Meet Simone Wright of Simone Wright Fine Art in Glassell Park

Today we’d like to introduce you to Simone Wright.

Simone, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I have been an artist for as long as I can remember. I have vivid memories of being about 5 or 6 years old and laying on the floor with my crayons and construction paper, drawing animals, cutting out clouds and experiencing as much as I could of the natural world through my creativity.

I was a smart but sensitive kid, an introvert to be sure, not comfortable in crowds or part of the cool kids clique. But where I did shine and excel more comfortably, was with my artwork. I drew pictures of animals, nature and cartoon characters for my school librarian and she would hang them on the wall above her desk for everyone to see.

Those humble 3rd grade wall presentations behind the book shelves were my first official public presentations of my work, and I knew that was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

I was always fascinated by animals and nature – especially African and endangered wildlife. Growing up in Canada, my hero was the Canadian wildlife artist, Robert Bateman. As a teen, I copied his work as much as I could to learn the techniques and emulate the precision, vibrancy and mood that he captured in his paintings. He is certainly one of the major influences in my career.

I did attend art school for a very brief time (I lasted three weeks). I hated it. I knew what I wanted to paint – wildlife – and they weren’t teaching that in art school. So I quit and started to travel the world, using my time on Safari in Africa, hiking in the rain forest or Alaskan Tundra to hone my ability to see and to follow the instructions from my heart and inner voice, rather than a text book or class room.

Many people told me that there was no future in wildlife art, but I have never been one to follow the rules or listen to any of the voices that would try to talk me out of things. I set out to make it my career.

With a few minor detours including a brief try at pre-med (more out of a sense of misguided ‘responsibility’) … eventually, art became my full-time profession.

I took all of the practice I had painting in the field and on canvas and went on to design my own proprietary techniques of painting on ceramic. Using my love for wildlife and my perfectionist eye for detail, went on to become a globally collected and highly respected artist – with pieces in private, public, corporate and celebrity collections.

That was my niche for almost 20 years. Then one day, the spark was gone. I didn’t want to paint wildlife any more. Something else was wanting to emerge out of me and push me to greater creative potential – I just didn’t quite know what it was.

So, I ‘fiddled around’ for a year or so, doing pet portraits, painting flowers and other things, waiting for the inspiration to hit me … then one day I saw an image of a Nebula that had been taken by the Hubble Space telescope. When I saw that Starscape, it hit me like a ton of bricks. ‘That’s it! That’s what I want to paint! I want to paint THAT!’ … then the thought became … ‘HOW do I paint THAT?’

Without quite knowing how, I would have to develop a completely new way of using my skills to express the beauty that so moved me in the Natural world. No small task … trying to paint the Universe.

So I set my mind to it, the same way I set my mind to painting wildlife, by completely immersing myself in my subject. Study, experimentation, mistakes, successes … essentially starting from scratch with a new and even more vast subject matter.

Over time, my new process began to reveal itself, I learned how to see more multi-dimensionally, as there are many, many layers and depths involved when painting space. The size and intricacy of the canvases grew and a new attitude about my own work and level of skill began to emerge as well. When painting images of space, one cannot play small, so a greater courage and confidence had to become a part of the process, which has been really interesting to experience.

Now my new Starscape paintings, which are very large format, Oils on Canvas are being collected by notable art collectors, designers and star lovers from all walks of life, and have won awards in respected art shows as well.

I am also currently curating and building a major art show, featuring art work from over 20 international artists, that has been inspired by images from the Hubble Telescope. I am working on important partnerships at this stage and hope to launch it in Los Angeles in Spring of 2019.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It has NOT been a smooth road. When I began in the wildlife art field, it was not even considered ‘real art’. I had to find a niche and a market that appreciated that kind of work.

Over time, I did. But then I discovered it was a market largely dominated by men, which is fine. I didn’t look at that as a problem, (I was raised by a single Mother, so those sorts of issues have never bothered me) but I needed to find a way to stand out that had never been seen before (from ANY artist, male or female).

I asked myself, ‘How can I be different?’ That simple yet powerful question led me to discover painting on ceramic, which was considered even LESS fine art than painting on canvas was. So I had to figure out a way to bring a FINE ART aesthetic to the work I was doing on ceramic. I had to not only educate myself in the process of bringing the same amount of detail, intricacy, color, depth and dimension to the clay, as I did on canvas, but then I had to educate the art public about what they were looking at and why they should feel comfortable with paying the prices I was asking for.

It took years of trial and error to figure it all out, and there were many wrong turns. Colors weren’t correct, pieces would blow up or melt in the kiln after weeks or months of painting on them. And then when they did turn out and were so beautiful, people would think they were some sort of mass produced photo image … so I had to say to them, ‘No, no. Each piece is hand built, hand painted, hand glazed.’

Eventually word spread about me and my work, collectors from all over the world were amazed and impressed and would purchase from me year after year. And I stood alone in my niche, which was really wonderful for me, I had done what I set out to do … to make a good living as a wildlife artist and to be really unique along the way.

But then, when it stopped being an inspired creative process and became more of just doing things because it was what was expected – that became really challenging. It had become a chore and wasn’t feeding my creative heart any more.

To make the decision to stop doing something I had done for so long and had rewarded me well and brought beauty to others was really sad. But I knew it was over. Sort of like a relationship that has run its course.

It is a challenge to completely start over again, especially at this stage in a career.

Building momentum, confidence and a new collector base is not easy … but my motto is, if I did it once, I can do it again. It is growing and I am confident if I stay committed to this new path, it will become as big if not bigger than my previous one.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Simone Wright Fine Art story. Tell us more about the business.
I am a Fine Artist. I create beautiful, unique artwork for people who appreciate elegance and luxury in their surroundings.

Luxury to me is attention to detail, an appreciation of presentation and an understanding of the purpose that beauty and care bring to an environment.

I am known for my perfectionist’s eye for detail, a great appreciation for things that are unique, interesting and thoughtful. I have a deep understanding of what moves and engages people’s souls – and how artwork that is created with that in mind can transform an environment to one that is merely ‘pretty’ into one that is ‘inspiring’.

I specialize in large format Starscape paintings. Large Oils on Canvas that depict the vast beauty of the Universe, galaxies, nebulae and star formations that are rich with depth, color, detail and emotion.

I am most proud of the fact that I have built my career from scratch, despite people saying it couldn’t be done and that I have never compromised my sense of meaning, value or beauty to ‘fit in to the art business.’

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I don’t believe in luck. I do believe that if you are committed, prepared, dedicated, willing to continue to move ahead even when obstacles appear – that opportunities will arise. When those opportunities arise, if you aren’t prepared to act on them, then they disappear. If you are prepared when inspiration or opportunity appears, then new possibilities and potentials will emerge and you can begin to generate greater momentum

I believe that it is our CHOICES that shape our road to success – success does not just show up by luck. I have always said, when Michelangelo sculpted the ‘David’, one of the major pieces that would define his place in history, David did not just appear out of luck.

Michelangelo worked, prepared, was dedicated and ignored his detractors and the apparent ‘bad luck’ that crossed his path. Without his persistence, the work would have never happened.

It is the same with an entrepreneur. We are the drivers of the car that takes us on the journey of our life. If we get a flat tire, we change it, and keep driving. (It’s only bad luck if we give up and quit then and there) If there is a gorgeous vista along the way, we take a moment or two to appreciate it, then we get back in the car and keep driving.

Good stuff and bad stuff will happen on every creative journey, how we chose to deal with it, defines whether or not we are successful. I have learned over time, to take less and less of ‘good luck/bad luck’ personally – and I use all of it to help me define and refine my commitment, my clarity and my character.

Pricing:

• Prices for Originals start at $15,000
• Prices for Prints start at $1000

Contact Info:

• Website: www.simonewrightfineart.com
• Phone: 323.929.3748
• Email: simone@simonewrightfineart.com

Image Credit:
Simone Wright

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