Massachusetts-based artist Sarah Valinezhad speaks with Create! Magazine about her research-driven practice centered on Iranian women's lived experiences, the emotional weight of interior spaces, and why she sees painting as an act of witnessing rather than representation.

Suzanne V Paddock didn't set out to become an animal painter, she arrived there through grief, isolation, and a household that grew to nine cats and a dog. In this interview, the Virginia-based oil painter talks about what her pets have taught her about trust and social dynamics, how a devastating loss during the pandemic realigned her sense of purpose, and why the most meaningful moments in her work are the ones that are easy to overlook.

San Francisco Bay Area artist Chelsea Tikotsky paints the moments we almost miss, golden light on water, a shift in the sky, the quiet magic of a landscape at dusk. Working primarily with a palette knife, she builds richly textured oil paintings that move between serene landscapes and lush botanicals, each carrying its own emotional register. In this interview, she reflects on the experiences that shaped her practice, the literature and films that inspire her botanical work, and what she hopes to explore next.

Studio artist Robyn Palescandolo (signed R Palesca) finds the extraordinary in everyday objects, painting with a quiet intensity rooted in minimalism and classical technique. In this interview, she reflects on her years running a painting retreat in rural Italy, the tension between precision and spontaneity in her work, and what draws her back to figurative painting next.

In this interview, Bucharest-based artist Alexandra Niculescu reflects on the influence of Calea Victoriei, the emergence of her "Arcs of Hope," and how painting became a space for transformation, healing, and resilience.

From Giotto to Hockney, dogs have watched over Western art for thousands of years. Historian Thomas W. Laqueur's new book asks why, and what that says about us.

Katrin Rymsha is a Russian-born artist whose practice bridges symbolism and abstract figurative painting through a distinctive and expressive use of color. Born in Siberia and educated at the Novosibirsk State University of Architecture, Design and Arts, she has exhibited internationally across Europe, the United States, and Asia. Her work is held in private collections worldwide and has been presented in museums in New York and St. Petersburg.

For Anese Eun Cho, a lighthouse is not just a symbol. It is a structure made of light that lets you be fully visible without walls, fully protected without hiding. In this interview, she talks about childhood portals, strangers who stayed until sunrise, and what it means to transform pain into something that gives others hope.

Alice d'Apolito paints visual diaries on wood, populating them with an alter ego, a childhood rabbit, and five pet snails. In this interview, the Italian global nomad talks about whimsy as emotional architecture, the slow philosophy of snails, and what it means to build a dream studio without walls.

Jana Astanov moves between performance, installation, sound, and myth — building what she calls "temporary cosmologies." In this interview, she reflects on her oracular persona Agni Jnana Yannanda, the living traditions of Baltic and Slavic folk practice, and what it means to hold transformation without collapsing it.

Explore Vanessa McKernan’s latest exhibition, The Wanderer, featuring intuitive oil paintings that intermingle dreams, personal history, and the archetypal feminine psyche. Discover the artist’s process of "archaeological" layering and her recent move to the Ottawa Valley.

Andrea Mitchell has spent decades at the intersection of visual art, somatic therapy, and energy healing. Working in collage, watercolor, stained glass, and mixed media from New York City, she builds layered works that ask viewers to sense what they cannot immediately see. In this interview, she talks about intuition as a creative tool, color as a carrier of frequency, and why the best art — like the best healing — unfolds at the pace the viewer is ready for.

Cecil Ybanez has lived many lives — physical therapist, Pilates instructor, interior designer, gallery owner — before arriving, fully, at the one he was always moving toward: artist. In this interview, the Filipino-American creator talks about translucent materials, precolonial Filipino culture, found objects that tell their own stories, and why he wants every viewer to leave believing they have everything they need to make art of their own.

For Bay Area painter Ali Hall, the California coastline is both subject and sanctuary. Working in atmospheric abstract realism, she transforms ocean horizons and shifting skies into softened, immersive memories shaped by light and emotion. What began as a personal return to painting during a period of recovery has evolved into a deeply intentional practice centered on restoration, reflection, and connection. In this conversation, Hall shares how acrylic layering, intuitive mark-making, and creative wellness workshops all stem from a desire to create moments of stillness in a fast-moving world.

Under vast prairie skies and shimmering northern lights, Nicki Ault finds her deepest sense of belonging. Based in Saskatoon, the contemporary Canadian painter creates luminous landscapes that act as visual love letters to the Earth. Guided by intuition, memory, and a profound emotional connection to the natural world, Ault translates late afternoon light, boreal forests, and endless grasslands into paintings filled with warmth and humanity. In this heartfelt conversation, she reflects on discovering her identity as a Highly Sensitive Person, embracing spontaneity in the studio, and reaching major milestones that affirmed her path as a full-time artist.

Dallas-based artist Anese Cho on her Lighthouse series, why light is her primary material, and how childhood shaped a practice built around refuge and safety.

In her bold digital compositions, Kuan-Hsuan Lu transforms flowers, hands, and glass containers into a visual language about growth, protection, and the courage to break through. Now based in New York after moving from Taiwan, Lu reflects on identity, distance, and the emotional terrain of building a life between cultures. Through saturated color, strong composition, and symbolic storytelling, she creates space for viewers to see their own resilience mirrored back to them. In this thoughtful conversation, Lu shares how fragility and strength coexist in her work and why the digital medium remains essential to her evolving practice.

From her Los Angeles studio, Anelia Torres creates work that bridges sculpture, digital design, jewelry, and surface pattern. Inspired by Southern California’s beaches, semi-desert terrain, art deco landmarks, and mid-century architecture, she blends real places with memory and imagination to craft pieces that feel both modern and emotionally resonant. In this conversation, Torres reflects on growing up in a family of artists, embracing Adobe Illustrator as a sculptural tool, and her commitment to creating art that honors light, beauty, and possibility.

For multidisciplinary artist Leisa Rich, creativity begins with touch. From early childhood hospital stays to immersive, interactive installations, her practice bridges fiber art, recycled materials, 3D printing, laser engraving, and AI. Guided by curiosity and a fearless embrace of experimentation, Rich creates vibrant, pseudo-Utopian environments that honor animals, celebrate tactility, and invite viewers into moments of wonder. In this candid conversation, she reflects on creative freedom, aging boldly, and the courage to resist being placed in a box.

In her luminous paintings of smoke, shifting light, and dense Pacific Northwest forests, Kendra Larson invites viewers into a space where landscape becomes both emotional mirror and living system. Based in Portland, Oregon, Larson reflects on awe, folklore, environmental consciousness, and the thin boundary between the visible and invisible. In this thoughtful conversation, she shares how residencies, teaching, and gallery leadership inform a practice grounded in presence, wonder, and the quiet intelligence of place.