West Seattle Art Walk

August 14, 2014

My name is Willa Junkinsmith. I am 23, and I am from Seattle. I have been drawing ever since I was a little kid, but I only really started painting a few years ago. I took one painting class in college where I learned how to use oil paint and how to gesso a canvas. When I first started painting I was really self-conscious about it because it seemed like everyone else in the class had better technique than I did. I used too many colors and I was messy. I talked to my professor and he showed me Giacometti and told me that it was more important to be able to recognize one’s art than to be good at imitating someone else’s. 

My style of painting has changed since then quite a bit, but I still use a lot of bright colors, and I am messy. I love oils because you can make colors change into other colors, and it is a good exercise in patience because you have to wait forever for it to dry. The inspiration for the subjects in my paintings come from everywhere: 

books that I read, other peoples art, and just everyday life experiences where I see things that I think are beautiful, like saxophones and rats and bones, the human body, and nature.