Tenielle Stanley
Tell us a little bit about yourself?
I’m Tenielle. I’m a self taught artist from Tamborine Mountain, a beautiful sub-tropical oasis in the hinterland of South-East Queensland, Australia.
In the past I created larger paintings, however I’m not a full time artist and I found it hard to fit art in my life on a regular basis. I traded paint brushes, pots and time spent cleaning up all my mess for the simplicity of drawing with just a pen and paper, and I love it!
Now I am better able to balance my time for creative pursuits with time for all the other things I enjoy doing in life, like gardening, working my day job, and more recently, being a mum.
For me, time for art reveals itself in micro moments throughout the days and weeks. A few minutes here and there while my baby has fallen asleep might be all I get. I take my sketch pad and a blue biro everywhere I go just in case an opportunity presents itself.
What is your favourite drink?
I love a morning coffee, I’m sure many other sleep-deprived parents can relate! It’s a small, double shot flat white for me. My coffee addiction and my love for the environment has inspired me to custom produce some good quality insulated coffee mugs this year! My go-to cocktail is a negroni. I also love buying and supporting local, so Witches Falls wine and Fortitude beer are my favourites from Tamborine Mountain.
What inspired you to start painting?
I have loved drawing and painting for as long as I can remember. I remember staying up at night drawing Loony Tunes characters for my friends in early primary school. My older brother and grandfather also used to draw a lot. It’s just something I’ve always done. I am inspired by my local environment - plants, flowers, animals and landscapes, but also Australiana more broadly.
How can we support you?
I opened an online shop this year at toetm.com.au TOETMart and giftstoetm.com.au- I sell prints, greeting cards, travel cups and other stationery. All my products have an eco/sustainability focus. You can also follow along on Instagram @toetm - I post my artworks, stories about my process and my sources of inspiration.
What advice would you give other artists/creatives starting out?
For me, doing art is more about the joy it brings me personally rather than about success as an artist or business. I’ve focussed more on that, about finding ways to fit my art into my busy life. Any success that comes from that is just a welcome bonus. Other people have different approaches to art so I suppose my advice is to figure out how you personally want to fit it in your life, it might be full time, or it might be a few minutes a day. Once you’ve figured that out and it’s sustainable for you, focus on creating the best quality work you can and let things go from there.
You can read more about Tenielle Stanley here.