inspiration interview with cindy wunsch + giveaway

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I started the Inspiration Interview Series because I wanted to know more about the people who share their work with the world and inspire me to practice courage, be creative, and dream big. Cindy Wunsch is one of those people! Meet Cindy!

About Cindy and StudioBE

This past December I was in Chicago giving a lecture and I wandered into an art show at the event center attached to my hotel. It wasn't any art show - it was One of a Kind! There were hundreds of artists and an entire Etsy Pavillion!

I was walking around the show, taking it all in, when my eye was drawn to a collection of paintings hanging on a wall. I thought, "OMG! I'm home!"

Home turned out to be Cindy Wunsch's StudioBE. I loved every single thing there!  Cindy and I chatted until closing time. 

Cindy lives in Nashville and has the best twang EVER. After 15 years in the music industry where she managed platinum-selling country music artists, she decided to follow her dreams and started painting and teaching art. She has a private studio where she paints and teaches both kids and adults. She sells her work in galleries across the US and is an adjunct professor of art education at Belmont University.

I wanted to know more about Cindy's journey as an artist. Here's what she had to say:

If you could go back and whisper a piece of advice in the ear of your “new artist self” – what would you say? 

Reach. I would remind myself to stay vulnerable and to keep looking inward. I want to continue to be aware of what I am feeling and to never be afraid of those emotions. Feel them, process them and get them out.

What are your greatest creative inspirations?

I find inspiration in the wonderments of life…from hummingbirds to heartaches…they all matter. One of the great things about being an artist is in the “looking” for these things. I feel that mostly all things, big or small, get noticed and examined.

What are your greatest creative barriers?

For me, time and space. I can tend to get dreamy and distracted sometimes. Also, the business side of what I do, can take over for a few weeks. I try not to let that happen very often.

Truth-telling is a vulnerable and sacred process for most of us. How do you stay honest in your art?

For me, art is about the truth. Thankfully, the process of multi-media can hide a lot of emotion so it feels very safe for me to put it out there in that way. Every day offers us new feelings and since my works of art are done over a period of time – they each have a story to tell and it is always honest. For me, it has to be. I hope those who see it or buy it for themselves can make an interpretation both by tapping into my truth as well as their own. I will say, that if a piece is feeling a little TOO honest when it is finished, I keep it in my “private collection” until I am ready to send it into the world. The process is good.

Now, for the fun questions!

From James Lipton's Inside the Actor's Studio:

What is your favorite word? Sponge – I love that it can both cleanse things and soak things up.

What is your least favorite word? Hate – for obvious reasons

What sound or noise do you love? Overhearing meaningful, energetic conversations. I also love the sound of an ice cream truck!

What sound or noise do you hate? The Slam of a Door – feels angry and unforgiving

What is your favorite curse word?  Douchebag. Is that a curse word? The only reason I like it is because my petite little blonde tennis partner uses it all the time. The first time I heard it I just couldn’t believe it, but now it makes me laugh!

From JL’s Uncle Jessie Meme

A song/band/type of music you'd risk wreck & injury to turn off when it comes on the radio? Having worked in the music business for over 15 years, you might NOT want an honest answer!  I’m not into Heavy Metal – I will leave it at that.

Best show on television I love all the cooking competitions, like Master Chef and Cupcake Wars.

Favorite movie? Silence of the Lambs

Favorite room in your house? My living room. It has two cool pink swivel chairs in it – they make me feel spunky. I sit in that room to have important conversations.

Best concert?  My first - John Denver

Brass or strings? Strings

If you could have anything put on a t-shirt what would it be?

“This is your life. Are you who you want to be?” (it's a line from a Switchfoot Song)

The best part about being your age? That I still have my parents around, the lessons I’ve learned, and the anticipation I feel about what’s next.

Favorite Girl Scout cookie? S’mores

Poker or gin or bridge? Gin (my friends would tell you that I cheat – they are probably right)

Shower or bath?  Bath. But I live in a house that is 100 years old, so I don’t really have a good (sit for hours) one. When I travel, that is a must. A great bathtub and a white fluffy robe.

Favorite pajamas? T-shirt and Old Navy Long Cotton PJ bottoms with big flowers on them…

Nightmare job?  Pilot. I would be scared.

A talent you wish you had? I wish I could automatically know when people were telling the truth.

Dream vacation?  WOW. That’s hard. I love to travel. I have always wanted to go to the Magdalen Islands in Quebec.

What’s on your nightstand?  A white lamp, lip gloss, a bottle of water, a candle (paperwhite and narcissus) a rosary, a picture of my grandmother, a childhood photo (I keep it there to remind myself to never forget my inner child), and books: The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo, The Love Dare, Coupleship, The Red Tent, The Poisonwood Bible, and Growing Wings.

From the “Weird Things” blogoshpere meme:

Tell us 3 weird things about you:

1. I do not like to drive

2. I a very curious and I love to ask questions about the details that most people would never care about. It has gotten me into trouble on occasion.

3. I love TJ Maxx

From Smith Magazine’s Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six Word Memoirs from Writers Famous and Obscure

A six-word memoir that captures your life as an artist OR your art life.

Collecting black and white in color.

A wholeheARTed giveaway!

To celebrate our interview, Cindy is giving away two 11X14 matted prints of a special wholeheARTed piece that she created especially for us. Isn't it amazing!

If you can't read the small print under a "A Whole Hearted You" - it says, "Here kindness is spread abroad and love is united and made firm as a center."

To win, leave your name in the comments section. Two winners will be announced with Fridays TGIF post!

Thank you Cindy! We're inspired! Learn more about Cindy's work and StudioBE here.