Ilene Rubin Artist Bio
Ilene Rubin is a self-taught artist who works primarily in oils but also uses pastels, pencils, and watercolor in a painterly representational style. Influences range from Caravaggio to Monet and Corot, but Ms. Rubin acknowledges that she has learned something revelatory from every artist who has preceded her. She has been fortunate to have had several masterful teachers. She most recently received a First Place Award at the 2024 Winter Juried Exhibition from the Lehigh Art Alliance. Among many other notable awards, she received the Ty Hodanish award for Oil Painting in the Artsbridge/New Hope Arts 2021 Member Art Show and in the 34th Annual Bucks Fever Juried Art Exhibition, ‘Celebrating Bucks County Artists.’
Says Ms. Rubin, “I’m an artist who feels very strongly about the emotional and instinctive force which drives the creative process. I am compelled to create my environment in the totality of its potential, seeing texture and color wherever I look. I strive to reveal what’s below the paint, an invitation to walk in and look around. Then I know I have captured a moment that is unique yet familiar. If it made a viewer consider its innate beauty, then I feel I have conveyed something about my vision.”
When did you know you were an artist?
I knew I wanted to be an artist almost as soon as I could hold a crayon and would tell anyone who asked. I won a drawing contest from the local newspaper when I was about nine years old.
When and why did you decide to pursue art as a career?
I decided to pursue art after going to school and working in retail management, after getting married and having kids. At first it was very part time, but as I felt more confident and comfortable that I had something to contribute, it became more permanent and long term.
What’s been your hardest challenge?
The hardest challenge I had was to overcome what I called the ‘disconnect’ between my brain and my hand; being able to translate what I wanted to create into something that felt close to my ideas.
What successes or achievements are you most proud of?
I’m most proud of the accomplishments that go beyond awards, sales, entry into art shows and galleries, and features in magazines or on TV. Those are wonderful, certainly, and I was just gushing with happiness at each one–but the best is the way my family perceives my work as being worthy of their joy. They’re quite pleased with what I do and that makes me just as happy as a first-place prize. I feel very humbled to see that my children and husband view what I do as a worthwhile pursuit.
What’s your advice for anyone who wants to explore art or creativity, but can’t seem to find the time or is intimidated by a blank canvas?
For anyone who wants to pursue creativity but can’t find the time, it’s ok if it’s a hobby or a very occasional way to spend time. But if more is desired, the time needs to be dedicated to learning the craft and to becoming proficient. When confronted with a blank canvas, cover the white! Just dig in and get started. It doesn’t matter what it’s covered with so long as it’s covered by you!
The one element that is necessary is time to get from the first day you pick up a brush (or whatever you use) to where you want to get to. An outlier is a person who puts in at least 10,000 hours in their craft. Break that down into small increments and you’ll see that if you want it badly enough, you’ll get there in less time than you’d think and the hours fly by–and you’ll be doing what you love!! I’m an outlier; I’ve racked up way more than that and it still feels like it’s a minute!
Now, happily, I don’t feel like there’s so much of a ‘disconnect’ between my brain and my hands anymore. If I can think about it, I can feel it, and I can practice it and then I can see it on my canvas. So can you! Join a class, find a teacher, buy some art stuff, it doesn’t have to be the most expensive – you can even buy second hand. It’s all up to you, whatever you can see in your mind, you can put into something real too.
_______________ART@EPL is the library’s exciting partnership with the Lehigh Art Alliance and the Lehigh Valley Arts Council. The series is funded through a grant from PA Partners in the Arts, making it possible for area residents to enjoy free art lectures and workshops from local artists working in pastels, charcoal, sculpture, and watercolor among others.
