North Shore Volunteer Spotlight: Isabel Ornelas

Isabel joined our studio in October of this year as an intern. She is a navy vet, with a background in psychology. Isabel is currently getting her masters in counseling at Adler University. Isabel is passionate about art and believes that everyone can be expressive through their art work. In her own practice, she works with sculptures and building, as well as painting.  From day one, she jumped right in and has become an integral part of our community. Isobel’s easy going nature, allowed her to instantly connect with the artists in a meaningful way. She is engaging and kind, pushing our community to grow. 

Isabel sat down with North Shore studio artists Ted Hamel for an interview…

TH: Ready?!

TH: How did you hear about Arts of Life?

IO: How did I hear about the arts of life…um, well I am an Adler University student and they have a list of social justice practicum sites. Arts of Life was one of the top ones on the list because it went over one quarter. And I thought this would be an awesome site to do my social justice practicum site at. I didn’t know that there were two locations, so I came automatically to the Glenview location.

TH: Did you know any of the artists before starting?

IO: No, I didn’t know any of you actually.

TH: What do you like most about Arts of Life?

IO: What do I like most about Arts of Life….ahhh EVERYTHING! All of the artists. They are just so full of personality and excitement and they are just amazing artists. They very dedicated about their work. I think that kind of inspires me and everyone thats in that room. Everyone who comes here to view the art or buy the art work. It is just always a nice feeling to come here.

TH:What do you like most about being in the studio environment?

IO: What do I like about being in what type of environment?

TH: The studio environment…

IO: Umm… I like just the freedom of being able to express yourself. Just the laughter and the community. We all help each other and praise each other for their work.  

TH: Are you an artist? If so, what kinds of art do you do?

IO: As an artist, I’ve been prolonging the artwork that I want to get back into. I use to do sculptures, paintings…I build. Woodwork a little bit. Yeah, I write short stories every now and then. But yeah, I definitely need to get back into it.

TH: Who’s your favorite artists?

IO: My favorite artists… I guess I was a big Vincent Van Gogh fan. From recent times, I guess

Here, I love everyone’s art work as well.

TH: Last one, what do you do when you are not at Arts of Life?

IO: What do I do when I am not….

TH: At Arts of Life

IO: Not at Arts Lets see… I do a lot of homework and write a lot of papers for school, my clinical mental health counseling graduate degree. And, I try to be outdoors a lot. I love nature, so I’ll just go to the forest preserve. Local cafes, I just like food so different restaurants. I’ll cook at home sometimes.

TH: and is that it?

IO: Well I like going to art galleries and museums, movies. I like to help within the community, whenever there is an opportunity to do that. Spend time with family.

TH: What school did you go to before here?

IO: Well currently, I’m at Adler and I have been there for about a year. And previous to that, I was… I graduated from DePaul University.

TH: What year?

IO: What year? 2010? I graduated a little late, because I had to take some time off.

TH: That’s it, for me. It has been my pleasure!