Creative vision vs. real life often a balancing act for artists

In the 10 years that he devoted to his art, Vincent van Gogh created about 2,100 paintings.

Though prolific in his output, the Dutch post-impressionist painter sold only one painting during his lifetime. “The Red Vineyard” went for 400 francs in Belgium in 1890, shortly before his death by suicide at age 37.

Van Gogh struggled with poverty during his creative years, and relied heavily on financial support from his brother, the art dealer Theo van Gogh. In fact, he painted rural scenes, peasants and landscapes because he was too poor to pay models.

A century later, how things have changed. Now, van Gogh is considered one of the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. His paintings are worth fortunes — the highest price paid for a van Gogh to date is $82.5 million in 1990 for his “Portrait du Docteur Gachet.”

Though van Gogh never reaped the rewards of his talents, he pursued his creative vision with singular zeal that young artists around the area share to this day.

Some are able to sustain themselves on their artwork, others have day jobs or other help that keeps them afloat financially. The days of those “starving artist” sales popping up at local hotels are over. These artists have forged their own paths.

We talked to a few about their stories and how they’re making it. They all had advice for others who are trying to find their own art/work balance, and much of it has to do with conquering insecurities and just sticking with it.

‘Beyond fear’

Sarah Hunter’s first formal art experience at age 10 was pretty discouraging.

The Latrobe resident, 29, says she took a class at an art club in Ellwood City, near her hometown of Wampum, where the instructor told students to paint whatever they wanted — then told her she was making her bird wrong.

“The teacher did it for me,” she says. “I decided I must not be very good.”

Still, her interest in art remained. As an undeclared major at Saint Vincent College, she had a chance encounter with the late art professor David Ludwig that led to her modeling for his classes and eventually pursuing a studio art major.

A year after graduation, she married her college boyfriend, James Kuhns, whose IT job has afforded her the opportunity to pursue art full time. She paints commissioned works, teaches workshops and classes, creates work for group and solo exhibitions and is a member of several area art centers and organizations.

One thing she recommends to up-and- coming artists is reading Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear.”

By the author of the bestseller-turned-movie “Eat, Pray, Love,” the book posits that neither fear nor failure should keep a person from pursuing a creative vision: Believe in your right to be a creative person and follow your vision, even if it never becomes a full-time career.

Now or never

A health crisis gave Stacey Pydynkowski of Latrobe “a sense of urgency” about making art.

A 2013 Saint Vincent College graduate with a psychology/studio art double major, Pydynkowski was diagnosed at age 26 with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. After six months of chemotherapy, she decided to quit her job in retail and make art full time.

If she was ever going to do it, that was the time, she says.

The gamble paid off and, at 28, she’s making a living with painting commissions, other sales and private lessons. Her work is represented by Firebox Art Studios in Carnegie.

Making art can be all-consuming, Pydynkowski says: “In the creative process, there’s so much introspection. It can become isolating if you don’t emerge from the self sometimes.

“If you’re going by a storefront or gallery, go in. The worst thing someone can say is ‘no,’ ” she says. “Don’t let the imminent fear of potential rejection hinder you from trying. I have learned to treasure each ‘rejection’ as much as each ‘win,’ because it all adds depth to the journey of pursuing your passion.”

Believe in yourself

Dan Overdorff, 33, of Greensburg grew up in a family landscaping business and teaches horticulture and landscape design at Forbes Road Career and Technology Center in Monroeville. While studying landscape architecture at West Virginia University, he scratched an itch by taking a couple of art classes, which later led to an associate of fine arts degree from Westmoreland County Community College.

His paintings and prints have been seen in numerous shows around the area. In recent years, he’s applied his eye for design to curating exhibitions, notably at Headkeeper Tapas Bar in Greensburg and You Are Here in Jeannette.

“This might sound cheesy, but you have to come out of the gate believing in yourself and the work you’re doing,” he says. “If you’re making work because you think that’s what other people want, that strays the line from art into craft — not that there’s anything wrong with that, depending on what you want to do, but you have to place a value on yourself and your ideas.”

Tough it out

As a child, Marion Morton of Greensburg was always drawing. His mother still has a collection of his elementary school artwork.

Morton, now 26, started college as a conservation biology major at Westmoreland County Community College.

Then he took a drawing class, and “I thought, ‘I have to do this,’ ” he says. He transferred to Chatham University, where he earned a bachelor of fine arts degree in studio arts in 2018. His main medium is drawing, though he also paints and sculpts.

“When I graduated, I was working crappy day jobs for a while, with not a lot of time to make art,” he says.

He was able to secure a residency with You Are Here in Jeannette, and gallery co-founder Jen Costello put him in touch with a local tattoo shop, where his on-the-job training included “a lot of drawing assignments.”

“It’s hard balancing a day job and time in the studio, toughing it out, staying up late, being exhausted,” he says. “You have to stick with it and keep making stuff. Tattoo is a great creative outlet, so I’m kind of there as an artist. A lot of people won’t walk into a museum to look at art, but almost everyone has a tattoo.”

Side hustle

“My art is actually my side hustle,” says Dan Sennaway, 28, of McCandless.

A digital illustrator, Sennaway works full time in a Giant Eagle deli, where the schedule is regular and the benefits are good. Someday, he says, he hopes to find “a more art-related day job.”

A member of the Illustrators Society of Pittsburgh, he has sold pieces through Bottlebrush Gallery in Harmony, Hoyt Art Center in New Castle, North Hills Art Center and You Are Here.

“Cast a wide net, keep pushing, interact with the public,” he says. “Get your work out there. You really gotta do the footwork and keep hustling.”