No Products in the Cart
Artist turned graphic designer turned back to artist, Mandy Budan is a wonderful addition to our My Wonderful Walls collection of featured artists. She draws from the natural beauty of the Canadian landscapes around her to paint and sketch gorgeous abstract art. We have been lucky enough to turn some of her paintings into high quality wall decals. This is great news for those who can’t hang permanent art or put nails in to their walls but want to add some color and light to their home or place of business. Choose from great wall stickers like the powerful Kaleidoscope, showing a summer forest in hues of green, blue, yellow, red and purple or Summer in the Garden, a giant sunflower wall decal with golden tones, perfect for bringing sunshine into your home. There is something for everyone and every season in this amazing collection of abstract nature art decals. Now that you’ve seen her work, get to know Mandy with this Q&A:
My Wonderful Walls: Where were you born?
Mandy Budan: Toronto, Canada
MWW: Where do you currently live now?
MB: Pickering, just east of Toronto
MWW: Were you always interested in art? How and when did you begin?
MB: I was always interested in art. I went to an art-centric high school and then switched to graphic design at college. I juggled both graphic design and fine art until just recently, and I am now painting full-time!
MWW: When did it turn professional?
MB: I started selling online in 2005, prints and small originals and it has just kept growing from there.
MWW: Did you go to school to study art/graphic art?
MB: In high school I studied painting, figure drawing, art history, photography illustration and typography. I took graphic design in college so there was less emphasis on fine art and more on advertising and marketing.
MWW: In a few adjectives, how would you describe yourself? Your art?
MB: Myself: contemplative, happy, optimistic. My art: precise, rhythmic, and colorful.
MWW: What inspires your art?
MB: I find the landscape around my very inspirational. I am fortunate to live in a beautiful area with walking trails, lakes and woodlands all around me.
MWW: What medium(s) do you prefer?
MB: I prefer acrylic on wood (canvas is too bouncy for me) and I like to sketch digitally.
MWW: What are your favorite things to paint?
MB: I like to paint pretty much anything that's not man-made; I look for dramatic shapes and lighting in trees, flowers and other landscape elements.
MWW: What is your favorite My Wonderful Walls wall sticker you have been involved with creating?
MB: I like the idea of Kaleidoscope being a My Wonderful Walls sticker - it's very narrow shape will make it stand out nicely.
MWW: Tell us about your artistic environment.
MB: I have a small space in our basement office with easel, computer and many, many wood panels and tubes of paint. I have to be careful as my supplies seem to grow magically when I'm not looking and I'm worried about running out of room!
MWW: What is the best time for you to create?
MB: I tend to set up regular business hours for painting - and use evenings and weekends for the more administrative stuff. I love this job and can't wait to go to work every day.
MWW: What are some of your other interests?
MB: I love geocaching, which I like to combine with getting photo references for new paintings. I used to own a science fiction and fantasy bookstore and I still love to read.
MWW: Is anyone else in your family an artist?
MB: My mother was a costume designer for Canadian television for many years, my sister creates one-of-a-kind art dolls and in my immediate family my daughter writes.
MWW: Do you live solely off your art or do you have another job/career?
MB: I recently left the web design industry to concentrate solely on painting. I'm not quite able to live of my art but that is a future that I'm working toward.
MWW: Do you have a favorite piece of work you’ve done? If so, what?
MB: My favorite piece always seems to be the one I'm working on. I'm always hopeful that this time I'll get it right, this time the colours and shapes and the line between realism and abstraction will be exactly the way it's supposed to be.
MWW: How did you get involved with My Wonderful Walls?
MB: I was 'discovered' on Fine Art America and I was delighted to be asked to join.
MWW: Where can people see more of your work?
MB: I have a portfolio site at www.abstractlandscapepainting.com and a blog where I try to show works in progress.
If you love vibrant abstract landscapes and nature inspired art, please check out the Mandy Budan Collection at My Wonderful Walls. All of the wall decals in this collection are made of our unique fabric material which is repositionable, removable, and reusable. Our wall stickers boast a natural/organic look as if each were made from beautiful handmade paper.
For more from Mandy, check her out on Facebook for a behind the scenes look at her inspiration and work!
Blog post written by Tara
