The Studio Series: Edition III - Get To Know Artist Linda Colletta

Bringing you edition III of the studio series with CT based artist, Linda Colletta. She shares with us her inspiration and creative wisdom. To shop Linda's 8 original paintings the come with a limited, numbered pair of "Colletta" earrings, click here.

LH: Tell us about your creative process. What inspires you?

Linda: My core inspiration is always color. Every piece begins with a color, or a combination of colors that ignite in some magical way. Recently, I’ve been exploring form and line. I am endlessly fascinated by places where man & nature meet...like a telephone line across a skyline at dusk or a tiny patch of grass in the middle of a cement jungle or a fence making the end of a rolling field. The line against the form is not only a source of beautiful abstraction but also speaks to our futile attempts as humans to contain or control this wild world. It makes me giggle every time. And it reminds me to just let go.

LH: We love your use of color! Do you have a favorite? 

Linda: BLUE! Specifically a blue called Payne’s Grey, it is almost a black blue but when watered down bits of teal and turquoise show through. Obsessed.

LH: What do you do to get in the creative zone?

Linda: Embarrassingly, I clean. I’m a bit anal. Everything needs to be in its right place in order for me to get started, so that’s typically where I start, and then I make a big mess, and rinse and repeat!

LH. When you're feeling a creative block - any tips to get out of a funk? 

Linda: For me, sheer force. I MAKE MYSELF DO IT anyway and despite myself! And even if all that comes out is shit, I just keep going, I just literally force myself and almost always it busts me through to the other side pretty quickly.

LH: What advice would you give your 20 year old self?

Linda: Just paint. It doesn’t haven’t to mean anything. Stop listening to yourself to intently and just paint and don’t ever stop.

LH: Favorite way to unwind?

Linda: Grey’s Anatomy, Ray Donovan, Masters of Sex and Westworld! I am a drama junkie!

LH. Any hobbies outside of art?

Linda: Not really a hobby, but I am endlessly interested in my own personal growth and development as a better human. I do a lot of work on myself to get happy, stay happy and fulfill my dreams. I’ve worked regularly with a life coach since I was 18 and its some of the most important work I’ve done in my life. So grateful for the Handel Group, my life coaches.