Meet Crystal Powell: Artist

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

Hi Crystal, what’s your definition for success?
I define success by being able to understand your passions and following them through to the finish. It’s easy to want something but a lot harder to follow through till you actually achieve it. Even within my own art, I believe that finishing the piece makes me feel more successful then actually selling it because finishing the pieces makes me feel happy and accomplished while selling it can sometimes leave me sad and missing the piece. Either way, success to me is envisioning a piece and finishing it.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
For the past sixteen years I have been showing and selling my artwork throughout San Diego and L.A. County. An art teacher I had once told me that my journey was unique because I started backwards meaning I’ve always been really good at art and then I decided to go to school for what I loved instead of relying on school to teach me everything I knew. I’d have to say my greatest accomplishment during my schooling so far has been making 2 deans cry on totally separate, unrelated occasions, through my artwork. Outside of school I have enjoyed showcasing my artwork in many different venues of all sizes and durations. In regards to my greatest artistic accomplishment, I’d have to say winning a nationwide competition put on by Lays/Cheetos takes the cake. I participated in a Halloween Cheeto Monster contest and my Cheeto sculpture won the $50K grand prize and it was featured in a short Cheeto film. My style of artwork started out as surreal oil paintings, pencil drawings and sculpture work. Now I find myself painting more realistic acyclic and oil portraits of both people and animals. Everyone says that my paintings jump off the page which I think comes a lot from the fact that I mix my own colors which I love to saturate. I also love to incorporate florescent colors as highlights. Nothing makes me feel better than seeing someone’s face light up when they see a portrait of a loved one or loved pet, which is why I think my artwork has gone in this direction.

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?
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Website: https://www.indirecteffectsart.com
Instagram: indirecteffectsart
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/indirecteffectsart