Two Artists, One Canvas: How We Do It

Many people ask us about the challenges of being an artist duo, but they don’t think of the advantages!

The disadvantages of being two artists

Of course being two artists with one piece of work could be difficult: after all two people come with two distinct senses of aesthetics, understandings, backgrounds, agendas, and visions for the direction that the work should take. In that sense, the artistic process is split between two people that may encounter conflict along the way.

The practical advantages of being two

Yet, being an artist duo comes with its own perks: the work is split and is therefore made easier to accomplish for each individual artist time- and energy-wise, and in the process the art work is also enriched and deepened through the introduction of another artist’s perspective that is equally important and valued.  This is not the case with artist workshops where a number of artists worked for a more famous artist to complete his works and visions, not allowed to express their own artistic preferences.

The joy of co-creation, as friends

What is most wonderful aspect of being an artist duo and having each other to work with, is the joy of sharing a creative process together. We know each other since the days we were sent to day care, and we have stayed very close for the past 35 years. Our friendship not only survived but thrived through all the stages of our life: including growing up, going to school, becoming professionals in their fields, settling down, and becoming parents ourselves!

We are complementary opposites

What is quite fascinating about out friendship and our artistic processes, is that while we share the same moral standards and values, as well as our love and passion for the Arts, we are completely different personalities and in many ways are quite opposite to each. One of us is very tidy and the other is kind of chaotic. One of us is always on time, while the is always late. One of us forgets easily, while the other remembers everything. One of us is more cerebral and the other is more physical. In that sense we complement each other nicely, adding to the other what might not be as well developed.

When we create art, we are in a symbiotic creative flow

Oftentimes we work in such a way that one of us starts a process, and the other comes and works on top of that. We work in layers and take turns, depending on our time, energy levels and other professional and family-related responsibilities. Of course we enjoy working together at the same time the most, and when that happens, both of us are in a creative flow in which we both know what to do, without even communicating to each other. After years of spending time together, we found a way to create art together that is almost a spiritual experience of unity: even though we are two, we become one!