Meet Chloe Bren | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Chloe Bren and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Chloe, other than deciding to work for yourself, what else do you think played a pivotal role in your story?
It wasn’t necessarily a single decision, but a series of decisions to trust my instincts every step of the way.

When I first started painting for others, I was what some may call a “purest” per se. I would spend hours sketching out the images in pencil. This process was painstakingly slow, but I wouldn’t have it any other way because in my head a “true” artist would do everything themselves from start to finish. Another example of this was my refusal to use mixed media because a “real” watercolorist would be able to capture light and texture using only this medium. I considered using any other materials to achieve this as cheating. Additionally, I was so preoccupied with what others thought about me—especially when posting it to forums like Instagram and reddit. Every negative comment or criticism would control my thoughts and drive my actions.

As my business grew, I couldn’t keep up with my own silly rules—especially with the beginning process of sketching out my paintings. It became a dreaded process and I wished for it to be easier. I remember the specific portrait—a Labrador named Tilly, whose proportions I just couldn’t get quite right—that finally changed my perspectives and ultimately, my workflow. I had spent two days and several sheets of expensive paper trying to capture this pup when finally, out of frustration, I laid the sheet on top of my ipad, turned off all the lights around me, and just simply traced it. And suddenly, the process that took hours and sometimes days, turned into a 60 second process that gave me more time to master my craft.

Once I discovered I could do this, I never looked back. But when word got out amongst my friends and family, some people gave me a hard time, calling it “cheating” and saying a “true” artist does it all by hand, etc. I remember talking to another artist friend about it and they told me “There’s absolutely nothing wrong with tracing, I do it all the time” and something switched in my brain. Why would I give any merit to what others think about my process? Why would I let the opinions of non-artists dictate how I feel about myself and my craft? Learning how to let go of what other people think allows growth, exploration, and freedom.

Another example of this was letting go of my ideas of purism. Tracing my subjects allowed me more freedom and time to experiment and explore multiple mediums. I could color the same image using different tools, compare, combine and learn from them, etc. I now have the confidence to combine artistic tools when necessary. The results have been extremely satisfactory, at least for me. I consider myself well-versed in watercolors, gouache, colored pencils, and markers all because I trusted my gut. I’m still deep in the process of it all. Still learning and growing.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’ve been drawing and coloring for as long as I can remember. I would constantly gift art pieces to family and friends for birthdays and holidays. That turned into drawing and painting their pets on small cards for christmas. Around 15 years ago, a family friend asked how much I charged for one of those cards and it kind of blew my mind. I started taking small commission orders, not really considering that this could become my living. Every year around the holidays my commission queue grew and I eventually was able to quit my day job to make art full time.

Working for yourself can be very challenging as it takes a lot of dedication and self assurance. Some months are incredibly busy while others are painfully slow. It can be hard to balance the ebbs and flows and trusting that it will all even out in the end.

While I’m primarily known for painting pet portraits, my work is not limited to just that. As a whole, my art respects all walks of life–people, plants, Earth, and animals. I use a variety of media (watercolors, gouache, pencils, markers, microns) to capture landscapes, abstracts, and impressionist pieces. I’ve often thought that maybe I should just stick to one medium, but I find art and expression to be more complex than that.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Are we talking about Denver, specifically or where we live?

I currently live in Portland, Oregon. I host lots of visitors and recommend the following:

Mount Tabor — a beautiful hill surrounded by pine trees and trails that overlook the entire city
Oma’s Hideaway — beautiful, creative, tasty food
Eastbank Esplanade — a long stretch of sidewalk hugging the Willamette River

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Honestly, I’d have to recognize friends and other artists on instagram and reddit. I find the art community in those places to be very supportive and encouraging of each other. Some of my biggest supporters are other artists all around the world.

Website: https://www.chloebren.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chloebbren/

Linkedin: This is actually another instagram link: https://www.instagram.com/roseofultra/