Andrea Chebeleu — Maker Interview -

Andrea Chebeleu is the owner and artist behind A Work of Heart Studio in San Jose California, started in 1998.

Andrea loves her daily creative practice and sharing knowledge of materials and processes with others. She finds great joy in breaking down seemingly complicated processes into simple steps and has adopted a guiding principle of “First, Not Only”. The attitude of “first, not only” gives us permission to playfully explore without fear.

Currently most of Andrea’s live classes are happening via zoom. Her mixed media membership “Watch.Learn.Play” has been open since August 2021 and contains over 250 short mixed media lessons.

When not focusing on art and the business Andrea enjoys fostering kittens for her local county and takes pride in placing each and every furry baby in loving homes.

What does mixed media art mean to you?

At the most basic level it means mixing mediums in one piece. Acrylic paints, pastels, papers. It is the “anything goes” sort of art that lights me up!

How long have you been a mixed media artist?

I’ve been dabbling in mixed media art since around 2005.

How has art impacted or enhanced your life?

Art is so intertwined in my life it is difficult to identify just one way it has impacted or enhanced it. Art is my way of life. It is the lens through which I view nearly everything.

Tell us about your creative process.

I watch, learn and play my way through my creative process. Gathering inspiration can be within the art community or from life in general but typically I follow what is lighting me up, what I’m curious about and what I want to learn more about.

What inspires you?

Art supplies, colors, shapes/designs, my surroundings. All of these things inspire me.

What do you do when faced with a creative block or rut?

I tidy my desk, sort some painty papers or basically do something mundane like swatching paints. The creative blocks I face these days are either because I have too many ideas and don’t know where I want to start or simply because I’ve scheduled too much and haven’t taken as much quiet time in my journal. Often it is a simple change of scenery that gets me around the block or out of the rut.