Conversations with Danielle & Ian Cleary

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Heartspace Art began as a love story at an event called the Purple Hatter’s Ball. Purple Hatter’s Ball was a small loved music festival housed by the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park. That is where Danielle and I met and it feels now like it was destiny…

Today we’d like to introduce you to Danielle and Ian Cleary.

Hi Danielle and Ian, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Heartspace Art creates murals with a message; influential art that is positive & inspirational. Our desire is to inspire hope in our hometown of Jacksonville, Florida, and then travel worldwide, sharing a message of love, connection, and personal empowerment. We refer to this as the Conscious Heart Movement– a belief that choices should be guided by the wisdom of the heart in order to create harmony among all beings. The heart reveals the oneness of life. Heartspace Art practices this movement in the creation of Conscious Art.

Heartspace Art began as a love story at an event called the Purple Hatter’s Ball. Purple Hatter’s Ball was a small loved music festival housed by the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park. That is where Danielle and I met and it feels now like it was destiny. Danielle attended the event as a workshop facilitator and taught classes on the creation and benefits of mandalas. I had been invited to participate as a live painter with a crew assembled by the veteran artist Bean Spence. Danielle and I were already accomplished, artists. Danielle had gained a reputation in her hometown of Jacksonville for her large-scale chalk murals and chalk mandalas created in the street. I had also gained recognition for my artistic skill having received awards for my Activist Cartoons published in the newspaper as well as my studio paintings.

Later that year and for several years to come Danielle and I traveled together participating in art adventures and festivals where we created many different art experiences. We body painted flow artists, acrobats, and yogis with the amazing Kreaturez founded by Nora Morales. We created installations with Eclectic Electric owned by Tyler Pace Hale. We also created many other installations and artworks at events such as Hulaween, Jacksonville’s Art walks, the New Orleans Women’s March, Orange Blossom Jamboree, Imagine, Okeechobee Music Festival, Kinnection, Love Burn, Pass the Good, and Zen Awakening.

We have even had the opportunity to create art in Hawaii and Internationally in Spain and Costa Rica. The experience of creating in all of these ways and in all of these places has been simultaneously empowering and humbling; it required us to let go of attachment to our art. Our art was always temporary, the murals we would build and paint would be taken down after the weekend, the people we painted would remove our art after their performances, and the chalk murals were gone normally after the first rain; which sometimes occurred as soon as they were completed.

In 2017, Danielle and I married and joined our lives in an epic journey and mission to spread love and hope with our art, the idea of Heartspace had already been present in our awareness, but we really began to take it seriously and started going by the name. We also began to focus our years of art experience in Jacksonville, our hometown, in order to better serve our community and North Florida. I see murals and public art as the epitome of artistic expression, it feels like art with a purpose, it is an art as a service. Our movement towards being mural-focused has been gradual as we gained the skills and confidence for the undertaking of large-scale art. Now, we offer the skills and the vision to take on a project of any size!

Heartspace Art Short
Heartspace Art creates vivid, influential murals that express positive messages. Our desire is to become part of the mural movement in our hometown of Jacksonville, Florida, and then travel worldwide sharing our message of love, connection, and personal empowerment. We refer to our work as the Conscious Heart Movement- a belief that choices should be guided by the wisdom of the heart in an attempt to create unity. The heart reveals the oneness of life. Heartspace Art practices this movement in the creation of Conscious Art.

Ian Cleary:

My expression, my work, is a spiritual experience. I am a seeker, exploring my inner verse for visions of truth and unity. I believe in spiritual truths that are beyond our intellect. My work is designed to create an experience in which people feel aware of cosmic unity and their own potential for greatness. The imagery of my work uses ancient symbols and archetypes to illuminate a path for human evolution. My stories illustrate human triumph, happiness, and symbiosis with nature. I create art to serve my community, to inspire, to spread hope, and to participate in the ever-creating cycle of life.

I was born in Mississippi and graduated from the University of Mississippi with a BA in Studio Art. I currently reside in Jacksonville, Florida with my wife and two children. I have been a practicing professional artist for ten years, and I specialize in paint and chalk murals, as well as, graphic design. I am a creator, an activist, and a storyteller. I am a dreamer, a visionary, inspired to create a better world for all beings. I have traveled around the world painting on everything from walls to bodies.

I have held positions over the years as a muralist, political newspaper cartoonist, live performance festival painter, body artist, gallery manager, and art teacher. I even served as an AmeriCorps team lead for the Florida Conservation Corp; which offered me opportunities to be a leader and serve our country in the preservation of natural lands. I believe in giving back to the community and a portion of my work has always been donated to charity. Today, I am grateful for the opportunity to practice my art full-time, and I look forward to the possibility of creating with you!

Danielle Cleary:

I was born an artist and creation constantly flow out of me from my heart space. I believe that art is a trail of our existence. I sometimes leave myself and become one with the art piece. I learn through the freedom of self-expression. I am a native of Jacksonville, Florida and so are the two generations before me. I have watched Jacksonville grow from a relatively quiet city into a desired destination to live and visit. I attribute much of that to the city’s commitment to art and culture and am proud to call it home for myself, my husband, and two children.

I am a strong, self-made woman who has studied under some of the best in the industry. I began my career creating brightly colored, detailed drawings using sharpies and pens. The next medium I incorporated into my work was chalk. It allowed me to express myself creatively on streets and a variety of outdoor surfaces for clients that were interested in temporary expressions.

Knowing that my work may only last until the first rain permitted me to begin my inward journey of being liberated from attachments to objects on the material plane. As I dove a little deeper, I discovered my appreciation for the meditative ways of the Tibetan sand mandalas and began including mandalas regularly in my work. I attribute my early success to participating in the local, Downtown Artwalk events where I was able to sell my paintings, drawings, and create on a larger scale as a chalk muralist.

My next artistic adventure took me on the road performing transformational art for a variety of events. In 2016, I began the art of body painting with Nora Morals of Kreaturez. I traveled throughout the United States as far as Hawaii body painting for festival performers and private clients. I also had the opportunity to teach my trade and help with big event planning. I also met a very special artist during my travels who would change my life forever! His name is Ian Cleary and we are now married and have a child of our own.

In 2017, I co-founded Heartspace432 with my husband. We created the company so that we could teach art, practice art, and produce art-centric events. Upon founding the company, we added painted murals to our repertoire and some of our clients include Winn Dixie, Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce, Gator Bowl, Downtown Vision – Art Walk, Riverside Arts Market, Suwannee Hulaween Festival, Purple Hatter Ball, Earth Dance, and Southlight Gallery.

In 2019, I became certified as a Therapeutic Art Life Coach and incorporated teaching art as a form of healing. I love people, and especially holding space for them to heal past wounds so that they can become the best versions of themselves. I also enjoy helping my community be its best, and believe volunteering my talents is an important part of connecting. Being a part of positive change inspires me to be a better person, and I constantly strive to evolve.

In 2020, we re-branded and changed our name from Heartspace432 to Heartspace Art to focus on temporary and permanent murals. I love creating art for a living with my husband no matter the medium. Our art always comes with a message, and my hope continues to be that we can reach other people’s hearts globally through our art. I look forward to meeting you and discussing how we can transform your space into something magnificent!

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
For me, the largest struggle in pursuing my dream has been the confidence to continue on the art path and learning how to receive the value of what I create, Danielle says she has experienced the same.

We are breaking the social blockages within people’s minds about what art is and how it should be valued, especially in a monetary sense. Our future culture will fully embrace the emotional aspects of our being and recognize that art plays a vital role in our health as individuals and societies.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I believe our greatest strength as individuals and as a company is the alignment of our values in our work and in our lives. We are known for our integrity and our creative vision. Our art is so much more than visual representation, it is a lifestyle in which we take a holistic approach to life, business, and the creative process.

Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
We think it is valuable to know that your dream will not unfold overnight, have patience in your process.

The evolution of our business has taken years and much of what we have accomplished as a business was proceeded by intentional work as individuals. We worked on ourselves first, our results are a reflection of our internal journey.

It is also valuable to take bold, confident steps towards your dreams. There have been so many opportunities to quit or to take an easier path, but we continue to make choices that move us closer to our goals.

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