Daily Inspiration: Meet Arin Holecek

Today we’d like to introduce you to Arin Holecek

Arin, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I was raised in a small farming community in the high desert, Northeast corner of California – so far North I was born in Oregon. My grandparents homesteaded in Coppock Bay following WWII, and my brother and I were raised on the family farm. We grew alfalfa, barley, wheat, rye, and sugar beets. My parents were also teachers, writers, and artists. My brother is an artist and musician! My hometown of Tulelake is magical in its raw beauty and pioneering, hardworking spirit; I did not grow up surfing and the temperatures there can reach -30 degrees F. There is snow on the ground there more months out of the year than in Colorado Springs!

I met my husband here in Colorado at The Colorado School of Mines. We got married right out of college and moved around the country, following our jobs and graduate school opportunities, for several years. I have a BS in mechanical engineering and an MS in biomedical engineering, and have worked for the oil industry, medical device industry, and in electronic materials.

Shane is from Colorado Springs, and when he suggested we move back here to raise our three kids, I was thrilled. Having been raised in wide open space within view of mountains, I feel at home here in a way I didn’t feel any place else, in spite of having formed meaningful friendships every place we’ve lived.

I’m very grateful to be here and have met incredible people through the kids’ schools, my various jobs, and throughout the community over the past 10-1/2 years.

I work part time from home as an engineering consultant but am focusing most of my energy outside of raising a family of five (plus two cats, two gerbils, a dog, eight chickens, and ten houseplants!) on my lifelong dream of becoming a paid artist. I’ve created art since I was little, but started oil painting in earnest in 2016, taking classes at the then Fine Arts Center’s Bemis School of Art when the kids were in school. In 2017 I experienced a mental health crisis and numerous abstract watercolors came out of this time period. Painting was a healing way of processing pain and inner turmoil. In the past couple of years I’ve learned of the Zentangle Method and it has inspired me to add ink to existing drawings and paintings of mine. The most exciting development that has come out of this is that I now add ink to glass on top of my existing artwork, which adds depth and complexity to the artwork, literally and figuratively. Reworking old art in this innovative new way allows me to process the difficult experiences that informed the original artwork. In addition, I’ve had four hand and wrist surgeries in the past three years and drawing on glass provides less resistance. Plus, it’s just plain fun!

In September I signed a one year contract to show this art, along with new abstract watercolors and other exciting art to come, rotating monthly, at Carnelian Coffee in Old Colorado City. I am also currently showing the ink-on-glass art in Everyday Girl Adventures in Old Colorado City, I appeared for First Friday Art Walks for December and January, and have become a regular art vendor there. I have plans in the works to offer art workshops at EGA, display heart-based art for February, portraits of women from around the world for Women’s History Month in March, and to share some new art of mine that combines old engineering homework with watercolor, colored pencil, ink, oil pastel, powdered ink, acrylic, and graphite for STEM Week in March. My art will even be featured in a fashion show March 1st at The Antlers Hotel! The fashion show is an Everyday Girl Adventures event.

I have shown art in a number of other locations in the area including Cottonwood Center for the Arts, Commonwheel Artists’ Co-Op, and in both the Fountain and Ute Pass Libraries through the Pikes Peak Library District.

It is a fun, exciting time for me as an artist and I’ve been able to create almost non-stop since August. I’m incredibly grateful for every opportunity I’ve been afforded: I’ve sold several prints and originals, been able to sell art at our grade school’s holiday market, I’m currently working on two commissions, and have applied to an art fair in Manitou Springs. Fingers crossed! I’m so excited for these opportunities and am open to whatever else comes my way!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There have definitely been some challenges on the road to becoming an artist. Attending engineering school and working full-time as an engineer for 15 years, then having three children and staying home full time with a small engineering job on the side for seven years, afforded little time to work as an artist. The kids were still young when I experienced a mixed mania episode in 2017 and was subsequently hospitalized for five days. This was a difficult time; I’m stable now and the kids – 11, 13, and 16 – are thriving, but my drive to create during that time due to the mental illness put a large strain on home life. My family are the love of my life but I feel incredibly driven to make art, so have often felt torn between being present and being an artist. Since the kids have been in school full time, I’ve worked as a postpartum doula, a preschool assistant, a caregiver in the memory care area of a retirement home, and as an executive assistant for an estate planning business, and these endeavors did not allow much leftover time and energy for art either. There have been some physical challenges as well: breaking my wrist, having chronic hand pain, and needing multiple surgeries has been difficult, but I am making great strides through occupational therapy and am determined not to give up. Recently I’ve been experiencing episodes of pain and fatigue due to a nerve disorder, leading to difficulties in creating new artwork and running a business, but again, I’m determined to make it work. Thankfully I have a tremendous amount of support from my husband and children as well as from outside friends and family. Lastly, one very personal challenge involved a falling out with an art mentor after having painted with her for four years. This devastated me, and I didn’t have the confidence to fully return to art for several years. I’m finally in a place in which I believe in myself as an artist and see my art as a beautiful contribution to the world and as a way to inspire and connect authentically with others.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I paint in oils, watercolor, latex, and acrylic. I also draw in graphite, ink, colored pencil, charcoal, chalk pastel, oil pastel, powdered ink, and wax crayon. In terms of subject matter I love portraits, landscapes, animals, still life arrangements, and abstracts. Some interesting work of mine involves taking my old engineering homework and creating art out of it using graphite, ink, colored pencil, oil pastel, watercolor, acrylic, and powdered ink. Most recently I’ve been taking existing drawings and paintings, framing them, and drawing with ink on top of the glass. I started with Zentangle-inspired patterns and expanded to modifying these patterns and combining them with my own patterns. I’m very proud of this innovative method because I haven’t seen it done before. It adds visual depth to existing artwork and is cathartic in that I can process the emotions that drove the original work and see a visual representation of my artistic and personal growth. Most notably, abstract watercolors that came out of my manic period, which were the best way of communicating turbulent emotions and brain activity at the time, now become more ordered visually and in turn lead them to feel more ordered for me internally. I’m most known for luminous colors and inspiring images that connect with others at a deep, heart level.

Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
What I like best about both Denver and Colorado Springs is the diverse array of restaurants, musicians, writers, and artists. I love that both cities offer metropolitan experiences and at the same time pride themselves on their love of mountains, nature, and healthful living. I like least the homelessness and affordable housing shortage in both cities. These are difficult problem to tackle and I don’t have an answer. I’m not critical of the decision makers because I wouldn’t know how best to approach these challenges either. I appreciate that there are many compassionate people and organizations in the community who help by volunteering.

Pricing:

• Prints are available of all of my work. 5×7’s are $10, 8×10’s are $15
• Originals range in price from $25 to $395

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.arinsartwork.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arin_holecek
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/arin_holecek

Image Credits
Ashley Lucas Linville, Jean Walton