The Daily Muse: An Exclusive Interview with Visual Artist and Designer Enrico Varrasso

Elusive Muse is excited to present the work and an exclusive interview with illustrator and artist Enrico Varrasso. His illustrations have appeared in Forbes, the Wall Street Jouurnal, Business 2.0, Fast Company, MacWorld, PC Magazine, Consumer Reports and the Financial Post (just to name a few.)

To learn more about Enrico, to see more of his work or to purchase something, follow any of the following links:

..and now for our exclusive interview with Enrico Varrasso

How would you describe your art?
I feel like a bit of a chameleon in that I am never satisfied creating art using one “style” or “look” so when i’m asked to describe my work I don’t know what to say. This is the best i can come up with: it’s an abstract mix of digital art, found objects and traditional fine art materials.
How long have you been an artist and how did you become an artist?
I’ve been a professional illustrator for about twenty years and an artist for as long as I can remember. until recently selling my art was not a priority, I just loved making it for no other reason but my own selfish joy. Lately i’ve been taking steps towards moving away from my role as an illustrator to that of full time working artist but I expect it will take a little time before that happens. I plan to begin showing my work in galleries in the new year as I continue to promote and sell my art online.
What is your favorite medium and why?
I’d have to say that one of my favourite mediums is my computer generated art. To a fine art purist that might sounds sacrilegious but I find that it is a great starting point in most of my work. Once I’ve printed off my favourite images they usually spark something in me and get the ball rolling for other things to begin happening.
Pick one work of art from your portfolio and tell us the story behind it. Why does this piece have meaning to you? What steps did you take to create the piece?
“And holy spirit” – Don’t let the name fool you, this isn’t a religious painting depicting god on a throne looking over the universe, it is however a mixed media piece that best illustrates where I’ve been and where I’m headed. It incorporates my digital art, found images, acrylic paint, oil stick, paper, the kitchen sink…ok maybe not the sink 😉 The process for creating this piece (and many of my others) is fairly simple: I surround myself with images, paint, pencils, found objects/images, and whatever else excites me then proceed to play around with them on my work surface. I apply the images in layers and add paint and marks up until the point where it feels complete. That’s it.
Tell us about one medium, technique or style that you would like to try working with (that you have not tried before) and why you would like to try this.
I would love to get my hands really dirty and start making sculptures with acetylene blow torches and metal. The problem is I’m almost certain i’d get pinned under one of them and die in the process 😉 even so, it’s so different from what I usually do that i’m kind of drawn to the idea.
How do you make time for art?
It isn’t easy. I have a wife, three kids and a business to juggle every day so time is the hardest thing to find. I work from home and it’s empty from around 9am to mid afternoon so I work diligently to make every second count. It isn’t always easy but I can tell you that it takes some direction, focus and perseverance on my part.
If you could imagine the “perfect art day” for yourself, what would it be like?
The perfect art day? Easy: an empty house, my music playing loudly, no concerns about money or bills or all the other day-to-day distractions. That’s it. So as it stands now the only thing stopping me from having a perfect day is the last one…two out of three ain’t bad. 😉
If you could spend 24 hours with one artist, living or historical, who would you want to spend the day with and why? What would the two of you do?
There are many artists I could name here but I think right now it would be Cy Twombly. I see him as an artists artist in that he created his art, sculpture and photography seemingly without care of what anyone thinks. His art feels pure to me and I would have loved to have seen his process as he worked away in his studio.
Do you have any tips or advice for aspiring artists?
I keep a little note by my desk that I think is good advice for any creative and it reads: CREATE, PROMOTE, SELL…REPEAT. The creative part is easy, it’s the promoting and selling that’s the hardest and it’s also (sadly) the most important if your goal is to be a working artist.