What Painting Taught Artist Coline About Slowing Down

For this interview on our Women in Arts Network website, we spoke with Coline Grunevald, a French artist who previously worked as an engineer before rediscovering her passion for painting. In this conversation, Coline opens up about how leaving a fast-paced life has helped her reconnect with what truly matters—peace, beauty, and space to be.

She shares how her intuitive, layered process allows her to create without pressure, how textures and earthy tones guide her work, and why she believes art should feel like a breath of fresh air. We learn how she built a new life as a full-time painter, how she handles the business side of being an artist, and why she wants to make art more accessible for everyone. This is a story about slowing down, starting over, and choosing a life that feels true.

I’m Coline Grunevald. A French artist who used to be an engineer until I realised I was utterly disconnected from myself. I was constantly chasing goals that didn’t mean much to me. Art helped me slow down and reconnect with myself and my needs. And what I needed was peace, beauty, and space to be myself. Now, I paint full-time, mostly abstract paintings with organic textures and soft, earthy tones. My process is intuitive. I work in layers in mixed media, like I’m peeling something back or letting something emerge.

I never really know where a painting is going at first, but that’s the point. It’s about letting go of control, being present, and trusting what shows up. I love the first layers, where I apply textures, inks, and high-flow acrylics. It’s all about intuition and feeling. I’m not trying to achieve anything, not even beauty. I just let my hand do the work, and it feels so liberating. Refinement comes later with the oil. That’s when the artwork becomes alive. What I hope to share through my work is a sense of calm and joy. I want people to feel at ease when they look at my paintings, that they’re not alone. That there’s stillness and softness available, even in the middle of chaos. To me, art isn’t about perfection. It’s about reconnection with ourselves, with nature, with what truly matters.

1. How did you get started in your art career?

I started painting only three years ago, but I quickly fell in love with it. I took classes at the Milan Art Institute, following the Mastery Program online, and it opened up a whole new world of possibilities for me. Through this program, I began to believe that another career was possible —one where I would feel aligned, fulfilled, and happy. Two years later, I was handing in my resignation, and here we are! I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Painting is something I deeply enjoy, so I often find myself painting on the weekends.

Coline Grunevald

2. When you’re creating something new, what makes you pause and say, this is working?

I suppose I won’t know for sure until the very end. The first layers are crucial, yet also very intuitive. I’m making a bit of a mess with various media, including inks, acrylics, and pastels. The texture quite quickly gives a sense of composition, but then it’s just layers of marks and washes that will only make sense in the end when I bind everything together with the oil. It’s only when I start glazing and adding the more realistic elements that the painting begins to make sense and come alive. Sometimes I get stuck in the intermediate stage because I don’t see how this final transformation will happen, and I need some time to understand what the painting will become.

3. How do you balance your personal life with your art career?

It’s not always easy to draw the line between my personal life and my art career. Painting is something I deeply enjoy, so I often find myself painting on the weekends. And if I have opportunities to exhibit on a weekend, I’ll usually take them. But it doesn’t feel like a chore, I genuinely love it. And I still make plenty of time for my family, so I’d say I have a pretty good balance.

4. How do you envision the future of your art and its impact on the world?

I would love to build a vibrant and expansive online community. I firmly believe that art is a public service, and everyone should have the opportunity to own a piece of art they love. The best way to make that possible is by creating a direct link between the artist and the collector, and by offering alternatives like prints to make art more accessible to those with a smaller budget. I want to remain independent and reach as many people as possible with my work.

My messages are simple, yet deeply universal, and in these times of fear and uncertainty, I believe that painting joy, grounding, and light is precisely what people need. Of course, that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t love to see my art in a prestigious Parisian gallery someday; it would feel like a recognition of my work. But not at the expense of the relationship I have with my collectors.

I’m not trying to achieve anything, not even beauty. I just let my hand do the work, and it feels so liberating.

Coline Grunevald

5. What mediums and techniques do you primarily work with?

I’m a mixed media painter. Most of the time, I start with modelling paste and palette knives, then I use inks, high-flow acrylics, and soft pastels. I also like to incorporate organic materials, such as coffee, coffee grounds, or sand, because they bring a unique and grounding element to my paintings. And I always finish with oil to achieve that juicy, alive look that you can’t get with acrylics.

6. Do you have any parting words of wisdom for our readers or aspiring artists?

Becoming an artist is a choice that comes from the heart. It’s far from easy. If you want to be a full-time artist, you also have to be an entrepreneur, and that’s not always what you initially signed up for. So I guess I have two pieces of advice: First, you need to be very clear-eyed about the fact that if you want to make a living from your art, you’ll also need to run a business.

That means handling marketing, finances, customer service, and logistics. If you’re not okay with that, it’s going to be tough to make it work. Second, it takes time. You will doubt yourself. You’ll wonder if you made the right choice. You’ll worry a lot. But if this path truly comes from the heart, remember why you started in the first place, and don’t give up. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Your art matters, your voice matters, and your community is out there. Trust that.

Coline Grunevald’s work is all about slowing down and creating space to feel, breathe, and reconnect. Her paintings don’t start with a fixed plan—they unfold through layers, textures, and soft tones, shaped by trust and presence.

Through her journey from engineering to full-time painting, we’ve learned that following what feels true can lead to a more grounded and fulfilling life. Her art reminds us that calm and joy can still exist even when things feel uncertain, and that making time for beauty isn’t a luxury, it’s a need.

To learn more about Coline, visit the links below.