Meet Marina Sole | Oil Painter and Artist

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

Hi Marina, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
I find success in small achievements such as finishing a task that I started, achieving weekly goals, and finding peace and maybe even mystery. Success can mean completing a series of paintings, or it can simply mean acknowledging that less is more. Behind my artist career lies a lot of mess, but small achievements, hard work, patience, curiosity, and non-conformism have been my mantras.

Every year, I try to set realistic goals and trust my intuition, but I also leave room for failure and frustration. Making failure part of one’s daily life is a process that takes time. I am solo on this journey, and learning from discomfort is what keeps me going! I assess my own success!
In 2023, I had the impression of being at the third stage out of 10, so I had a celebratory dinner with some friends and we cheered for it! In the 17th century, the old masters used to throw parties and celebrate their own success in this manner.
Why not?

In my view, success is a sensation, a form of self-recognition, and a temporary feeling. The audience/spectator views it as a physical achievement that reflects on them, and they desire to be involved.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I paint almost exclusively in oils. I like to describe my style as surreal nostalgic narratives, shaped in bold colors. Surrealism, Dadaism and Mixed Media. I tease out “the extraordinary” from ordinary scenarios, and feature glimpses of everyday life but with surreal elements. In fact my world is constructed with whimsical elements and objects. I use a Mediterranean light technique to give tenderness and sensitivity to my strokes and shapes. I think this the DNA of my art. I create slow scenarios to evoke mystery, sometimes vague, shaped by intuitive forms, and with a buoyant kick representing ambiguity.

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?
Living in San Francisco offers so much variety and diversity in all aspects! The food is high level, so anywhere you go it won’t disappoint. Now as an artist I would recommend strolling La Mission admiring the street murals while sipping a delicious Matcha from the Japanese café Stonemill Matcha, and picnic in Dolores Park on a sunny day. Another fun activity would be renting a bicycle and crossing the Golden Gate Bridge for a delicious seafood brunch in Sausalito.

The MoMa SF always features incredible exhibits. The space is inspiring and calm – I love going there for a couple hours and then hanging out in Yerba Buena Park which is adjacent to MOMA. North beach is a great nighttime scene for dinner, and for a unique bar experience I love Specs’ Twelve Adler Museum Café, which is truly a cultural institution, open since 1968. Golden Gate Park is a great place to walk and hike on a Sunday ending up at Java Beach Cafe for a drink while watching the sunset.

Another personal recommendation is visit Open Studios of local artists. For example the Hunters Point Shipyard is a converted Navy shipyard that’s been converted to studios for more than 150 artists! My studio is one of them. It is so fun to greet the public for events, or else host private appointments. The next Open Studios at the Shipyard will be April 27&28, and then October 19&20 – it is a wonderful experience for the public to peruse from studio to studio during those events.

There is so much more to do in San Francisco, but I invite you to walk, feel the city and be free!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to dedicate this Shout out to my dear creative friends such as VK, AP and all the surrealist female artists such as Remedios Varo, Leonora Carrington, Leonor Fini, Maruja Mallo, Dorothea Tanning, and more. Women that were ignored and underestimated by 20th century society. They took risks and inspired me to take a leap of faith on my own, to finally let my childlike imagination run free. Realizing that if life gave me the power of painting and creativity, I have to trust my instinct. Arriving to this realization was a long process, with planning, failure, and perseverance!

My success is a product of several overlapping efforts and victories, many intangible. The small achievements are rooted in consistency, love, support from my favorite people. The environment that oneself is in is critical to shape and find perspective.

Success can mean completing a series of paintings, or it can simply mean acknowledging that “less is more.” Behind my artist career lies a lot of mess. But amid the mess are small achievements achieved via hard work, patience, curiosity, and non-conformism. These have been my mantras, which I learned from my mom. She is an artist and a great example to me. She grow up in Catalonia, Spain where in the 70’s it was particularly difficult for a woman to establish “artist” as a profession and not a hobby.

Website: marinasole.com

Instagram: @marinasole_art