Today we’d like to introduce you to Deb Soromenho.
Hi Deb, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’ve always had a bit of wanderlust, announcing to my Mom at 13 that I was headed off for adventure the second I finished high school, lol. And life certainly has been an adventure. I’ve lived coast to coast and abroad, I’ve been in the Army, I’ve been to art school and fashion design school, I’ve had several businesses, and I’ve been with my husband for 32 years and have a 22-year-old son!
My wanderlust also presented itself in my art and work. I felt like I was on a mission my whole life to find the artistic career that suited me, only realizing later in life that the exploration and search was actually what suited me best.
It took me a while to come to terms with that though. It was only after I turned 50 and took some time to do some deep soul-searching that I was able to find the real me and, among other things, discover that the process of learning and mastering my creative pursuits was what gave me the most joy.
And this was when I found watercolor. I spent that soul-searching time creating art that was just for me. I was just playing, I didn’t show anyone, I wasn’t thinking of selling it, I didn’t put any boundaries on myself and it was world-rocking!
Since I have been working in watercolor, I’ve felt more at peace with my art than ever before. I am in love with the expressiveness and variety that watercolor allows me. I absolutely adore creating art people connect with and also sharing my love of watercolor by doing workshops and tutorials.
Will I move on to something else in the future? Maybe, but I’m ok with that, I’m going to enjoy the hell out of the process right now.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Yes and no! I had a pretty smooth and happy life and I’ve always been a very optimistic person and not much gets me down. BUT, when I turned 50, I realized that I just wasn’t ever truly happy. Like the filled with joy, in love with myself and my life kind of happy.
I realized that I was always trying to be what I thought I should be. What others expected me to be. I was just playing a role and not making waves.
What’s funny is that I was not that way when I was younger. Somewhere in my mid-20s, I lost my way.
I don’t know what triggered it, but I forgot how to be ME, exactly as I am. I forgot how to love ME, for exactly who I was.
As I turned 50 though, everything changed.
Most people bemoan the mid-life thing, but for me, it was like a wake-up call.
I think I just started to feel my mortality. I realized that life is damn short and I should not live one more minute of it being someone I’m not. Not one minute without adoring myself, all parts of myself, even the not perfect parts.
I decided to embrace the real me!
If I love wearing all black and having purple hair and arms covered in tattoos, then dammit, that’s what I should do! And my occasional lazy tendency, that is exactly what gives me my spontaneity, creativity, and ingenuity!
I have to tell you, I’m honestly the happiest I’ve been in my whole life!
It’s still hard at times, the fear of being judged is strong, but I’m embracing the mantra “If you don’t like it, go away” 😀
This realization not only changed my life, but it also changed my art completely! I’m still on a creative journey, playing and exploring, but I feel a freedom in my art that I never felt before!
I’ve also made it my unofficial mission to inspire as many women as possible to do the same. To love their true selves fiercely and unapologetically!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My art is meant to create “soul connections” with people.
You know that feeling when you walk past artwork after artwork, and suddenly one just captivates you, it speaks to your soul? That’s what I aim to do.
I am fascinated with the symbolism of things, especially things in nature, and how we, as individuals, have distinct interpretations of these symbols. Some similar, some very different, but all of them very unique to us as individuals.
To some, a dragonfly is just a beautiful insect, to others, it’s a portent of good fortune, to a few, it’s memories of summers in their grandparent’s backyard.
I adore it when someone connects with one of my art pieces. I love seeing that connection, it’s always something that shows in their face. It has real meaning to them, they have a deep visceral feeling towards it. It speaks to them, it becomes them! And they always have stories behind that connection and I love listening to them and sharing my own.
It’s really why I create art, creating connections for people. Feelings and memories and ideas and emotions!
I almost exclusively paint with watercolor. I adore the light and transparency you see in watercolor. I also love that it has a bit of a mind of its own… just like me, lol, and I really love the challenge of pitting my will against it. Balancing what I have in my head against what the paint wants to do.
What matters most to you? Why?
100% authenticity and honesty.
It has become very apparent to me as I get older that we’d all be happier if we stopped trying to be something we’re not and learned to love and accept ourselves. As soon as we do that, we are able to love and accept others just as they are too. We are not flawed or wrong, we all just have our own amazing personalities and crazy unique quirks and foibles and that is what makes the world a beautiful place!
Contact Info:
- Website: debsoromenho.com
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/debsoromenho.art
- Facebook: https://Facebook.com/debsoromenho.art
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/debsoromenhoart
- Other: https://linktr.ee/DebSoromenho
