Two years ago, artist Volta Voloshin-Smith quit her marketing agency job and moved with her husband from a house in the suburbs to a one-bedroom apartment in downtown Dallas to pursue art as a full-time career. “I didn’t know what I was doing,” Voloshin-Smith says. “All I knew was that I wanted to do art.”
Today, Voloshin-Smith, now 31, is the founder and artist behind Color Snack Creative Studio, where she helps bring brands and original concepts to life through watercolor illustrations and extremely shareable animations. I sat down with Voloshin-Smith to learn more about her journey as an artist, her belief in the power of creativity, and where you can catch her workshops in Dallas.
How did you end up in Dallas?
My parents and I immigrated [from Moldova] to the U.S. in 2002. First, we moved to Illinois. Then, we spent a year in Delaware and after that it was eight years in Alabama. I went to the University of Alabama and got my MBA in business and marketing, and then moved to Dallas in 2011. In Moldova, I grew up in the capital city, so I missed that city feel. When I moved to Dallas, I just loved it so much.
What inspired you to become a full-time artist?
When I left my [marketing] agency job, I didn’t know what I was doing. All I knew was that I wanted to do art. I was craving art. I started saying yes to a bunch of different projects to figure it out. Now, I do watercolor and specialize in food illustrations. I also do live-painting events for brand activation as well as workshops for local communities.
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How did you come up with the name Color Snack?
This whole journey began with me sharing short art and sketch tutorials. I was thinking that, if you don’t have a lot of time to set up your stuff, you can just have a snack of color. It’s a small amount of something creative that makes you feel like you injected your life with color in some way. I also love food, so it has another whole meaning too. I draw lots of doughnuts, sandwiches, pizzas, popsicles—all the good stuff.
Where do you get inspiration for your animations?
I love making gifs, so I am always looking for things that are “gif-able.”I try to decide ahead of time what parts are going to be animated. For example, if I draw a bird running on a pizza, I know the bird will move its head, so I’ll paint the head and body of a bird separately.
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Teaching workshops must be such a rewarding experience.
Someone was asking me if I did workshops. I hadn’t but I knew I would love to do one. In a Strength Finders test, I learned that one of my strengths is called “developer,” meaning I see the potential in others. That goes along with being encouraging and trying to show someone that they can be an artist too. I knew that was my strength, but I did not know how it would manifest.
What do you hope people take away from your teaching?
I am all about living a creative life. As soon as I opened up to it, it made such a difference for me. It made me so much happier and I want to give that to people. I want to help someone feel that through creativity, they can unlock something in themselves and pursue their own dreams.
You can book your own private workshop, or check out other classes on the Color Snack Creative Studio website. Voloshin-Smith will also be exhibiting at The Riveter this October.
