Interview with Toronto Artist Paul Zulauf

"No one can instill art talents into you without your full participation and awareness," says artist, Paul Zulauf, who hopes to one day, soon, turn his artistic talents into a full-time career.

 

"I hope that being an artist will keep me vital and happy and connected, even past the time when most people have retired. It is also a vehicle and self-validating career that allows me to explore myself psychologically and spiritually, to learn and research all matters that I find interesting." he says. "Then I will talk to others about the subjects that are or can be involved in my art."

 

Zulauf works with an impressive number of media including digital media, digital compositing, animation, graphic art, digital painting, digital photography and photo-retouching. He can also draw, paint, scratchboard, arrange mixed media and spray paint. "My favourite is body painting and henna because it is relatively effortless, has a high level of interaction with people and, brings great feelings. It involves spontaneity, symbolism and reading people," he says, adding playfully, "and it attracts babes." he says. Zulauf also makes jewelry, bronze sculptures and ceramic sculptures. "At any given time I am just doing like four media at most in a week."

 

This is Zulauf's seven-point plan for turning his art into his career:

 

1 Represent my existing digital work by getting high quality, large-scale printing done.

2. Get a website with an online store to generate sales.

3. Make more jewelry because everyone wants it, and looking ahead to summer, I would like to merge the jewelry crafting with body art and sales of other art items. This I can bring to festivals and events.
4. Push my painting into the visionary artist level of symbolism, rendering, and sophistication. I need to be comparable to my favorite artists if I want to live a lifestyle like theirs.
5. Develop a designer series of paintings that are large, all made simultaneously in a step-by-step process so I have a cohesive, sellable series of paintings that don't take too much time and effort but can sell for decent money.
6. Keep my art circulating in galleries and restaurants
7. Stay and become even more connected with art lovers and people in general because most things in life come directly through some kind of relationship.

 

Although largely self-taught, Zulauf attended The Ontario College for Art and Design for bronze sculpting, printmaking, animation, video, projections, clay sculpture and installation. "All my digital painting, painting and drawing I did myself. I learn a lot reading, researching, seeing other people's art and understanding symbols, archaeology, new age spirituality and hermeticism," he says. "It's all about focus, dedication and practice." Ever since public school, Zulauf was recognized for doing art. "I drew a lot growing up, and as early as I can remember the main thing teachers noted is my creativity and conscientiousness," he says.

 

Where does this inspiration to make art come from? Zulauf explains "the ongoing development of my practice, the progression of my skills, encouragement from others, the belief that I deserve to be financially successful through my art, one day hopefully soon, and the opportunities and lifestyle that is available through having high quality art; particularly in the visionary arts community."

 

Zulauf's favourite piece is his "Tree of Life" bronze sculpture. "It embodies nature and sun worship, sex/genetics, astrotheology, archaic revival, an excellent marriage of material to meaning; and it looks fantastic," he says. "It is still a universal symbol, with a slant to my own Western culture, and it's scientific/modern while spiritual and transcendent at the same time. That's the balance I try to live in my life, and so I like that reflected in my art as well."