Today we’d like to introduce you to Corey Moortgat.
Hi Corey, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m a lifelong artist and have spent my life making and creating in one way or another. As a child and teenager, I was known for being the “art girl” who could design your logo, paint your sign, or help you with the homecoming float.
I’ve always been blessed to have found jobs where I could remain creative. In college, I majored in art, then went on to earn a Master’s degree in Art Therapy. Since then, I’ve worked in numerous creative fields: art therapy, custom framing, writing, rubber stamp design, and art instruction. I’ve also worked in various media: drawing, painting, photography, collage, and assemblage.
When COVID hit in 2020, I purchased an online painting class to stay productive and quickly became immersed in painting again, reveling in the bold, colorful style I developed due to the class. I had found a style that felt more like “me” than any other artwork I’d done in the past, and it thrilled me!
The company I’d been working for during this time was forced to close due to the pandemic, and two hours after hearing the news, I was contacted by the owner of the online painting school asking if I’d like to work there. Amazing! Now, three years and hundreds of paintings later, I still work for that online school, instructing and mentoring students in painting myself!
In addition to my teaching position, I’m currently working as a professional artist, looking to get my work into galleries and selling paintings through my website and word of mouth. I take commissions from around the world and have won awards in numerous exhibitions, both online and in Jacksonville. With my newly-rekindled love of painting, I’m just beginning this new journey! It’s exciting to be on this path.
Would it have been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
As I mentioned earlier, I feel blessed that I’ve been able to work in creative fields throughout my life, so I never felt like that desire of mine was stifled. That means a lot, as I know that other artists are only sometimes that lucky. The one thing I’ve struggled with, though, especially now that I’m trying to move into a professional realm, is finding the right market for my work. I consider myself a portrait artist, and portraiture differs from what many people gravitate towards when looking for art. And while I paint other subjects, my real passion lies in portraiture and expressing my emotions through the human face. So I’m still struggling to balance sellable art and that which feeds my soul.
Let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I love to paint. And though I’ve worked in other media, the paint and the brushes have lured me back, time and time again. There’s something so delicious about brushstrokes against the canvas, both in the creation and the finished piece.
I’ve painted various subjects over the years, but my work is focused mostly on portraiture. The human face is beautiful; it’s expressive. My portraits illustrate more than just a beautiful face or the likeness of a particular person, though. Instead, my portraits depict emotion, often sad and often painful. Such a story can be told through a person’s eyes, in the quirk of the lips, and I love the challenge of bringing that story out.
My passion for portraiture has grown organically but has recently been influenced by personal events. Over the past several years, mental health issues have nearly overtaken my family. They have rocked our world and have brought us all to our knees. It’s been tough navigating this as a mother and wife, even just as a human being. There are days it’s all I can do not to cry, hours when holding in the screams feels like torture.
But the fortunate thing is that though my life seems to be falling apart at times, my paintings have begun to hold me together. Those tears and screams so close to the surface can’t be expressed in my daily life. However, they can be expressed in my paintings. Throughout this difficult journey, my artwork has become an outlet for me. It’s become a way for me to give voice to those hard, desperate emotions. Colors and brushstrokes tell my story even though my words often cannot. Expressing myself this way is therapeutic, sometimes even cathartic, release.
Not only that, but my viewers tell me my paintings do the same for them. They relate to my portraits; they write their own stories into the faces that I paint. This is a true gift. As I mentioned earlier, I was trained as an art therapist. I no longer work in that profession, but my work today is just as important in many ways. Emotions aren’t always easy; they aren’t always kind; however, they can be beautiful if you look deeply enough. I find that beauty amidst the chaos, and I allow the beauty to have a voice, too.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
The COVID crisis brought me to this place in life. It inspired me to take an online art course, which led to me focusing on portraiture. The COVID situation is parallel to the message my artwork tells. COVID was a terrible, awful thing, but in many ways, it brought me to a place I wouldn’t have been had I not endured it. In much the same way, my paintings depict hard, desperate emotions, but I try to show the beauty in those emotions if you can look past the pain.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.coreymoortgat.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/brushstrokesbycoreymoortgat
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/coreymoortgatart
