Canadian-born artist Ramona Nordal studied art at Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in Vancouver, British Columbia. Here she studied lithography, color theory, painting and drawing with a focus on anatomy drawing and painting. The central theme that unites all of her work is the mixture of the traditional with the unconventional, not only in her subject matter and color palette but also in her approach to materials and technique.

Nordal is represented by galleries in the United States, Canada, Germany and Australia. Her work has been collected in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Australia, Singapore and Europe. Ramona Nordal currently lives and works in Toronto, Canada. 

Alexander MacIsaac spoke with Ramona Nordal about her artistic life, her journey as an artist, and the importance of committing to the work. 

AM: So, your work has a very distinct visual style, focusing on the female figures alongside bold color work. What are your artistic inspirations?

RN: Oh, gosh! I mean, I have a lot. I would definitely say whatever I’m feeling that day or that morning. That’s definitely an inspiration for the rest of the day. But music is definitely a huge inspiration. My paintings are guided by my mood. And with painting, what I want to convey is emotion. I want to showcase some kind of emotional response. And hopefully that emotion bleeds into the viewer a little bit.

AM: On a day-to-day basis, what does your artistic process look like? 

RN: I usually get up and into the studio pretty early. I paint all day. I don’t usually paint at night. By 5PM, I’ve had a full day. I’m here almost every single day. I treat it like a standard 9 to 5 sort of situation. I work well in the mornings. My brain functions best in the morning, anytime after 4PM, you know, it goes downhill from there, so I try to take advantage of those mornings. And I focus as well as I can, so I can get as much done with that time as possible. 

AM: What was your artistic education and background? What led you to art?

RN: I mean, my whole family’s fairly artistic, and it was always included in my life growing up. You know, whether it was my older brother teaching me drawing or just random classes that we used to take as kids. We explored art in so many different forms–whether it was pottery or ceramics or painting or watercolors. We did lots of stuff like that growing up. And you know, if you’re not even in grade one yet, and you’ve been brought into that kind of atmosphere, it sticks with you, especially at such a young age. It’s just always been there. I’ve always, always been in a creative atmosphere. So, my mind kind of developed into one of an artist. 

AM: Do you have a favorite piece of yours that you’ve made? And do you have a favorite piece from another artist?

RN: Oh, boy! I think it changes, again, depending on my mood. Some of the past couple of pieces that I’ve been doing I think I’ve been pushing my personal boundaries a little bit. So, I think my favourite is my most recent work-in-progress. I’m really leaning towards really liking that piece. I’ve added a bit more texture than what I normally would, and have brought a lot of different textures together. So I would say for now that’s my favorite piece. I think it’s going to be kind of cool when it’s done. Now, pieces of other artists–that’s tough one. It really depends on my mood. For me, right now, I’m leaning towards really rough artistic styles. So, I definitely like Richard Butler’s work. Maybe that’s my favorite right now. He is the lead singer from The Psychedelic Furs. His painting style is incredibly rough and very raw and totally opposite to mine, and I love work like that. I also purchased a piece from an artist in Australia. And again, it was a really roughly done painting, but I loved it and had to have it. I think I love anything opposite to what I do.

AM: Can you walk me through your journey as an artist? How did you get to where you are today?

RN: As soon as I graduated I went to art school in Vancouver. I was only there for about 2 years. At that time, Emily Carr didn’t have a studio space if you wanted to further their painting courses. And so I decided not to continue because I wouldn’t have had space to paint. I would have been painting with a bunch of other artists, so I thought that rather than do that, my friend and I, we ended up moving to New York City. And so that was my schooling. I was in New York for about 10 years on and off, and then I traveled quite a bit after that. But always throughout that whole time I was always either painting or doing something creative. However, I actually stopped painting for 10 years. I moved back to Vancouver in 2004 and stopped painting until I picked up the brush again in 2008. I lightly got a studio, but didn’t dive into it heavily. And then at the end of 2010, I basically woke up and thought, “What are you doing?” You know, with art, you have to either have to do this or don’t do it ever at all. And so from that point forward, I decided to really focus on it professionally and seriously. And then in 2013 I moved to Toronto, and from that point on I’ve been an artist pretty much full time.

AM: Do you have a dream artistic project you’d like to explore?

RN: Absolutely. I’d like to do more collaborations. I think collaborating with other artists–when you can create together–that can be very, very unexpectedly cool. I have a few people that I want to collaborate with. But I’ve kind of put it on the back burner until I’m done with my paintings for my show in September. But moving forward, that’s kind of what I want to focus on for the end of 2023 and going into 2024. And these collaborations could be with fellow painters, it could be with designers, or furniture makers, or anyone. I think there’s something very interesting about that–2 people doing completely different things being brought together to create something. It would be very very, very cool, I think. 

AM: Can you tell me about your upcoming projects? 

RN: I have a couple. I have my show that I’m working for on September 7th in Montreal. And after that I’m going to start on a little project that I’ve been wanting to do for a long time. I want to do a portrait of Joni Mitchell. A pretty big one. But I want to get her involved somehow. So, I’m slowly trying to figure out that whole process and how to make that happen. I’m very excited about that as I’m a huge fan. And I don’t want to sell the painting, I definitely want to donate it. So there’s a whole set of things that need to transpire with the donation process. But like I said I’d like to have her involved in that. I know she deals with a lot of different charities, and I think that would be something really cool, a way to honour and show my appreciation for what she’s done right for fellow Canadian female artists.

AM: What advice do you have for emerging artists?

RN: Take it seriously. Well first, figure out if you can take it seriously. This took me a long time to figure out. And if you do want to take it seriously and your hearts in it, then just do it every day. Or do it as much as you can depending on what your time is like. If it’s something that you want to do, and you want to move forward with it and develop your skill, just do it. Continue doing it, and don’t really worry about what it is. Create a lot. When I talk to younger artists, so many are unsure about their style and technique. But really, that doesn’t matter if you’re just starting out, that will come later. The most important thing is to make something, finish it, go on to the next thing, finish it, and on and on. If you’re a painter, by the time you’ve done 10 paintings, your style will have evolved. 20 paintings later, your style evolves again. And in order for that to happen, you have to take it seriously. So I would say that’s the number one thing: take it seriously.