Why Art Became a Lifeline During Times of Change and Growth | Sherri Carling, Monica Bergquist, and Irena

In this feature, we’ve brought together the stories of Sherri Carling, Monica Bergquist, and Irena, three artists whose paths to painting couldn’t be more different—but whose work all springs from a place of honesty, care, and curiosity.

Through our conversations, they shared more than just techniques or career highlights; they also shared their personal experiences. They opened up about grief, courage, family ties, and the moments that brought them back to their craft. Whether it was rediscovering art after decades away, moving to another country to pursue painting, or layering memories into symbols like flags, each of them paints as if they’re telling a changed story that needs to be heard.

What did we learned? That creativity doesn’t come in one shape or timeline. That experimentation, stillness, and even doubt all have their place in the process. And most of all, that there’s something incredibly moving about people who keep choosing to create, even when it’s hard, even when life gets in the way.

These stories aren’t just about making art. They’re about making space for who you are and where you’ve been.

Sherri Carling: Painting Emotions That Linger

For Milan-based figurative painter Sherri Carling, art is all about connection—the kind that doesn’t need to be explained. Raised in a creatively charged household in New York City, where music, art, and curiosity were part of everyday life, Sherri knew from a young age that she saw the world a little differently. She was the child who noticed subtle expressions, who loved sketching strangers, who felt something stir when she held a pencil.

Despite choosing a science track in college to become a medical illustrator, her elective in oil painting changed everything. “Creating something from nothing was like magic,” she says. And that magic eventually led her to Italy, where she fell in love with both the culture and the chance to explore painting full-time.

Now, Sherri’s large-scale canvases explore what it means to feel safe and seen. Often working from her photographs or imagination, she’s drawn to those unspoken moments—an inward glance, a hesitant smile, a stillness that tells a bigger story. Her colour palette is steeped in the warmth of her Puerto Rican and Italian heritage, where Caribbean tones meet the soft golds of the Tuscan hills.

Though she’s mainly self-taught, Sherri continues to push herself through workshops and courses at Milan’s Atelier School. Her creative blocks don’t scare her anymore—instead, they often signal that something new is coming. As she puts it, “Art is more than painting. It’s how I connect, process, and share pieces of what makes us human.”

I use a mixture of photographs, models, memories and mood swings to create intimacy in my portraits.

To learn more about Sherri, click on the links below.

Monica Bergquist: Finding Her Way Back to the Canvas

For Monica Bergquist, the return to painting wasn’t planned—it was necessary. After spending two decades focused on her career in clinical dietetics and raising a family, Monica felt the pull of art come back like a wave after her mother passed away in 2018. What started with a single oil painting—a detailed abstract grid she worked on for nine months—became a slow but steady unravelling of something she’d been missing.

“I was always an artist at heart,” Monica says. “I just paused for a long while.”

Based in the U.S., Monica now creates abstract mixed media paintings that merge fluid processes with more traditional techniques. She experiments with everything from latex and aerosol to charcoal and solvents, driven by a need to explore themes of duality—chaos and order, movement and stillness.

What’s especially moving about her process is how present she stays with it. Whether mixing paint recipes inspired by artists like Emma Lindstrom or letting color flow freely across the canvas, Monica uses experimentation as both meditation and healing. “Fluid art taught me to let go a bit,” she says. “And in letting go, I found my way back to myself.”

Her scientific background hasn’t disappeared—it simply shows up differently now. Each painting feels like a cross-section of something bigger: a moment of erosion, a transformation in motion, a layered discovery that can’t be rushed.

The duality and intersection of science and art, nature and built, stay-at- home mom plus artist, color and lack thereof, negative space and chaos, subtlety and boldness, creation and observation; my art encompasses all these things.

To learn more about Monica, visit the links below.

Irena: Carving Stories into Layers

You don’t forget Irena’s work once you’ve seen it. Her multilayered paintings—especially her striking flag series—hold more than what first meets the eye. With a background in mixed media, Irena blends acrylics, colored pencils, and a final scratched black layer that reveals hidden textures and embedded words.

Her approach to painting flags is anything but conventional. “To me, a flag is more than a national symbol—it’s a thread,” she explains. “It ties people to where they’re from, to their history and family.”

Many of her clients commission flag paintings to reconnect with a sense of place, especially those living far from their homelands. And through her process—layering colour, symbolism, and fine detail—Irena explores how identity shifts and evolves. The merging of colours isn’t just aesthetic; it speaks to how cultures intertwine and how people carry their stories with them wherever they go.

Her take on borders is both insightful and timely: “Boundaries exist, but they’re not fixed. They move with us. They blur. And that’s not a bad thing.” With each piece, she invites the viewer to sit with complexity, to celebrate how history and transformation coexist.

Named Artist of the Month on our platform, Irena’s work continues to open new doors, reminding us that there are many ways to tell a story—some loud, some quiet, but all worth listening to.

My work invites viewers to engage beyond the surface, discovering hidden details that reveal themselves over time.

To learn more about Irena, click on the links below.

Though their paths are vastly different, Sherri, Monica, and Irena share a common thread: they’ve all used painting as a way to come home to themselves. Whether returning after a break, finding their way in a new country, or using layered techniques to tell multifaceted stories, these women are not afraid to evolve.

Their art shows us that there is no single way to express emotion, no rulebook for creativity, and no time limit for rediscovering what matters most.

These conversations remind us that behind every painting is a life lived—a collection of memories, challenges, places, and turning points. And when we pay attention, those stories become mirrors, helping us make sense of our own.

Stay tuned to the Women in Arts Network for more stories amplifying diverse, powerful contemporary art voices. Visit our website and follow us on Instagram.