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

Hi Arnaya, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking

This is a really great question and actually something I think about pretty often.

I took a big risk by leaving my career in 2020, where I began exploring my creative side and started painting as a form of therapy. It was a really important step during my journey because it was a necessary tool I used to learn how to effectively express myself. I realized that I had learned to suppress my feelings and emotions to appease people. Painting is my way of disrupting that norm.
Being an artist challenges me to self-reflect in order to learn more about who I am and give grace to the person I was. I’m constantly questioning my choices- Am I going to like this version of myself and know how to nurture her? Will my art be taken seriously by my family and friends and will they support it? Will I be successful and what does success even look like in such a subjective field? What if I fail? I think about the risk of failing myself and my family all the time. I was used to following a very traditional path, as I was the first in my family to go to college, and received both a BS and a Master’s in Criminal Justice. I worked for years in areas of Education Reform and Social Justice, so how does one just walk away from their career and everything they’ve accomplished to get there?
My career was rooted in connecting with people and partnering with them to help them find their voice. Every time I put my art out into the world, in order to be heard and understood, I take a risk, hoping that someone could connect with mine. I think that is where I get to apply my traditional learning and experiences, which is pretty neat. There has to be a level of vulnerability to release parts of yourself in order to be seen while opening yourself up to criticism.
As I continue my journey, I realize those questions rooted in fear may never go away. I have come to believe that art requires risks, and for me, that’s what makes my art so pure and true to who I am. I am constantly battling risk and reward and I think people connect with that.
In short, I have taken risks all my life, but usually out of necessity to reach a desired level that someone told me I needed to achieve. I have come to realize that I consciously chose to leave the more traditional route for art and choose to take risks daily, to fulfill my newfound relationship with my own happiness and success.

Please tell us more about your work. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
I am an intuitive abstract artist who loves to express myself with a variety of textures and colors in my work. I am self-taught, so I do not have an educational background in art as I mentioned, my background is in Criminal Justice. While some may look down on that, I think it sets me apart, because I’m painting from full-on raw emotion rather than a learned skill. I’m not saying one is better than the other, I’m just sharing what I think sets me apart. When I think about the skills I have, they come from years of studying and working in a career that required you to seek to understand people and our behaviors. I see that as an asset when it comes to my art. I think that because I’m learning more about my artistic process daily, it’s constantly exciting for me. I’m always wondering what I’ll learn or discover next. I even get excited about “mistakes” because I’m learning that there aren’t any in the art I’m trying to make. Every “mistake” comes from a very valid place when it’s made, and so it should remain. It deserves a space to be seen and appreciated. I have never looked at mistakes in that way before in my education or my previous career because the goal was to aim for perfection. I’ve learned that it’s so easy to lose yourself when you’re too busy chasing perfection because the goal is to be perfect for others. You forget all about self. Art allows the space for mistakes and imperfection.
Getting to where I am today hasn’t been easy because it’s been filled with a lot of doubt. I left a more traditional path to pursue a path of inconsistency and uncertainty. For someone who has basically been trained to seek security in routine, I’ve absolutely struggled with change. I think this struggle is necessary for my journey but it doesn’t make it any less hard.
My goal is to put my all into my art and allow whatever comes from that, to come. It has been a therapeutic outlet for me and has helped me a lot with getting in touch with myself, so in return, I’ve received a lot of happiness and peace from my process. I think the happiness and peace have come from forming a better understanding and acceptance of who I am finally able to be. I wasn’t meant for restraints or a narrow road. While that initially was a hard pill for me to swallow, it became rather comforting.
If I could describe my brand and leave with folks one thing I’m trying so hard to convey within my art, it would be to choose yourself. When you do the work to finally meet who you truly are, the freedom that comes along with that is out of this world! There’s a confidence that comes with it, there’s a lightness that comes from that, and there’s even a sense of humility that comes with that because you have to leave room for error and be okay with it. Errors and mistakes are needed to see the beauty in the process. Sounds corny but it’s true.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Honestly, if I’m actually out of the house doing something fun, it’s either at a gallery event, a restaurant, or some little jazz spot listening to live music. I’ve always been so bad at picking out places when company comes around because I rely on friends and social media to tell me where to go. I don’t think I’ve been to a single spot more than once yet so if you actually have some ideas, please send them my way.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’ve got a few people to give credit to. I’d first give a huge shoutout to my husband, Brandon, for playing such a significant role in my life and being the first to encourage me to pursue my creative passions, while championing me along the way. I’d then absolutely have to shoutout my sister, Chessica, and my cousin Jason for being my first customers. They gave me the confidence to continue to share my art with the world.

Next, I’d have to thank my best friend Tanya because she pushed me to take my art further by creating my own website, which is super important when you want to be taken seriously in this space. I only recently started painting within the past couple of years, so my website has afforded me even more opportunities.
Lastly, I’d shoutout two friends and art mentors of mine, Brian and Mary. Brian is always willing to make time for me to ask him questions and always lends me advice about the art industry when I need it. Mary is one of the first artists I met in LA. We met through a mutual friend and instantly, she welcomed me with open arms. She is always down to show me different painting techniques and even business strategies to hone my skills.

Since being here in LA, I’ve gotten to cross paths with a few local artists who have taken me under their wing. I think it’s really such a blessing to have such heavy-hitting artists in my corner rooting for me, along with a pretty solid support group as a whole. Whether they feel their actions have had little or no impact, I feel an immense amount of gratitude towards each of them and even others I haven’t mentioned.

Website: https://linktr.ee/artbyarnaya

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

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arnaya-needleman-44b47232

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