The art of Geninne

Whether your a painter yourself or just admire those who partake in art making, this next interview is so inspiring. I love all of the details Geninne puts into her paintings, as well as each and everything she creates. From her bird paintings and collages to her various nature studies and hand carved stamp tutorial. Be prepared to add a new artistic blog to your daily viewing list!

1. The best way to start an interview is with an introduction. And
in the tradition of The Little Red Suitcase, may you give us one?

My name is Geninne D. Zlatkis. I was born in NY, but have stretched my
wings all over Latin America & the US before building a nest atop a
mountain near Mexico City where I live with my talented husband Manolo and two sons while working in a variety of media, including
watercolor, ink, and pencil. I sew, embroider, and recently learned to needle felt.

2. Was painting and drawing and basically creating, something that came to you? Or did you study it?

I think it was both. My love for arts and craft s began at a very early age, my mom tells me that I started drawing when I was two years old
and that it continued to be my favorite activity through my childhood
and teenage years. By the time I had to decide what to study in
college I was 100% sure it had to be in the visual arts. I studied
architecture for two years before I switched to graphic design.
There's never been a time in my life where I've stopped creating some
kind of art, I think it's just part of my DNA.

3. As I looked back on your blog, I have noticed you evolved alot in your paintings. It seems to me, details started to pop, and you

really started to paint more realistic birds and other wild life. What brought about this change?? Was it just you stumbling upon a
style that you found fitted you best? Dont get me wrong, all of your artwork is just great!

Well, they say practice makes perfect. I just think that the more you do art, the better you get at it. I've never tried to have a style, it's just a reflection of me.

4. Not only does your artwork live on canvas and paper, you have taken it to fabric in forms of applique and little sewn birds. When did you first start sewing? How does it feel t o be able to create art in all different mediums??

I inherited my grandma's love for sewing since I was a kid, she worked
professionally in New York embroidering fancy cocktail dresses. I
started sewing in school when I was about 11 years old. I was in a
British all girls school in Chile at the time . My classmates and I
were very much into sewing and knitting our own sweaters for the
winter. We had a wonderful teacher that showed us how to make lots of
things for our dolls. I wish I still had all the beautiful things we embroidered at school .

5. Some of your paintings are pretty much studies of wildlife, i.e the Mushroom painting. Where do you collect all the objects that you paint? Do you research in books? Take nature walks??

I am an extremely curious person, I am constantly looking at books,

surfing the internet and observing nature. I live in a wonderful
wooded area and I love to go out for walks and collect little natural treasures.

6. The Tiny Book Of Birds is such a gorgeous piece. Its no wonder it sold out in your Etsy shop. How long did it take you to create the

mini book? And will it be something you will be creating more of?
possibly another subject other then birds?

I loved making that tiny book and I do have plans to make more. I
really like book binding and working on a really small scale was so
much fun! It is very time consuming, you need to have an organized assembly line or else it can take for ever.

7. One of my favorite paintings you did was the "Fishing" collage
piece. Its just wonderful. Where do you get all your vintage
postcards, book pages, collage pieces from?

I buy a lot of vintage ephemera and digital collage sheets from many wonderful Etsy sellers.

8. How has it felt to see people buy your artwork? What are the pros
and cons of selling what you create? Any advice for people thinking
about getting their art out there?

It is very rewarding to see that people really enjoy what I do and
amazing to be able to manage a little business from home. The only con I can think of is that it is a lot of work! I think having a blog is fundamental to getting your work out there. It was key for me to
participate in Illustration Friday
for a couple of years. It exposed my work to a huge community of fellow artists.

9. You must have a very inspiring place that you work in. Tell us all about your studio, whether it be a corner or a huge room!! What sort of things do you like to surround yourself with in this room.

I share my studio with my two beautiful boys, age 11 and 12. In the
morning they do their homeschool work while I supervise them and in
the afternoon I take over to make art. It is a very well lit room, I can see the sun set right from my desk every afternoon. It's
definitely my favorite room in the house. We love to surround

ourselves with pretty and inspiring things we collect.

10. And as we always close our interviews, five things you just couldnt live without!

My watercolors, brushes, my journal, my beloved micron pens and my trusty Xacto knife :)


Well there you have it, be sure to check out her blog, shop and her great Flickr sets!!

Before I go, I just wanted to share with everyone one of our readers Altered "Love Story" Books from our Christina Clouse tutorial.
Ruby Claire did an amazing job!! If you made one, be sure to let us know! We love to see who is creating along with our tutorials!!