Do What You Love to Do - Rita Galdikaitė



The passion and time will bring you to the point that you will be immensely thankful for yourself that you stayed true to yourself.

1. Tell us more about your background and journey.

 
I am a 27-year-old artist, who was born and raised in a small town in Lithuania. I have been always feeling a strong appetence for art since the very young age. Creativity has never been forsaken, and this passion led me to graduate in Graphic Designing. Soon after graduation, I moved to the United Kingdom. 

I don't work as a graphic designer now, but practice, knowledge and theory gained during study years had a huge impact on my artistic development. Currently, whenever I have time, I dedicate it for mandala art. I discovered this kind of art back in school times, and it slowly emerged into my mind as the main way of self-expression.
 
     
 2. Who is your favourite artist and why?
 
When it comes to choosing a favourite artist, I get overwhelmed. I simply can not select one, or two, or just three creators. There is so much to learn and get inspired by every one of them. I enjoy to follow artists for a long time and notice how they are developing, changing, learning, improving with every year. 

I get mesmerised and impressed by constant change and improvement. It's great to meet an experienced artist, who's excellent art resonates with you and make you happy in one way or another. 

But being able to observe the artistic growth for the long term is even better. In summary, my main focus goes not to a certain artist and his/her displayed visual result, but to the whole process of creativity and imagination that goes under the long intervals.
 
 
 
3. Is it a financially stable career?
 
Being an artist is not easy at all. It is possible to make a financially stable career, but it requires a lot of investment of time, dedication, constant learning, persistence and cleverness. 

It's important to be eager to experiment a lot (it leads to discoveries and new perceptions) and be able to adjust the capabilities to the constantly changing modern age. But still, you can not be guaranteed that you will succeed. 

It depends a lot on the whole personal perception of art. If your main goal is to earn money, you are starting it in the wrong way. The success is build up to where passion and love are strong for what you are doing.
 
 
4. Where do you get inspired to create art?
 
The way how I create art usually does not require an inspiration at all. Since I found out what I love to create the most – there is no need to find external inspiration or stimulus, because it flows naturally. 

Most of the times when I create a new artwork, I don't even have a specific idea and don't know what the final result will be. All lines, forms, colours are chosen intuitively, frequently without preliminary planning. 

Also, I get new ideas at the most random times of the day, when my mind is occupied with non-art related topics at all. It just appears from nowhere. Sometimes I even narrate it jokingly, that I have an idea generator in my mind that keeps working 24/7. 

I get so many new ideas that it's impossible to transfer them all from my mind to the sheet of paper.
 
 
5. What kind of book do you prefer to read?
 
I do not read books often at the moment. Whenever I have free time, my mind is occupied about the new drawings and projects, that I even forget that books exist at all. But if there is a chance to read, I take psychological, philosophical, metaphysical books. 

As they help me in polishing and improving my drawing skills, analogically. I have a very strong appetence for constant inner growth and spiritual awakening likewise. 

If I dedicate my time for reading, I seek to learn something new, to cognise distinct views and perceptions that help me to understand myself and the surrounding world better.
 
 
6. What piece of advice would you like to give to the future aspirants?
 
My advice would be very simple - do what you love to do. If you get easily immersed into something that you even lose the perception of time, do not take it for granted. Keep doing it, keep improving, keep experimenting. 

The passion and time will bring you to the point that you will be immensely thankful for yourself that you stayed true to yourself.

Rita Galdikaitė - Artist


Interview by - Pallavi Surana