Today we’d like to introduce you to Bonnie Paisley.
Hi Bonnie, 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?
I grew up identifying as an artist, supported in that identity by my family, friends, and teachers. I went to school to study art and discovered I also loved teaching—first working with kids in Portland, then hosting small group classes in my studio. Having a dedicated studio, a place to work free from distractions, was always important to me. As artist spaces became harder to find and afford, I began imagining a space that could support my practice, my students’ work, and possibly more. When my daughter entered kindergarten, I began taking classes with Sister.is, and using their Feminist Business framework, I opened Paisley Studios in 2019.
I’ve come to see art making as a long, wide river stretching from our distant past into the future. Some of us admire it from the shore, some wade in for a while, and some float down it for our whole lives. Creating a business, teaching classes, providing workspace for women artists, and sustaining my own practice has helped me navigate that river.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I struggle with many of the challenges artists face—balancing time, money, ambition, uncertainty, comparison, responsibility, and physical and mental health. I also contend with persistent myths about being an artist: the “starving” artist who works for exposure, the lazy or disorganized creative, or the fantasy that a gallery, patron, or collector will someday erase all self-doubt. Running a small business is difficult even though I see it as an extension of my creative practice. I continue to ask myself how to build community even though I feel shy, redefine success, and preserve my integrity and sense of awe, even when things feel dark.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I really enjoy working with a wide variety of materials and processes in my work. I use oil paint, watercolor, acrylic, collage, paper, wood, caulking, foam clay, sand, and found materials to make drawings, paintings, sculptures, animations, and prints. Color is central to my artistic thinking and the memory of a color or a specific set of colors is often a starting point for my work. My happiest times are when I am deeply involved in the “figuring out” phase of a work–how to make it, what to material to use, what colors do I want to mix, what process will work best for what I want to do? I am not afraid to try anything.
Because of the exploratory way I work, I have a lot of material knowledge that I can pass on to my students. I really want my students to feel at home in whatever medium or style they feel most drawn to, I have a very open style of teaching that I think comes from believing that truly anything is possible in art. I also have a deep respect for other artists and art forms from the present to the past and I am always learning from other artist’s work.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
Portland is a beautiful city with a vibrant creative scene which is not really a secret. I have been more or less involved in the art community here for 25 years, and have expanded my engagement in the small business community on NE Broadway. I have mourned some of our losses, seen big and small changes, and I am well aware of the continuing challenges to artists and businesses here, but I can’t really picture myself anywhere else.
I try not to be complacent about all the city has to offer and I intentionally visit galleries, see live music, go to the theater, go to the parks, the gardens, the restaurants, the cafes, the book stores, and I am always up for bringing a friend!
What do I like the least? Like many American cities, the growing wealth inequality, climate crisis, and affordable housing shortages cause real suffering that is visible every day here. I am under no illusion that art or artists will save us from all of that, but I certainly believe that having a creative practice is integral to feeling human and can help you learn to deal with uncertainty. I want more artists in the world in general, and more artists in positions with political power.
Contact Info:
- Website: bonniepaisley.com or paisleystudiospdx.com
- Instagram: @bonniepaisleyart or @paisleystudiospdx
