I am excited to introduce you to another young talent from the West Coast.  

Her vibrant and lively abstract art captured my attention as I am sure it will yours.

Enjoy getting to know

Seren Moran

Oakland, California

   

What is your training? 

I majored in painting at San Diego State University, but most of my formal artistic training was from the Leonardo da Vinci School of Art, L’Accademia Di Belle Arti, in Florence, Italy. I spent a year there taking classes in painting and printmaking which exceeded all the requirements for completing an art degree at SDSU. 

What inspires you and your designs?

It completely depends on the series I’m working on. Every painting I create becomes a part of a cohesive series, and each series has it’s own purpose, inspiration and intention. Sometimes it’s architecture, sometimes it’s people,emotions, memories or reflections on experiences.

 

What is your favorite piece? 

 That’s hard, honestly I usually have a couple favorites from every series of mine, but to pick one from them all is too difficult. I do really like this one though. It’s titled ‘Incline’ and is 6ft long. But it sold the morning after I finished it, so I never had the opportunity to take professional photos of it. 

How has the your area influenced your work?

Where I am at physically, mentally and emotionally at any given time play a huge role in the outcome of my work. Prior to living in Brazil, for example, my color pallet was almost exclusively earth tones, but Brazil changed my pallet completely. (photos of some places in brazil – I also have a brazil series if you want to look at/take photos from it: https://www.serenmoran.com/brasil).

 

What is your favorite restaurant in Oakland?

Mua! – in Oakland 

What is your favorite cocktail?

Prosecco! 

Although that isn’t a cocktail… but friends make fun of me for legitimately bringing a bottle to pretty much every gathering. You can always find a reason to celebrate 🙂

How do you balance personal life and work?

It’s difficult, but I found that it helps for me to treat painting like a job and try to paint on a schedule, at specific times and days. And I’ve learned to turn my phone on airplane mode when I’m at my studio. But, my boyfriend has helped mea lot with this too. He helped me focus on what‘s most important and to not over do it. I used to say yes to every opportunity I was presented with, which I thought was necessary for an emerging artist, but it ended up spreading me too thin. Now I’m much more selective and really take into consideration how much I’m taking on and making sure I have time for myself and friends. 

Dream trip?

Eastern Europe and South East Asia, hitting (at minimum) Turkey, Thailand and the Philippines 

Dream commission?

A huge mural for sure! Ideally in a foreign country. 

Your favorite host / hostess gift to give?

At a recent holiday party we hosted I handed out holiday cards to all the guests with a different one of my paintings on each cover.

Who is your style icon?

 Olsen twins.

I can’t get enough of the chic homeless look.

Your favorite up and coming artist?

 I’m not quite sure what qualifies as “up and coming” but I was recently introduced to Max Manning‘s work and absolutely love it! I was lucky enough to have a few pieces in a group show with him these last couple months.

I’m also obsessed with Steven Parrino.

What is your most treasured possession?

 Photographs my father took of Vietnamese children while fighting in Vietnam during the war.

What are you reading?

I’m not a big reader and never liked novels much. I pretty much exclusively read non fiction, which has essentially turned into me just reading articles. With the election, I was following that really closely and reading updates every day, but that ended up being pretty exhausting.

What are you listening to?

Lana del Ray and Melanie Martinez

What are your favorite blogs / publications?

 I don’t really follow a lot of blogs, but I do read a lot of artist interviews.

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Follow Seren on Instagram and her website.

Take a look at her vivid portfolio: 

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