The U is Silent; We Aren’t-Episode 9
Culture in Color: Noelia Núñez Blends Community, Mediums, and Mindfulness
From the brick facades of Beverley Street to the rolling Blue Ridge Mountains, the Shenandoah Valley’s scenery is Noelia Núñez’ palette. Dive into her creative painting process, learn how social media catapulted her work, and hear why she keeps community and culture at the heart of every brushstroke.
About This Podcast
The U may be silent, but Staunton has a lot to say. Join Visit Staunton as we sit down with inspiring individuals at the top of their craft. We’re chatting about what drives their passion, the actions behind the impact, and a little about the place where they’re making it all happen.
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TRANSCRIPT
00:09
Hello and welcome back to the US silent. We aren’t podcast brought to you by visit Staunton, Virginia, right here in Staunton, Virginia. This has been such a fun process where, you guys know, listening in, we have just had such amazing conversations with people that are so filled with passion and innovation. And that’s why I am extremely excited about our guests today because she encapsulate, encapsulates both of those ideas so clearly and so well. So
00:38
Welcome to the show, Noelia Nunez. Yes. Wonderful. Thank you so much. I’m so happy to have you here. And I’ve been such a fan of your work since I first moved to Staunton and even before I knew who you were, was like, Oh my gosh, who did this? Who did this? And then it became so clear, your style that then when I would go by your pieces, I’m like, this is a Noelia piece. So if you wouldn’t mind for listeners kind of describing and sharing a little bit of
01:07
your artistic style and your work and just a little bit about yourself. Okay. Thank you for having me again. I have found a little bit of my style throughout just creating in Staunton and like around the area. So I do a lot of my painting either like looking at the mountains or looking at the architecture around here.
01:32
And I basically just found my style by just doing it and experimenting. And I was very lucky to be around a lot of artists around in Staunton as well that kind of pushed me along in that kind of aspect of trying to like figure out where I really belonged in my art and allowed myself to see like, oh, I actually can, you know, just create freely without feeling like I have to be exactly like this or like that. So.
02:02
That’s basically, I just kind of did paintings here and there and drew and I found my style just by child narrow, I guess, and figuring out what I liked and what I felt around what I was creating. So that’s basically how I found it overall. Yeah, and you really do, you have such a signature style of
02:30
Well, I mean, as you can see here, even you always envelop so much color and creativity, but also I feel like you blend realism with also this deeper artistic expression. And I would love for you to share a little bit too. So your family moved here when you were a young child. And please check my pronunciation on me, from Uruguay? Uruguay. Uruguay. so how do you feel that
02:58
that having these multiple cultural experiences and diverse cultural experiences, do you feel like that shaped your artistry at all? I do feel like it shaped my artistry. I was lucky enough where even though I was really young, I do remember images of Uruguay and I have gone back, those memories have come more solid. But I do remember just the color and the light and that.
03:27
Bringing that in with creating was a sense of like, do have that in the background. the United States and both in Virginia has shaped me. I always say that my parents always brought up that Virginia reminded them a lot of the countryside in Uruguay, where around they grew up. And so it was really like, they found kind of that home in that sense of like, it reminded them of like,
03:56
you know, that like beautiful pastures and like the cows on the air. And I think that shaped my background as an artist too, because I do a lot of the landscapes around the area, as well as the color of the architecture around here. So I definitely think that being from Uruguay and having those, that background has shaped my artistry and how I view even like
04:25
my everyday life and how I it. What do mean by that? Just by like, I feel like as a kid, I would look at everything so deeply of like how the light hits something or how, you know, things aligned with each other. Even here, I pay attention to like our town is so hilly that there’s so many layers to it. Even when you look over, you can see multiple like, you know, buildings at one time.
04:55
So I think Uruguay definitely shaped that. And I never remember that both aspect of the city life. We moved a little bit over there, and I remember the beach and all that. So it did shape me as just to observe more and to take in life a little bit deeper with the colors and the light. And so I do think Virginia has brought all those things together, too. Yeah, that’s so interesting, the similarities. I am curious something you just said.
05:25
So you mentioned when you even when you were younger and I’m sure especially now that you know This is so much of your career but when you were younger you mentioned that That you would recognize like how the the lights and the shadows hit certain area Did you feel that way as you’ve started painting you recognized it or almost reversed that when you started painting? You were naturally able to see those things and do feel like one came before the other I actually
05:51
feel like it was after that I realized what I was paying attention to. And it shaped how I painted, but I didn’t realize that I was doing it when I was painting it. It was not in my brain as like, there’s that, you know, this is, you know, how I see it exactly. It was like more of just like feeling it in that way. I think as I’ve gotten older, I see, oh, like that’s how I paid attention in those light and darks and…
06:19
For a while I thought I didn’t, I thought it was not there and I was just like missing the point of like painting. But then I realized that that was the whole point is how I viewed it was coming through the canvas. I just needed to let myself feel it out and I’ll be so hard on like every single aspect of it. But I do like realize that as I’ve gotten older and as I’ve seen my work progress that
06:48
those things have always been there and I’m just allowing myself to like, oh yeah, like just put that there even though it feels a little off right now, it might be okay. it, you know, that’s how I see it. And when I step back, I’m like, oh yeah, that’s okay. Like that feels good, that looks good. It’s definitely more of a feel than like a logical thing I feel like. Yeah, my…
07:12
scenic design professor in college, used to always say, trust the process. It was like our motto and not my motto to life. But he’s like, I don’t know about this. He’s like, trust the process, trust the process. And then you get to the end and you’re like, oh, oh yeah. Yeah, definitely. That’s how exactly it is. It’s like you have to allow yourself to be in it and just trusting and almost trusting yourself to figure it out as you go.
07:37
Well, on that side of things, I know you have kind of stated of your inspiration that you draw a lot of inspiration from both your inner world and your external environment. Can you kind of elaborate on that dynamic and how you use it as an artist, but then also how you see it in your final process of it? Can you try to talk about that? I think like my inner world, I was thinking of like more of how I internalize things. think…
08:07
I have allowed myself to be more open to sharing that and the external and my art has been like a venue for that. As well as like, I do teach yoga too. So I think those two worlds of like allowing myself to be in that space in my mind and like what I see and how I process life to come out through like what I do, either through my art or through if I’m teaching yoga or if I’m
08:36
coaching at the high school and helping out and just feeling those things of like being observant, but not staying in there, more like allowing those questions to like answer themselves through like the process again of like creating what I feel or like if I’m doing a commission for someone to also like, even though those thoughts of like inside of our heads of, oh, this is not like, you know.
09:04
maybe good enough or trying to figure out like your thoughts really can shape things as you, you know, but at the same time, allowing yourself to like externalize those thoughts in the way of like step by step, just putting them out there, I feel like. But yeah, I feel like I’ve always been very observant as even as a child, I would question a lot of things and art has allowed myself to express that.
09:34
more freely and more open and to explore the question. Yeah, explore the questions. And it’s a wonderful way. feel like a lot of artists feel that way too of like, there’s a lot in our minds and I think a lot of us deal with that. yeah, art has been a great, you know, just way to express the and be outside of your mind a little bit. So yeah, I think I think that that’s how I would see it and internalized and
10:03
externalized as well. you mentioned that you, mean, you have a few different paths, right? So of course, as, as an artist, a painter, but also your yoga instructor, and then you also coach youth in, in sports as well. Do you feel like there’s overlap that one helps another, or do you feel like they kind of give you totally separate points of focus? I definitely think that they all help each other out.
10:30
For a long time, I think I fought with myself that I had to be in one path. And then I realized, like, no, I think every little thing that I’m doing is allowing the next thing to feed each other. In a way, they feed each other. And I allowed myself to be in that creative space, because I can be creative as a coach in creating the workouts or how I speak to them or how…
11:00
They speak to me sometimes, oh my God, they give me so many great ideas just by chatting about what I’m doing or working on too. Kids are very free too and it’s awesome being around them. But my art helps my yoga sometimes and my yoga when I’m flowing, sometimes I see what I wanna work on and envision things and I think allowing yourself to be in those spaces as separate but then they blend into each other.
11:29
So yeah, for a long time I felt like, oh my gosh, why can’t I just get it together? Why can’t I just do one thing and just stick to it 100 %? And then, I mean, life is so many layers anyway. So they definitely feed into one another. Yeah, we actually, just had a creative morning session recently and that was kind of the theme is parallels, but sometimes like parallel is not actually this. Sometimes it looks.
11:56
like this, it’s our interests, our intentions of how they align, even though the path doesn’t quite look like a straight line, the intention does. So yeah, I think that that I’m like, yeah, that’s right in line with that. So I would like to go all the way back, though, because I always find it fascinating, especially I know you you work with young people. Do you do you recall like some of the first moments that either?
12:24
either somebody expressed or you yourself thought like, I think I may have a really good talent or skill or something for painting. Do you like remember that moment? I do actually. There’s been a few moments that have pushed me into the more like artistic life, I think, and allowing myself to explore painting for a long time. I just drew and I would just do like pen and ink and I would just stick to more of like
12:53
I thought it was safer to stay in that route. And then I feel like I started doing more painting as I watched people around me do it. There’s like a great community here of artists again, I’m Staunton. And I was like, maybe I could be that. So I allowed myself to be in that space. And I went into actually a Mary Baldwin class. took a painting class.
13:20
After my Blooridge community classes, I went into that thinking I was gonna do my teaching degree. And then I decided to step away from it. But I did take that semester at Mary Baldwin and I remember that teacher, we were only six women in the class, or six girls. And there was so many styles of like painters. And I remember I didn’t belong in there. Because there was like,
13:48
I’m an incredible talent. And I was just like, this is not like, I’m not there. Like that’s, and my teacher came up to me and he’s like, cause we would just paint basically the whole time we were there. He just free, like he was like, okay, here’s us. I mean, you just do your thing. And it was very freeing because he came up to me and he was like, cause I thought it had to be a certain way, right? Cause we all were like so different, but I was like, Oh my, I’m comparing myself to the next person. And he said, you paint so naturally. Don’t.
14:17
don’t box yourself in basically. And I remember thinking and I was like, he’s my painting teacher and he’s letting me be like, just be you. Like just do your thing, yeah learn, but just don’t hold yourself back because you think you need to be something else right now. And I remember those words really clearly of like, just paint naturally, just go for it. I think as a painting teacher, it was more important to me because I was like, okay, this is a teacher. A lot of my friends and family had said it.
14:47
but it was different of allowing myself to just be in that and call myself like, oh, okay, I can be an artist in this way. It doesn’t have to be, even though, I mean, those girls were amazing. So yeah, I think that was a big moment for me. One of the big moments that helped me kind of push me along like, okay, just create, just go for it.
15:13
And now, I I think many of us would say like, this is your signature style. Like you have created that style for yourself now that is very recognizable in our world here. So I would like to talk about that style. So as you can see, this beautiful spot, was telling you before, this is, it’s really not a secret, but it feels, sometimes we just need to like hide for just a second to like get a brain break or work through or do some writing if there’s some things to do on that side.
15:40
And this is one of my favorite spots in town. It’s right behind the R.R. Smith Art Center, which is just incredible indoors. And many people go indoors, but right behind is this beautiful public garden. It’s a beauty, beauty space that you can just sit and be for for a while. You often, not always, you pay a big variety, but you do often capture this great
16:08
balance of Staunton from like this and it’s true of Staunton. think you capture it very well of this nature and natural beauty around us, but also this deep historic architecture that we have. How do you, I guess, why do you find such inspiration and even just our general surroundings here in Staunton? Like what calls to you from our area here? I think it’s the fact that it is very historically like preserved too.
16:37
people really care about what it looks like, how it comes together. It’s almost like an art piece come together, like a puzzle piece. And I feel like the city has done a really good job in creating that. Like, even though we’re all individuals and we all have our different things happening, they want to preserve that as a community, as a one. But there’s so many different architecture styles too, and different like…
17:05
buildings and how like you look up and it’s like, oh my God, like we were talking earlier, like layers of buildings up and down and like the colors and I’ve always been drawn to that aspect of, know, Staunton, you look at any corner and it’s like, it’s so cool, you know, and like there’s so many, yeah, the detail. But it’s also colorful and vibrant and it’s, it’s not common that you see that in places of this bright color, but also like you look into
17:31
the molding or the just corner of the doorframe of a building. And it’s like these special shapes and yeah. And I’ve always been really drawn to it. And I started doing more of like just looking at, you know, the different, you know, shapes of like the buildings. And I started playing around more with creating these little spots that people knew. And I was very like, there was something that called me into that.
18:00
space of like, oh, that would be such a cool painting or that would be such a cool like little mini, you know, sketch or something. So I’m drawn to like the layers and the colors and how everything kind of comes together, but it’s separate. It stands on its own too with, you know, the businesses. And I’ve been really lucky to work with some businesses around town and creating like their image or like their little look of.
18:27
And it’s awesome if you look at every storefront. It’s really beautiful. They have created something, an incredible thing. But yeah, I love that spot right here. I did the artist in residency with the art center here and I come and go a lot. So some artists were inside and I was more outside whenever I could. And I just stood out there and did a couple of paintings from different views. But yeah, I think it’s that. It’s the like…
18:56
attention to detail that we have here. just, it’s, mean, any time of day there’s cool lighting and how the light hits the buildings and creates, you know, different warmth to each color. So yeah, I’m really, I love those things. I love even, you know, I’ve seen you painting in town and several others and it always just, it’s not lost on me at all. Like how special and unique it is here that
19:26
Some days I’ll just be walking through town on like just a Wednesday afternoon and an artist like yourself or somebody else will just be out painting from inspiration or somebody will just be playing music or cello or whatever it might be. And I’m like, this is not like, this is not something to take for granted in a small town. And it just, feels very magical, but I am curious from you because as an artist, sometimes it is an anomaly to
19:54
to say, I’m gonna stay in a small town and create here. Though your family came here at a young age, what has drawn you specifically as you’ve grown into adulthood and as an artist to put roots down here? I think it’s funny, because for a long time, I thought I wanted to move away from here, because it is like…
20:15
a slower paced town. And I think a lot of us that grew up around here feel that way. I do, I find this incredible, just like you said, like the roots are so strong. There’s, yeah, there’s that family aspect. There’s also those friends that, you know, I grew up with, but also like feel like the town creates this community itself that create like.
20:43
It’s almost like a family-based community where you know each other, you know, like people’s kids or you know, like I’ve coached, you know, kids, I’ve babysat. So it’s that community of like knowing people and trusting people in that way that has led me to feel like, this is like, it just feels good. It feels right. And it feels like I can go elsewhere and visit and like go and travel. And that’s wonderful, you know, but this kind of feels like it kind of pulls me back in.
21:12
into that centering of my own in a way. So yeah, I’ve had that question for myself a few times the past couple of years, and I feel like it just feels very like we are lucky. We are very lucky to have a space of community in this way. And just knowing that, that always people are like, oh, you know, you’re always traveling or you’re doing this and doing that. But…
21:40
just coming home and it’s like, feels like home. And so I feel like, I don’t know, it’s been a trial and error of trying to figure that out for a while, but it just feels right at the end of the day of like, oh, there’s so many layers to our lives. And then you end up with what feels the best in a way of like,
22:07
your community, but also like, can I build here? What can I, you know, how do I connect myself to other people here? How do I connect myself to myself here? So I think that’s where I end up every time. It’s kind like that home base. Yeah. Well, it’s interesting too, I think, especially from an artist standpoint of once, once you, you give yourself permission to feel at rest and at peace in a place, then I think it gives so much more freedom.
22:37
Well, even not even just an artist, even just in anybody’s work. know for myself too, like when you feel rested and settled and at peace of where you physically are, it just gives so much more freedom mentally and emotionally to express yourself and other outlets too. Yeah. I do want to ask you from a business standpoint because I think you have done such a great job of leveraging social media in this age and era.
23:03
to share your work, but not even just your work. I think you do a great job of sharing your own personality in many ways through your work. I saw you on social media as I came through and I’m like, oh, okay. I just think you’ve done a great job with it. How do you leverage social media as an artist and really a business owner to build your network and community? And I know you’ve mentioned this before, that you’ve used it
23:33
to not only build your community outside of here, but also internally too. How do you feel like social media is, I guess what’s your process with that? I think it’s vulnerability being open to people, but also knowing when to step back from it. But yeah, social media has created more of a viewpoint where people can see what I’m up to.
24:01
to like what kind of things I’m creating. Also what’s available if they would like to purchase something or if they want to see it in person where they could find it. But I have found that like it has kind of been like more like a journal to me too because I look back and I’m like, oh yeah, that’s where I’ve been. Like I was there in my life. I feel like sharing what I feel is best. Like nobody’s telling me what to do in a way. It’s me like just being like, OK.
24:30
what if I do this today or what feels right on creating? Because I didn’t want it to make it like, oh, you can buy all this. It’s more like, I want to share what I’m up to, how I’m growing as an artist too. So I think social media has played a lot too of sharing even our town and connecting the art to the real life and taking that photo and posting it creates that connection between.
25:00
what I’m doing and people can go to the place or can just connect the dots almost with the art. So yeah, social media has definitely been, I think it’s a fine line of being vulnerable enough and kind of pulling back and just feeling what’s right and what’s wrong. Cause there is so much like you just expose yourself in that way too. But there is a beauty in like sharing, especially in the visual arts of sharing your work.
25:26
And creating community within other artists too and people in town that maybe don’t come into town as often can see what is available or creating that space for them. I think I mentioned one time that my social media helped a lot throughout COVID too and that space and time where that connection was not as easily accessible as community aspect.
25:54
But then it created that like, oh, hey, like I am working and I’m doing this. And so doing painting a day. Is that right? Yeah, I was doing a painting a day. I had an idea from a friend of mine that’s also a painter and artist. And it created this connection between people too, because they, you know, would have these little paintings that I would send out to them and have that connection between each other. So, yeah, I think it’s a beautiful thing to be able to share with each other in a way that
26:24
Even if you’re far away from each other, you can still create that space. And people still can connect with you digitally as well. So of course, I know you offer a number of in-person workshops here in addition to your actual work. You allow people to learn along with you, but that’s also available still online, right? So something you’re offering? Yeah. I have on my website too, people can choose.
26:50
a day where they would like to, I love doing little, know, painting classes or yoga classes or things that people come together and already are like, oh, we’re gonna have like a little bachelorette. So I love that community aspect of people coming together and doing something fun and connecting in something different that they wouldn’t do every day. So I have been really lucky to be a part of like many size classes and
27:20
Yeah, they can connect to me there. They can reach out. gotten, I think social media has helped me a lot with connecting with people because they message me about the questions or, you know, we start that process very much more quicker than I feel like sometimes with without it, it be so. Yeah. Now on the side of teaching, right? So I know you
27:43
like you said, bachelorette parties, but you also do a lot of work with K-12 students and art camps and just kind of across the board. I know you mentioned earlier just the beautiful moment of mentorship from your professor before, but I guess from your side, what has that taught you now being on the teaching side of things? Like, does that make you look at things differently or have any lessons come from that? I definitely think there’s power in how you approach people and how you talk to people about
28:12
what they’re capable of. Maybe they don’t see it themselves yet. So I think there is that power of like, even teaching a little painting class, small painting class to someone or coaching someone, there is that sense of like, let’s do this step by step and let’s not get overwhelmed. And there is a beauty in seeing that person like, oh, okay, like maybe if I approach it a little differently. And I think,
28:41
you know, being talked to like that growing up by my coaches and by my teachers. And that encouragement has really led me to want to be that person for people, especially for kids. you know, teaching art camps has always been so fun because, you know, it’s it’s fun to allow kids to be kids and to allow themselves to express themselves without that. you know, there is rules and stuff. But we also like.
29:08
I just love seeing the kids light up when they create something, they have something in their hands. So yes, yes. So it’s wonderful to be in that side of it. Cause it’s so fulfilling, but it’s also like, I was that kid, and I had wonderful people pushing me along. So yeah, I definitely think that I’ve been lucky in that way and I’m lucky to talk to be able to be in that side now.
29:37
as well. Yeah, that’s beautiful. And I think something you do a great job of is you talk about authenticity and vulnerability. And then also even in your own work, I know you’ve shared that often your goal is for your physical work to express emotion, but also the audience, whoever’s viewing it, to have some type of emotion themselves. I’m curious from your standpoint, do you have any pieces in particular, is there anything that jumps out as one that you think’s
30:07
thing captures emotion well or just a favorite? Like, is there a piece of yours that you feel is your favorite right now? I think it’s really hard to tell what’s my favorite. I think there are pieces that I’ve like, there was one piece that there was like a little hiker girl in the piece. I don’t know if you saw that one, but it was like a nice big piece and I just kind of like, I literally like let myself flow into the painting almost. And I…
30:35
really think a lot of my paintings are like that where I allow myself to just feel it out. I love that piece because I’m like, oh, that was completely me just being, and yeah, there’s going to be little moments where I feel like, oh no. But there is definitely pieces, I think the pieces that call to me more have been those pieces where I’ve just allowed myself to paint, to just move through the motions, to not hold myself back.
31:03
And I think those are the moments that I’m like, oh, I love what I do. I love this aspect of just being in that moment, allowing that paint to just do its thing. But yeah, I don’t have a favorite. I definitely have some that I’ve…
31:24
loved and it’s been hard to let go. I was going to ask if it’s difficult passing them on or is it like bittersweet? Yeah, it’s almost like I think it’s awesome to see them be in people’s homes they appreciate. like they’re going to love them. They’re going to, you know, it’s going to light up the room. And that’s what I constantly get people telling me. And I’m like, that’s so cool that you’re telling me that. Because, you know, like us artists, I think we’re very critical and self-critical of ourselves sometimes. But
31:53
allowing that to just kind of let it be where it needs to be is so free and so wonderful. And that people get a sense of it belongs in their home is so awesome. That was only a little dream that I had when I was younger. And I was like, now I’m doing that where people want this. So yeah, think I don’t have a favorite. I definitely love things like this where I’m in the moment. I’m painting there, I’m painting like.
32:20
I’m expressing what I’m seeing in like that present moment. So yeah, I love it so much. So looking ahead, how do you think your work, your artistry, how do you anticipate it continuing to mature or expand or your style? What do you see going forward or what do you hope for going forward? So I would love to do bigger pieces. Like physically? Yeah,
32:49
I would love to create just filling spaces. I’ve always wanted to do that where just creating a little, not little, but big gallery shows and things where I can showcase almost again with that sense of passage in time of things that I’ve done and just creating these little images that either from my past or what I’ve lived through.
33:17
just creating that sense of people can walk through almost the painting or like be in there. So that’s the vision, hopefully in the future of like creating these bigger paintings, like that capture a lot of my personal, but also like capture like people can actually see themselves in it too. that’s been a vision of mine for a couple of years where I’m like, I would love to create that.
33:45
that space one day. So hopefully that comes in. Do you see that as like a gallery or an exhibit? An exhibit. Yeah, yeah. that’s in the works. I think all the things I’m doing are building up for that moment. definitely like just I also want to just keep inspiring and hopefully, you know, creating that within my own like living, creating that sense of like someone else can see it and
34:15
be like, hey, I can do that too. You know, I think that’s a beautiful thing that we can do towards each other is just help each other find that like space of just allowing yourself to be, you know, what you dream of or like what you see, but maybe don’t like fully allow yourself to be in. So yeah, I think I would love that my art can create that for someone else.
34:44
That’s where I see it. I love it. can’t wait for maybe next year. I going to say a couple years from now, but maybe even by next year, just going through your exhibit and seeing how all the story pieces come together and seeing your story throughout the paintings as well. So I look forward to that too. Thank you. No, yeah. Thank you so much for your work, but just the way that you, I think, both see and capture the beauty. So I think in order to capture the beauty so well, you have to first be able to see it. So I’m so.
35:14
grateful that you recognize the beauty within our community and you help put a spotlight on it and share it for others to see. And I hope everybody listening in takes a little bit of time to check out your work too and to see all the creativity and passion that we’ve talked about in your work as well. So thank you so much for joining us here today. Thank you guys for listening in to the U.S. Silent We Art Podcast.
35:41
We’ll be back soon with another episode. But again, if you like what you hear, keep telling people about it. So share the word, give us a good five star rating, hit that share and continuing to support us. Thank you so much for supporting us the way that you have. how can people follow up with the work that you have going on? So you can follow me on social media, Noelia Nunez Art or go into my website, NoeliaNunezArt.com. All right. Thanks guys. We look forward to seeing you here in Staunton.
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