Interview with Luana Stebule
Since 2013 I have been living and creating in the United Kingdom.
I was born in 1962, in Lithuania. I finished A. Martinaitis Art School and Academy of Art.
My art specifically included stage projects for numerous theatres in Lithuania, mural paintings together with 24 solo and 43 shared exhibitions in Europe; Lithuania, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Hungary, Poland, also, in England, Canada and the United States.
Can you tell us about the moment you decided to pursue a career as an artist?
From childhood, I have been drawing and painting, but didn’t think to become an artist until I finished secondary school. From the age of 11, I was writing poems and was thinking about a writer or journalist’s career. But the circumstances ruined all my plans, I moved to another city there and I met a lot of musicians, painters and poets. My best friend was an artist she encouraged me to paint and I gradually immersed myself in the world of forms and colours. I finished Kaunas A.Martinaitis Art School with the strong desire to become a painter. Later I continued my studies at the Art Academy and I still learning and discovering something new in the field of visual art.
What kind of artist do you see yourself?
It is a very complicated question. I am trying to paint not only with a hand and a head, but also, with a heart. Creativity is more than just being different, everybody is able to reproduce weird paintings. What is hard is to be as simple as Bach, at this moment he is my favorite composer, making simple awesomely simple, that is creativity. I am observing nature and retranslating or translating it into paintings by signs. The resemblance is the most important in the process of creativity. I never worry too much about people who like or dislike my artworks, if I have a burning idea inside me I must realize it on canvas. When painter follow what people like and what would sell well, this type of artist became a dull craftsman. Splashes of paint and virtuosity of brush it is nothing in a deeper understanding.
What do you want your art to convey to the people who see it? What is the meaning or creative motivation behind the work?
I would like that my paintings touch people’s hearts deeply and tenderly. I would like to inspire others to think slightly out of the box. My pictures are poetry on canvas, my philosophy and my approach in the forms and colours.
Recently in the New York Metropolitan Museum I was involved deeply in one of the C. Monet painting, a big blue green colors and the power, a strong spiritual level of artwork makes a very special feeling, nearly one hour I was just staying and looking and contemplating. I wish that and my paintings make similar feelings for somebody.
Can you tell us about process you use to create your artworks? What is your typical workday routine?
Usually I have an idea in my head and I start from sketches. Later more successful compositions I create on the canvas. I use different medias. The majority my paintings are oil on canvas, but in the winter when oil paint is dry very slowly I used mixed technique, oil pastels, watercolors and acrylic.
My workday starts very early about 6 am in the morning I love sunrise and freshness of the mind. We live in the big house and my studio is in the conservatory, where I spend the biggest part of the day. In the late afternoon I involve myself with domestic duties and gardening
Where do you find the inspiration? What motivates you to create?
The inspiration come from outside the world; travels, music, books, exhibitions, nature and from inside; from meditations, eternity, God, immortality.
I am painting because I usually have a burning idea in my head. Something what is to hard to keep inside me, if I am not creative it makes me depressed and upset.
What has been your most outstanding achievement to date?
I only in 2018, when participated in the New York Art Expo, created my English website.
Since I received numerous recognitions. In 2019 by the International Art Marker Magazine, I was selected to be on the Gold List as one of the Top Artist of Today. In 2020 in Florence, I was awarded by the 3rd International Leonardo Da Vinci Prize and in September- by the New York City Prize.
My artworks were selected into the Art Anthologies “Important World Artists 2020” and “International Contemporary Masters 2021” the publisher is Artavita , US. Also, paintings included in the books “The Great Masters of Contemporary Art “2020 and “Best 2021 Modern and Contemporary Artists”
This year in New York I was awarded the ATIM’s Top 60 Masters Award.
What are your ultimate career goals? What are you working on now, and what can we expect from your work?
I would like to exhibit my paintings in Contemporary Art Museums around the world. I already got a lot of invitations, it is my future goal. At this moment i am participating in the 3 group exhibitions in Italy. With the ITLIQUID group in Venice, in Florence with Florence contemporary gallery I am exhibiting 2 paintings in Rossocinabro art gallery in Rome. Also, I am exhibiting my artworks online on the Biafarin website Canada and on Artavita website US.
I am very creative at this moment and started about 25 new paintings in a slightly different manner, I discovered my unique way how from the one line created human's bodies, faces, eyes, nose and more. Also, it expresses my attitude and philosophy about never-ending circle of life and close connections with the objects. Anyway, new discoveries and unpredictable turnings on the canvas every single day surprise me.
