grace c. schlea
born 1990 Cleveland Ohio
as an oil painter - I focus on portraiture & the human figure in motion - though I am often commissioned to paint architecture & city scenes
Images Taken by Oona of Dragonfly Photography
grace has worked in many mediums! Her watercolor & gouache work displays a playful & illustrative edge, while her oil painting pieces reach for a classical & impressionist feel.
#inthestudio
“As portraiture is my main source of commission work, I strive for realism in my paintings and seek to learn from past and present painting masters. But I do prefer my paintings to look like paintings rather than photographic realism. I want viewers to see the grooves of the brushstrokes and notice where the bristles touched. ”
When I was a kid, I sketched all the time. Mostly animals - pictures of equestrian shows and boaters in Venice I found in calendars and encyclopedias. Creating adventures through writing and illustration was something I always thought would be my cup of tea, however, I wouldn’t let myself make a full career out of it until 2018.
Having earned my Bachelor of Science in 2013, I became a licensed intervention specialist and worked the next 2 years as an educator & advocate for children with moderate/severe disabilities.
Drawing and painting was a natural form of learning for many of my students, so I often incorporated art therapy techniques into our classroom. In 2015, I made a career shift into wellness incentive insurance for a company in Cleveland - still working 40 hrs weekly but no more lesson planning in the evenings and weekends. For 3.5 years I worked within a team, creating and editing digital programs to fit the style and demographic of the clients who bought our product. I worked with dozens of clients across the US from my desk in Ohio. This job helped fund and further my personal painting projects. During these years I began accepting commission requests in the evenings and on the weekends. I began building an online presence, and I was amazed at the consistent flow of inquires for my paintings from new clients.
I kept on painting and said yes to every single design job and painting commission that came my way.
the July of 2018 brought a opportunity
A co-worker connected me with a self publishing author who needed a freelance illustrator for a children’s book. I met for coffee - learned about the book idea - and said YES and connected with the author Andrea Kryszak!
We made the book happen! check that out here:
Since that month , I left my cozy, full-time job, and began to work 30 hr weeks with painting commissions and illustration clients. I only worked 20-25 hour part time for extra money. It worked well! The part time work since 2018 has been a mix of marketing for a greenhouse, event planning for a local non-profit, teaching elementary art lessons for after-school programs, and even nannying for a doctor friend during the rough 2020-21 pandemic years.
