Many people aspire to become artists, but only a select few can master it to where their work constantly impresses the masses who wish to view it. For one particular artist, it is a moment of reflection and the ability to fully process what she will do before executing it to perfection.
“The moment I have an idea of creation, I sit down and pause life,” said Vika Coppens, this week’s author spotlight guest. “I try to let the idea transform into a realistic concept. Once I like the color concept of the energy of the project, I start to research. I believe that research is the key to start any great project, knowing what has been created before, and seeing the perspective of other artists and authors broadens my own boundaries.”
Coppens has been perfecting her craft for many years, and it all started when she was a child.
“I guess I always had it in me; I always had it running through my veins,” she recalled. “I love art from a very young age, and when I was younger, you could always see me doodle and write quotes wherever I could find a piece of paper. But after going through a hard time in my life, I felt and still feel so many stories and emotions bottled up in my soul, that creating is the only option for me to let go and heal.”
Coppens stated that she greatly appreciates specific artists and names Vincent Van Gogh as one of her favorites.
“Creating anything related to him is a fantastic journey and education for me,” she explained. “One of my last pieces, a chalk remake of the ‘Van Gogh Self Portrait with Straw Hat 1887’, literally took me on a journey of more in-depth creation. I have been at several expositions of original Van Gogh paintings, and I have seen his work from up close, admiring his color concepts.”
She could do this by studying a specific portrait and examining every brushstroke, including the color choice Van Gogh made, to successfully recreate what he did, while also viewing the art through his eyes while implementing her own creative techniques.
“What came out created a kind of a shock to me,” she recalled fondly. “Seeing the master’s face, appearing on the paper, looking into his eyes, and being able to create something as close as he could, filled my heart with extreme love and gratitude.”
Not only is Coppens a talented artist, she is also an accomplished author. She published a book called HumanAlien in 2018 and the story is available on Amazon.
“HumanAlien actually started as a journal to empty all the thoughts in my head,” she detailed. “I wrote the whole novel in a four-month time span, which was a great experience because while writing the book on a social platform, more than 700 people from all over the world were reading along with me every day, asking me for more and more chapters.”
In creating this story, she came to realize how different this story was from most stories. It was a deeper look into her own soul, and looking at the concept of society, and she recalled that it helped her gain a special bond with nature.
“That’s why I also naturally divided the book into four elements, represented by four animals because you can’t have humanity without the fauna and flora,” she explained. “While doing this all, I also wanted to write about the healing process of heartbreak. Most books start with the beginning of a love story, but this one begins with the end. Sometimes the end of things is the beginning of a new chapter. Each chapter is an individual short story that gave me huge freedom as a writer. It gave me the ability to knit every chapter into a sweater. One sweater quickly turned into a hundred sweaters, and the only thing I needed, in the end, was a huge knitting needle to knit them perfectly into a colossal giant sweater, and that was the moment I felt a tremendous amount of art inside the literature.”
Within her book and her art is a fresh opportunity to create stories every day, whether it’s on a laptop or with a paintbrush. Another day is another opportunity for Coppens to establish herself and grow even more as a creator. The artistic process changes every day, and she embraces the aspect.
“I think disappearing into another dimension while creating, writing or art, is my favorite
aspect of the whole process,” she said. “Being free from time and space, being free from an Earthly body, being free from thoughts and feelings, just creating and focusing on how to bring the concept to life while forgetting everything around me, I guess that is my own personal escape from life and living the fullest at the same time.”
Being a veteran artist, Coppens is both grateful for everything she has learned and more comfortable in her own skin than she was when she first began.
“When I drew my first piece of art, I was very conscious and shy about my work, especially to other artists,” she recalled. “One day, an artist I look up to told me to appreciate my own art.”
Coppens related that the author told her that the moment you draw a line on a piece of paper, and it has a deeper meaning to you, and once you write your name, it becomes art.
“And nobody can judge you,” she continued. “No artist will ever judge you. Art is to be appreciated and shows all our differences, and how we see life. If that means you see life as a straight line, then we will also appreciate that, and you got to show that line with your head held high.” from that moment on, I kept on showing my art to the world. Working together and sharing thoughts and beliefs with other artists, even exchanging materials and techniques, is very crucial in an art career. We can learn so much from each other, and we also need the love and warmth to grow in the right direction.”
Coppens also reiterated that another lesson she learned from a talented illustrator.
“At one point, every art has already been created but to bring different creations together, daring to combine existing concepts, daring to chase different styles, and transforming that into your own concept is what art in modern days is about. So dare, research, create and fail, then start all over again.”
As she continues to solidify her work, Coppens is working on a new novel while also editing her second one.
“Writing takes time, and this time I want to dedicate my fullest to my writing concepts,” she stated. “I am currently creating different pieces of art. On one side, I have my “cacti rebel house deco,” which I enjoy creating to the fullest. I love to see them displayed in different houses all over the world, and I believe the happiness that I experience while creating them will also fill the walls and areas where they are displayed.”
She also is working on a four-piece art series called “Human Nature”, which will be women portraits on a canvas that displays the inhuman side of humanity.
“I keep illustrating the things that inspire me at that moment, and I am always open to new projects.”