Today we’d like to introduce you to Ione Angilan.
Hi Ione, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Finger painting in kindergarten opened my eyes to the world of art. My reality was never the same after that. From earliest years, I absorbed all things art, nourished by parents who were creative themselves and fostered that in me. Music, poetry, and creative ideas flooded our home, and were a part of daily living with ample encouragement from my mother especially.
It was a foregone conclusion that Ione would study art at college as I never wanted to do anything else. Painting and Art History claimed my first degree (B.F.A.), where I learned the vast scope of art from various cultures. The Old Masters were particularly formative in my development of the figurative style I work in today.
Ione promptly moved to San Francisco where she expected to dazzle the art market with her work. Unfortunately, her day to day living expenses as a dental assistant did not leave much time for exploring art connections. She returned to college and obtained a B.A.E.degree. She discovered that teaching art was more rewarding than she thought possible. And it gave her time to paint her own works. She added an M.A. to her resume.
While she had been painting throughout school and teaching, Ione was feeling starved for conversation with other artists. She located a group called the River Quay Art Association and began going to their meetings. She became their secretary. Then they reformed into the Kansas City Artist Coalition. They all grew professionally and she loved it. She created the KCAC newsletter and used her art history background to write reviews of art shows.
In 1978 a horrific assault by strangers changed Ione forever, and catapulted her art in a new direction. The experience of fighting back and pursuing the criminals through the court system into jail helped her learn a new confidence in herself.
Ironically, it was that traumatic experience that changed Ione’s art work into the more lighthearted, whimsical style she has today. She learned not to take herself too seriously and to live in the present.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It was never smooth. Success and achievement only seem to occur with discipline, failure and stedfastness.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I began working in oil paints but had an allergy to turpentine. Then moved on to acrylics. I loved working on large scale paintings, but lacked skill. I chose watercolor next and was so glad. There I had a gift. I could feel my subject matter through the bristles of the brush. My subject matter was almost always people: generic, stylized and simplified. They lived and worked in places I never imagined. They were realistically rendered but with a bit of Zen Buddist mist.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
Use your life experiences to reimagine reality.
Pricing:
- Be consistent. Learn what your target audience wants and is willing to pay.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ioneangilan.com
