Sustainable Baddie of The Week: Gianne Garcia
Welcome to our weekly Sustainable Baddie Feature! Every week we will introduce you to a Baddie we have had our eye on, while highlighting what they are passionate about and how they contribute to the sustainability space.
This week we interviewed Gianne Garcia, or @tidytotes, who is at the beginning of her art and nursing career. Read more to hear about her artistic inspirations, her favorite piece, and what she projects for herself in her career.
1. Tell us about yourself! Where you are from, what you do, and what your favorite candy is!
Hi! My name is Gianne, or better recognized as Tidy Totes on Instagram & Tik Tok where I express my creative side as an artist. I am also a newly graduated nursing student, and I mix the modalities of healing through art as my main passion. I am from a western Chicago suburb, and will be moving out to Seattle early June!
My favorite candy is definitely chocolate covered almonds. There’s something so special about the combination of the velvety chocolate and the crunchy almond that never misses for me!
2. How and when did you start painting?
As long as I can remember, I was always gravitated towards paints, crayons, scissors, and markers as a little girl. I remember drawing all over my white furniture and cutting out shapes from my curtains and feeling such a visceral connection to these tools. Needless to say, my parents were not too happy about my newfound love of art. There were times in my adolescence where I stopped expressing my love for painting, but I picked up the paint brush again when I was struggling to find myself at the end of high school, and ever since I haven’t stopped, and probably will never stop.
3. Who inspires your work the most, and why?
I am inspired by a plethora of great artists and artist movements. To boil it down, I am mostly inspired by a combination of abstract/cubism and psychedelic art. These two styles inspire my art the most because they both open art to a new dimension where there is great potential for creativity and innovation.
When it comes to how I practice as an artist, I am mostly inspired by Frida Kahlo’s life as an artist. She was able to pave a way for herself as a woman in a world of predominantly male artists. She also suffered an accident that left her bedridden, but she continued to pump out paintings to express and heal herself. Her story continues to inspire me to keep creating no matter what.
4. What is your favorite piece that you have ever created, and why?
My favorite piece of all time is called “Connection” and it is a 40’ by 40’ acrylic on a thrifted canvas that now resides in a home in New York.
It is my favorite piece because I started it in the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 and continued to add onto it for two years.
Every brush stroke and design element in this painting flowed into each other over the years and it created a piece that is very dynamic and captures so much movement and meaning to me.
Connection by Gianne Garcia
5. Where do you see yourself going as an artist in the future?
Right now, I consider myself still learning and a novice artist. In the future, I want to continue to improve my skills and style of painting.
I am also an interior decorator that DIYs many of my projects using thrifted items, and I would also like to continue this in my paintings and only use thrifted fabrics as non traditional canvases.
As I had mentioned earlier, I am in the process of moving across the country to Seattle, and there I hope to continue painting, interior decor, and having my first official art show. I will also be starting my nursing career, and I plan to specialize in mental health where I hope to help others find their inner passion whether it be visual art, music, dancing, or anything else.
Overall as an artist and nurse, I want to continue to heal myself and help heal others.
