl.

Come on.

Come on.

I live in the country, not super far in the country, obviously, I can get into town pretty quick.

I have a handful of critters.

I have some goats, some geese.

Nothing that would really make up like a real farm.

It's kind of a funny farm, but they're really like pets, which I know some people don't really condone, but they're fun to have around.

(leaves rustling) They like leaves.

(laughing) (foliage crunching) I started painting casually right before I moved out here.

I was living in like a really expensive rent house with my mother and I just kind of started painting as something to do, but really it took off two-ish years ago was when I really started doing what I'm doing now, feeling like more comfortable in my art and kind of not trying to be something that I'm not artistically because I have a really hard time with things like perspective and realism, so when I kind of got rid of that idea of like trying to paint things and draw things that were realistic, I really fell into my own groove and was able to make things that I feel comfortable making.

(upbeat music) I don't use a lot of brushes when I paint.

I use stuff like spatulas, windows squeezes, my hands pretty often, candle tops, the lids of the paint, just pretty much anything but brushes.

Sometimes I'll use brushes if I'm feeling a little more detail oriented, but to really get the lay down, to really get like the first part of painting down, I just kind of go nuts with stuff.

Whatever feels right, whatever's at hand, whatever's new, maybe sometimes I wanna try something different.

(upbeat acoustic guitar music) I paint mostly with acrylic, but I have been diving a little more into things like ink.

I do a lot of watercolor.

I've been trying to figure out how to make that a little more abstract recently 'cause that was where I started trying to do realism was with watercolor and it, you know, doesn't go super well for me.

I'm trying to learn more realism, but I'm also learning how to do it abstract as well, so ink, walnut ink, pencil pen, ballpoint pen, I like working with a lot, super fun.

Random office supplies are fun to paint with.

Shall I go slow?

I'm just gonna hit it with a little explosion of color.

Ready?

Maybe not as explosive as I thought.

(laughing) Painting and creativity in general have helped me just to have a good outlet.

I know that sounds kind of contrived, but like it's a good way for me to just be able to sit down and like wrap up a day.

There's stories of like men who come home and they put their worries on a tree outside so they don't have to bring 'em home.

I can do that with paint and canvas often.

(rhythmic jazzy music) The showing at Java River's cool because that was kind of the first place that I showed the folks at Java were kind of the first people to pull me out of my studio and into the world with my art.

They pushed me a lot to be a little more public, to show my art, to work.

(rhythmic jazzy music continues) My future, like within the next five years, I'm hoping to do a lot more art.

I'd like to get something happening locally that's a little more art-oriented and starts to get more people involved in the arts within the community.

(bluesy jazz music) Art has led me to be a lot more open with my own work.

I think often I've been someone who could like get the attention of a room easily, but it was very much like a customer service retail kind of mentality, whereas now I can, I'm learning to talk about my own work and be someone who can like advertise myself and show off what I'm doing, as opposed to just kind of doing things for others, so it helps me to be a little bit more of an individual, as opposed to someone doing things for others.

(bluesy jazz music continues) I come from a big family, but also from a place where there were a lot of people, so like individuality wasn't the first thing.

Like sometimes it was just about getting things done, being efficient, making money, like surviving, keeping your head above water, so it was very easy to let individuality fall to the wayside, whereas now there's a little more time and a little more space for me to kind of grow into what I want to be, as opposed to just thinking about surviving.

(bluesy jazz music continues) (dramatic music) (upbeat music) - [Announcer] "Postcards" is made possible by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.

Additional support provided by Margaret A Cargill Philanthropies.

Mark and Margaret Yackel-Juleen, on behalf of Shalom Hill Farms, a retreat and conference center in a prairie setting near Wyndham, Minnesota.

On the web at ShalomHillFarm.org.

Alexandria, Minnesota, a year-round destination with hundreds of lakes, trails, and attractions for memorable vacations and events.

More information at ExploreAlex.com.

A better future starts now.

West Central Initiative empowers communities with resources, funding, and support for a thriving region.

More at WCIF.org.

(upbeat music)