Creative conversations with Eve Devore
Tell us a bit about yourself?
My name is Eve Devore. I am an artist and explorer, always curios, who talks fast and lives in the moment.
I moved to the bustling concrete jungle which is New York City eight years ago and it changed my whole life. When I’m not wandering around the city and its beaches with my plain air box, you can find me living in Brooklyn and painting my days away in my home studio.
I grew up in Ukraine, in a small town, close to nature, spending summers in our vacation house outside the dusty city streets. Being the tallest in class, my tomboyish nature often got me into trouble. We didn’t have iPhones and technology overload back then, so we lived a simple life with plenty of time for boredom and observing things. We played in the forest, went fishing to the river which always turned green during the hot summer season, I collected wildflowers and spent a lot of time reading. I’ve always been fascinated with books. Also, for as long as I remember myself, I was painting, scribbling, and making marks on different surfaces suitable and not suitable for mark-making (my mom’s dresser wasn’t exactly the best canvas but it felt amazing to scribble flower patterns on it with a rusty nail. Sorry, Mom).
My Mom has a great passion for art and she spent a lot of her time painting with me when I was growing up. I didn’t have a lot of friends, as I was shy and introverted. So painting was always an outlet for me, a safe space where I could be myself. Mom taught me how to see the beauty in simple things, in ordinary moments that a lot of people tend to overlook.
I’ve been dreaming of becoming an artist, but when the time came to choose a career, my parents strongly advised me to go with something more stable than art, something which will feed me and pay my bills. So I went to pursue an engineering degree and graduated with masters in electrical engineering. I can’t explain how terrified I was while studying all those six years, realizing that every year was taking me further and further away from my dream to paint full time. I was sharing my dorm room with a girl who studied art, so it felt like torture seeing her painting while I was calculating electrical circuits, trying to wrap my head around the inner workings of AC/DC generators and circuit boards. My school notebooks had a lot of scribbles and sketches on the very last pages, but with every month passing by I painted less and less…
Basically, little by little I gave up my dreams of becoming an artist and tried to fit-in in the corporate world, by getting a desk job right after school.
I'd love to know what made you move to NY - how did you find leaving Ukraine and the stability of your Engineering job? Was it a difficult decision to make?
The reason for me moving continents was love :) My husband, then-boyfriend lived in NYC. So after a couple of years of flying back and forth every couple of months to see each other, we decided to move in together. I’d lie if I said that the move was smooth and easy. First of all, it’s a different culture with a different language and mentality. Also, packing your life into a suitcase and leaving your family, friends and everything you knew behind is quite daunting. It’s a big change. The fact that I wasn’t just moving into a complete unknown, but moving in with the man I love, who was there to support me every step of the way, made this transition easier. Now that I think about it eight years later, remembering all the hardships and fears and uncertainties that were flooding my mind, I’m grateful for every single one of them and I’d do it all over again without changing a thing.
I got a pretty good job as a managing director of an advertising agency a year before I decided to change countries and they were extremely kind to allow me to continue working remotely for some time after the move. While living in Kyiv, at first I had to work two jobs at the same time - my engineering office job and the ad agency (which didn’t demand me to be in the office the whole time). Being an engineer gave me some financial stability, but when the economic crisis hit in 2008-2009, the company I worked for basically let most of the people go, shortening their staff to a bare minimum.
Tell us a bit about your creative journey - how did you get to this point?
As time went by, I started craving painting with every little cell of my body. I used to work my day job and then painted till late at night almost every day. I found a box with the oil paint my mom used when she was my age and ended up using them with sunflower oil as a medium. Art supplies were quite expensive, so I used whatever I could find. I took pics of myself and used them as references to study the human body. I painted on the floor since I didn’t have a table in the room I was renting. It felt quite romantic and raw and my art belonged to me, my practice allowed me to escape reality of the job I didn’t like and transition feelings, dreams, and emotions on canvases.
The big problem was, that I primarily painted when I was moody or sad. Since my life was quite tough, with the boring job and unexciting prospects, thoughts about not being able to turn it around and break out of the vicious cycle overwhelmed me and so I was in a moody state quite often. My mom, looking at my paintings once said: you need to learn how to paint happiness. Your works are full of sadness and pain, so looking at them makes me feel sad and depressed. I didn’t understand her words back then, I strongly disagreed saying that I’m honest with my work and simply can’t portray happy things, I just didn’t know how.
Only after I moved to New York and had an amazing chance to try doing art full time, I understood what she meant.
After I crossed half the world and moved to the city of dreams, I felt like life opened a blank page in front of me and I can start fresh. Everything around me looked like scenes from the movies, I worked in a restaurant while trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. The person who helped me to overcome my fears was my husband. He strongly encouraged me to come back to art and give it a try. He said that it’s important to try doing something you’re so passionate about even if you’ve never studied it. And so I did. I jumped off the cliff of my fears in the whole new world. I’m forever grateful to him for allowing me to take time off and focus on art. I spent around six months developing my painting skills. I felt like a person who’s been starving for years and just walked into a room filled with the most spectacular delicacies. (I still feel the same way every time I cross the door of an art supply store lol). I didn’t have a particular concept or style, I just spent days painting, researching, thinking… That was most amazing time as I think about it now. Time of coming back to your first love.
I opened my Etsy shop, then started doing art markets and fairs, little by little I started receiving custom orders, exhibited my work. I was even invited to come to Japan to participate in art event in Osaka multiple years in a row. Truly wonderful things I could only dream about.
Can you talk a bit about your work and the ideas behind it - what inspires it?
One day I sat down and painted Frida Kahlo as an owl. Out of nowhere. Frida has always been one of my favorite artists and a big inspiration. I’ve never been an owl person and I simply don’t know why I chose an owl. But when I looked at the final result, I loved it. It felt mine, it felt like something that was forged inside my mind and finally took shape. I thought that I can use an owl as a shape, an instrument, to tell the story, to express feelings, to describe moments. And it just jump-started that day... I started owlizing everything - from people who inspired me, to buildings, emotions and places.
Later on, I started painting people’s portraits as owls. I can’t explain all the details and why it came to me the way it did, but it gave me so much freedom to express myself that I just couldn’t stop myself from creating. The biggest thing was that I finally learned how to paint happiness and I truly understood what my mom was trying to tell me all those years ago. The idea behind my work is telling the stories I experience personally, talking about the struggles, shaping moments into something tangible. I love working on commissions as they allow me to paint for people, to help them document their dreams and feelings.
After almost five years of painting, I started exploring different subjects and trying new things. I’m working on the series of the abstract ocean paintings now. Very different from the owls people know me for. This territory is new and intimidating for me, but I’m allowing myself to flow with my inner voice and not being afraid. I’m constantly learning, especially since I’m a self-taught artist.
I’ve noticed on your IG that you do a bit of life drawing, can you tell me a bit about how that influences your practice?
Oh! The figure drawing! It’s been a pure blessing and a gift for me since last year! My friend and an amazing artist Colleen Herman organizes Sunday Salons (inspired by Louise Bourgeois) and Figure Drawing nights, which are open to everyone. It took me about half a year to gain enough confidence, tackle my imposter syndrome and finally join the group! I regret I didn’t do it sooner. Once I did, I didn’t miss a single drawing night!
Live figure drawing is magic. I think the fact that we have a relatively small group and a very friendly and warm atmosphere makes the evenings unforgettable. There is no one to judge your painting skills. It’s pure joy, freedom of expression and supportive women around you. Not everyone who attends those sessions are painters, some girls are sculptors, designers, architects, photographers, etc. It’s also an opportunity to connect with fellow artists and meet new people.
Since I started painting other subjects besides owls, I found myself coming back and exploring nude drawings again. I usually paint myself and this was the first time I painted another person naked. Our model, Alex, who is beautiful inside and out, doesn’t sit still, she moves and changes pose pretty quickly at the beginning with more extended poses closer to the end of the practice. Since I don’t always paint what I see, but mostly what I feel, painting her is a gift. Figure drawing allows me to explore other subjects and feelings, it gives me goosebumps, and I enjoy the process immensely and don’t focus on the final result. Instead, I focus on being in the flow and turn off ‘how you suppose to draw body’ mode while enjoying ‘just do what you feel’ moment.
How do you fit your studio practice alongside your everyday life?
I’m striving to find a balance between working in my home studio and other things that need my attention. I often think about the work/life balance as a full-time artist and realize that for me personally, the line between those two is extremely blurry.
One thing I know for sure - in order to produce good work I need to take good care of my mental and physical health. Of course, there are days when I’m extremely and wholeheartedly obsessed with creating that I miss meals. When I’m in a state of flow, my whole world narrows to the space around my easel and I get frustrated when my body gives me signs that it needs a rest. Being in such state is the most exhilarating and blissful feeling but it’s not user-friendly at times and it’s hard on people you love who need your attention.
I’m not on good terms with time management. But I’ve learned that in order to be able to do what I love I need to organize myself, I need to plan my time wisely and it pays off in the long run. I’m trying to learn from my mistakes.
I love to work with a lot of daylight around, so I try to schedule my painting sessions in the morning or early afternoons if possible. Also, there are many other tasks that need my attention, so on Fridays when I make a plan for next week I take them into consideration as well. Planning helps a lot. Realistic planning. And coffee. :)
I love painting outdoors, it breathes extra life into my practice, so I take my studio outside at least once a week and I also include yoga and meditation into my weekly schedule as it helps to stretch my muscles and calm the beehive in my mind.
My studio is my happiest place and I feel forever grateful for being able to work here every day, and for my husband’s patience with me annexing the biggest room in our apartment for my artistic needs.
I wake up early, make myself breakfast, exercise and dive into my world. I try to finish painting around 5 pm so I can have the rest of the day free. Weekends are usually painting-free and reserved for my family and friends.
I was also wondering if you could talk about your writing practice too - I remember you telling me about it on instagram and I think it could be a real encouragement to others too!
I used to have a daily journal practice on and off since I was little. Journaling allows me to clear my head, to vent my head a little, to organize my thoughts. Last year I started reading "Artist Way" by Julia Cameron (highly recommend it) which puts a big emphasis on morning pages - a daily writing practice, where you write three pages of everything you have in your head first thing in the morning. When you write, you don’t have to think about phrasing things nicely or turning it into a diary which someone will read one day. Just a pure stream, of consciousness. This practice helps to silence your inner critic, to free your head from the thoughts that otherwise would bug you all day, to have an honest conversation with yourself.
I’ve been doing morning pages for about six months now. I swear by them! With the sensitive and emotional personality that I have, this practice acts as a housekeeper and a psychologist at the same time. It clears my inner house aka mind from distracting thoughts, relieves tension and teaches how to truly listen to myself. I try to do it first thing in the morning when I’m still a bit sleepy. In this state, I tend to be more open and honest. Usually, it takes less than half an hour. If for some reason I can’t do it in the morning, I try to do it during the next time slot I have available during the day, or right before bed.
What's your greatest joy/biggest struggle as an artist?
When I think about waking up and walking into my studio, seeing all those paintings on the walls, the paint-stained table and brushes and realizing that I can paint every day - it’s the biggest joy. Simply ability to create is a precious gift itself. Also connecting with people who buy my work and hearing their stories, seeing how they relate to what I do, fills me with warmth and happiness. I’m grateful to see and feel the world the way I do, to feel in colors, to transfer the inner part of my soul into the paintings. My biggest struggle is battling my own insecurities and fears. I am my own harshest critic and I so try to take it easy on myself. I also wish that they would stop putting art supply shops so close to the yoga studios because I can’t resist walking in one after a class and buying more canvases and tubes of paint I want to try.
What's your best advice you'd give to other artists?
Trust yourself, love your inner artist child, stay healthy and be persistent no matter what.