Meet Ingrid Magidson | Artist

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

Hi Ingrid, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I am an artist, so starting a business wasn’t really my first priority. I grew up in a family of artists with a lot of the roller coastering that goes with it. When I was a teenager, I witnessed my father take all his paintings into the yard and burn them in frustration. I vowed at that moment to never become an artist.

Never say never.

In 2005, I was working with my husband in his art gallery and just had this – itch. “I have to make art! But what?” So I spoke to him about it and he encouraged my exploration. He cleared out the one car garage, put in a table, a chair and an easel and said. “It’s yours, let me know if you need anything.” So fast forward 18 months, many sleepless nights and multiple dead-ends to my first one person show in Aspen. At this point, I had sold precisely one work of art. On the Wednesday before the Friday reception, all my new works were laid against the gallery walls, ready to be hung. A client walks in and buys 6 pieces, another buys 2, another buys one from the invitation. By the next day (a day before the opening) the exhibition was sold out.

So I guess you could say on July 7, 2007, my business was born. I’ve never looked back.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’ve never heard an artist say that art is easy. There are moments/hours that things flow and time disappears and you turn around and marvel, “did I do that?” And when that happen, there is nothing like it. It’s what a bird must feel in the sky. And at other times, nothing’s working and you just want to throw it all away. But it is all part of the creative process, when you’re making the art, cleaning a brush or even thinking about it before bed. That’s the thing about being an artist, even though I put aside work hours, it is not a job, but a life.

I’m very proud of the work I’ve created, it is truly unique. It started in that small garage my husband cleared out for me 18 years ago. During that time, I thought back to my childhood, my father taking me and my siblings to the museum. I would look at the paintings and he would tell me about the thousands more that were in the basement storage. It broke my heart that no one would see all those beautiful works hidden away in dark storage

I decided my art would be about bringing art and the people in it back to life. They were spirits, so they would have to be painted like spirits, and I would show their lives, not forgotten, but celebrated. That’s when I got the idea of making the images transparent and float, like spirits. I used renaissance and baroque images on acrylic, transparent images that you can see through. Behind them I create a world of paint, antique objects, fabrics, dolls, books, bottles, butterflies and more. It is a kind of reverse illusion. At a glance they look flat, these highly detailed paintings, but as you walk around, you see the objects inside that make up the art.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’m no longer a city person and now live in a rural part of Colarado about 45 minutes from Aspen. But I love showing off our beautiful nature. One great adventure is buy a picknic lunch, then rent e-bikes in Aspen and ride up to base of Marron Bells, the most photographed place in America. Then take the hike up to Maroon Lake and eat lunch. Another of my favorite hikes is Hanging Lake outside of Glenwood Springs. It is pristine mountain lake perched on the edge of a cliff with vistas that take your breath away. Independence Pass, Cathedral Lake, Conundrum hot springs, Lost Man Loop, Linkin Lake, Mushroom Rock just a few minutes from Carbondale, and so many more. To meet interesting people (artists in my case) go to the many events at the ArtBase in Basalt or the Launch Pad in Carbondale. And for live theater, Thunder River Theater in Carbondale is always great.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’m so glad you have this question. There really is no success that happens without many many people to guide and help us along the way. First, I want to thank all the artists who have come before us. We walk on a path paved with their paint, sweat and blood. From the first person who crawled into a cave to carve an antelope on the wall to da Vinci, Rembrandt, Picasso and so many more.

Art is a lonely profession, just you and the canvas so much of the time, sometimes clawing creativity from your own soul. Those who live around you can suffer from this exercise. So I thank my loved ones, the ones who never give up on me, my friends, my artist parents, my children and my husband. Without you, I would just be lost.

Of course, without viewers there cannot be art, so I thank my collectors, my galleries.

And finally, I thank my muses, those mysterious forms that give inspiration and ideas so often in the quiet hours of the night. Because really, I’m only the conduit.

Website: https://IngridMagidson.com

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

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ingrid-dee-magidson-0209a314

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ingridmagidson

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IngridDeeMagidson

Youtube: https://youtube.com/user/Ingriddeemagidson

Other: Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/magidson/ TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@ingridmagidsonartist

Image Credits
Jay Magidson