Holly Tappen's Story

How did you get your start in being a painter?

I always played with paint as a kid, but my mother didn’t encourage me to go to art school. Though she wouldn’t let me be a painter, she did teach me how to look at art. Eventually, I decided I wanted to be a painter, and I just did it, but it took until I was middle-aged to be able to defy my mother and paint. She got to know before she died that I can paint well, and that it was what I really wanted to do.

Who inspires your work the most?

Leonardo da Vinci and Pablo Picasso inspire my work the most. I have two strong mentors, one with Picasso and one with Leonardo, and the two styles battle each other. I’m trying to mix Leonardo’s style with Picasso’s, and it just doesn’t work. I’ve been trying for 25 years and I think I’m just now getting closer. From childhood they’ve been my inspirations. I also love Van Gogh, Rembrandt, and Sargent, but Picasso and Leonardo were the ones I studied the most.

What’s your favorite thing about working with your medium of oil paint?

It dries very slowly so I can mix it very smoothly. With acrylic paint, it streaks because it dries very quickly. Oil paint stays open for a week or more, so I can keep going back into it.

What’s your favorite memory from your art career?

The first painting I ever sold in 2003. I had put it up in a hospital for sale. It was 2 colors of oil paint, and there were faces kind of coming out of a mist, and I called it “Old Friends”. It was bought by a nun, and she loved it. I took the price way down because she just loved it so much. That was a major inspiration for me.

What advice would you give to artists who are just starting out?

Go for it. Keep it up. Don’t stop, and don’t let anybody or anything stop you. Keep going. I’d say that for any kind of art or for anybody who has a dream. You have to chase it.