By Koy Flores
Carrie Zimdar, a returning ArtPrize entrant, has entered a painting she started creating three years ago, a piece that has adapted alongside her creativity. The Covid-19 pandemic prevented her painting, “Flowers in Vase” from seeing the sun, but is now available to see at her business, Brush Studio, which is also an ArtPrize venue.
Zimdar’s painting is made of torn paper, acrylic paint, ink and a joint compound (residential-grade plaster). However, her painting didn’t originally possess the white flowers to contrast the energetic background in the finished piece.
According to Zimdar, the first version of her painting had red, yellow and orange flowers. After a night of deliberation and reconfiguring the piece virtually via iPad, Zimdar had an artistic enlightenment.
“Very early Thursday morning at 3 a.m., I got up and couldn’t go back to sleep. So, I went in (to the studio), took the painting and redid all of the flowers and I added plaster to it. This was the morning (that) Artprize launched,” Zimdar recalled.
Zimdar said she didn’t have the time to scrape all of the old paint off, so after adding more plaster and new acrylics, she had it back at the venue for Thursday night. Zimdar said that she also felt more personal gratification with the new version of her artwork.
After reminiscing on the excitement of Thursday, Zimdar talked about her work teaching art classes, which are offered to anyone of all ages, at the Brush Studio.
Zimdar said that a lot of her first works were inspired by home decorations, galleries and nature. But she went on to reveal how the studio has refined her career goals.
“Our goal is that we want people to love to paint,” she said. “We want them to say, ‘I actually can paint. I didn’t know I could paint. I think I’m going to get my own painting supplies.’ Now more than my individual art, that is what inspires me the most.”
Zimdar’s Brush Studio offers art classes for canvas painting, acrylic pores and plaster workshops, weekly from Wednesday through Saturday. They also host private events from corporate celebrations to weddings, even birthday parties.
Zimdar has a professional website brushgr.com, and her piece “Flowers in Vase” is available for purchase for $1,200. Brush Studio can be found in downtown Grand Rapids, at 50 Louis NW.
