Zanya Dahl, Artist
After graduating from Trinity in 1997 with an Arts Degree, I completed a post-grad course in multimedia in Senior College Dun Laoghaire. This enabled me to enter the workforce as a graphic designer.
Five years later, I founded my design agency, Artizan, which I ran for 16 years. In 2019, I made the decision to close the agency and follow my heart back to painting.
Everything aligned with this decision – it was easier to transition out of the company than I had ever anticipated. The feeling of freedom was incredible. Within six months, I knew a career as a full-time artist was the path for me.
What is your favourite social media platform, and why?
Instagram as its image-led. With some high-quality visual content, there is an unspoken expectation of only posting images that meet Instagram standards. As an artist, I really enjoy following other artists. I love seeing images and videos of good food, scenes from nature and generally just images of beauty to inspire me. From a professional perspective, it's very interesting to see how a painting I have posted to my feed resonates with my followers and what kind of comments it might provoke/inspire.
Tell us about you and your current role or area of interest.
My work is all about connection – the absence and discovery of it. People fascinate me - all the subtle ways in which we act, react and interact. I'm particularly interested in the relationship with one's self and how this affects our connection with others and the world around us. My work seeks to draw attention to the truth of who we are – highlighting aspects of ourselves and our environment that we often overlook or don't take the time to consider.
What do you like about your career or area of focus?
Despite the contradiction, I love both the freedom and responsibility of being an artist. There is so much freedom in the infinite choices an artist can make when creating – I can paint what I see or what I don't see. I can capture feelings and energy or imagine worlds and scenes that don't exist. The choices continue. What surface will I paint on? What size and dimension? What composition works best? Where do I draw the focus, and what colour palette will I use? Will I use a brush, a palette knife, fingers, sponges, spray for texture and movement?
The real beauty of this process is when all these little decisions are made instinctively by something greater than myself. The painting process is so immersive, and I begin to forget myself and my environment; every mark is guided by intuition. Nothing is forced. As the painting builds and builds, I simply trust that my choices are leading me towards something worthwhile.
That is the freedom – understanding that painting doesn't originate from me but through me. The responsibility of being an artist is to bring as much authenticity to my work as I can. The more personal, present, and intentional I am, the more clearly this state of transferring itself onto the canvas. The art then conveys more than an aesthetic, and it carries an additional layer of feeling and emotion, which is felt by others when witnessed.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
When I was in my late 30s, I remember confidently asserting to a friend that I was at an age where I felt I had all the experience and capabilities to accomplish whatever I set my mind to. She answered, "why don't you stop striving and simply trust the universe to deliver what you need?" This concept of passively trusting rather than actively pursuing flipped my whole perspective on its head.
By setting goals and targets, I'm controlling my path with a limited vision of what steps need to be taken to get there. By setting intentions and trusting that something larger is at play, multiple paths and opportunities can present themselves – far beyond anything I might have imagined in a goal-setting exercise. In order to notice these opportunities, I have let go of a lot of that busyness that used to trick me into feeling productive and progressive.
Slowing down and taking on less helps minimise noise and allow me to feel my way forward – paying attention to what rises before me (a conversation, an email, a sign, an invitation, a view, a thought, an idea ). By regularly checking in with myself ("am I inspired and energised or resistant and sluggish?"), I can quickly feel if something is positively or negatively aligned with my intentions.
What inspires you, motivates you, or helps you to move forward?
For my art, everything inspires me! The more I stay open to the world around me, the more I sense and absorb. By consciously clearing my mind of clutter, I really start to notice more and more within each experience – and if it resonates, I feel moved to paint it.
I am also interested in matters of nonduality and sometimes listen to the teachings/guided meditations by Mooji or Rupert Spira on YouTube. I have a daily morning practise that involves journaling, mediation and yoga. Another hugely important outlet for me is comedy improvisation – I have done it on and off for years and love the spontaneity and creative freedom it embodies.
What are you proud of in your life so far?
I prefer to focus on what makes me grateful rather than what I'm proud of. I'm really grateful for all the life experience I've had; for my creative capacity and artistic ability; for every new daily discovery; for my health and energy; for the beauty and magic of this planet; for the unconditional love I share with my daughters and for the continued support I receive from friends and family.
What is your preferred way to meet new people/network?
I love meeting people at a workshop or event where we're all co-learning, contributing, and collaborating. I also love participating in circles and ceremonies where the setting is intimate and relaxed, enabling everyone to be open and to put their masks down. I don't like formal business networking events where the underlying goal is to fluff your feathers and sell your product/service.
What skills or qualities do you feel have helped you?
Passion, creativity, authenticity, integrity and curiosity. It feels strange to have spent 16 years immersed in the world of digital design, amassing deep expertise of online processes and then leaving it all behind for the physical, tactile world of paint and canvases. While a lot of that knowledge is no longer relevant to my role as an artist, there are still plenty of transferable skills that are valuable for marketing and presenting my art.
I studied English at Trinity simply because I loved the subject in school. I didn't realise then what a powerful advantage it would prove to be in business – writing articulately and creatively when communicating via email, writing social media posts, presenting an idea, describing an event, expressing an opinion etc. Being a member of Toastmasters International for over a decade really helped me get comfortable with verbally presenting my ideas and opinions to large audiences.
What do you wish you had known when you started out?
My decision to become an artist began with a very clear and unwavering inner voice saying, "start to paint". I do, however, wish I'd understood the value of intuitive decision-making when I started out as a business owner in 2003. My intuition is my most reliable compass when it comes to decision-making, but in the workplace, an emphasis is placed on logic and reasoning, which often complicated and muddied my decision-making process.
Feeling (as opposed to thinking) through decisions is incredibly effective as it calls on inner knowing rather than mental assumptions.
I painted a piece recently that addresses this theme when I began to see the extent to which feminine energy is overlooked and undervalued in our masculine-dominated culture.
When feminine energy is given permission to express itself, it doesn't seek to overpower, compete, or dominate - it's is all about interconnectedness, nurturing, surrender, imagination, creativity, intuition and feeling.
Transitioning from agency owner to a high-performance, driven, tech world – the space for feminine energy to express itself is minimal.
Transitioning to an artist has allowed me to fully express both my feminine and masculine energy in tandem without restriction.
Masculine, Feminine in Harmony
Who do you most admire in business, academic or creative circles and why?
I admire anyone who adds their own light to the world. This can be expressed in a myriad of ways – teaching, caring, leading, creating or simply being. The truer a person is to themself, the brighter they shine, the greater their presence and the more they naturally inspire others around them to find the light within themselves. It's a ripple effect.
Outside of your professional/work area, what hobbies or interests do you have or what other areas of your life are of real importance to you?
One of my favourite hobbies outside of painting is comedy improvisation. It's pure creativity to its very bones – you never know where it's going to take you, and that's the magic of it. Many people confuse comedy improv with stand-up comedy. Other than requiring a stage and audience, the two formats are very different.
Firstly, stand-up comedy typically involves one performer, and the majority of the delivered material is prepared. Comedy improv is completely unscripted, requires at least two people, and a suggestion from the audience often dictates the theme of their content. Improvising requires you to stay very much in the present. It demands attention, active listening, open-mindedness, mental flexibility and creative thinking.
Has the pandemic had a positive or a negative effect on you and/or your business, and how have you managed it?
My decision to become an artist was made a couple of months before the pandemic started, which was fortuitous. At that point, I was very much embarking on an inward-facing journey, and the lockdowns almost supported my increasingly introverted state of being. I felt lucky to have stepped away from agency life when I did, avoiding all the challenges of adapting a business to an online model.
Painting takes me outside of time and space, so the pandemic had very little bearing on my overall wellbeing. However, the closing of the schools had a direct effect on my availability to work. Trying to find blocks of time to paint without interruption was impossible, with young children at home continually looking for interaction and attention. I felt guilty when I shut myself off for a couple of hours to paint, and I felt frustrated when I couldn't. It was a very uncomfortable daily conflict.
Do you have a mentor, or have you ever mentored anyone?
No, I don't currently, but I did previously as an agency owner. In my experience, my male mentors were very focused on sales, profit and growth, while my female mentor was more focused on my wellbeing and leadership development. Interestingly, the latter approach had a much more positive effect on the company's overall performance, reinforcing the mantra that "Everything begins with you."
What advice would you have for someone looking to get into the same area of work or interests?
Start creating. The more you create, the more you see, the more you feel, and the more you grow. So, create what moves you - it'll show in the work you produce. I recommend "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron for anyone keen to reconnect with their creativity. One of my favourite "rules of the road" in her book is "Great Creator, and I will take care of the quantity. You take care of the quality."
What do you feel is the most common reason for people failing or giving up?
I remember hearing somewhere that fitness and dieting goals don't work if the process feels like a slog. It made so much sense for all goals. If you choose a goal that involves a journey that makes you miserable, it's very unlikely you'll make it without bloody-mindedness and discipline. So, if we choose to diet, then we need to enjoy the process of eating nutritional food rather than starving ourselves.
If we choose to get fitter, to enjoy a scenic walk with friends rather than pounding a treadmill or doing a Bootcamp. To me, goals are a mental exercise. The mind is often willing to disregard the emotional and physical aspects of our being. As a result, the goals become less fulfilling and contribute to higher dropout rates. When we set intentions, it comes more from the heart and involves a level of trust rather than pursuit. There is no success or failure when it comes to intentions.
Is there a phrase, quote or a saying that you really like?
"The more you create, the more you see, the more you feel, and the more you grow."
What companies, brands, or institutions do you like or do you think are getting it right?
I don't really follow companies, brands, or institutions – they may have an ethos or vision or product that's very impressive, but there may be things going on behind the scenes that are less efficient or ethical. So, for example, Tesla and Amazon are incredibly innovative companies with visionary founders, but it is also reported that employee treatment is really objectionable.
I think it's really hard for an organisation to get everything right - there are so many balls to juggle – employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction, operational efficiency, competitive advantage, carbon footprint, sustainability, profitability, relevance.
Sustainability has become the big buzzword for many organisations, but often it's a brand add-on for marketing lip service. With global warming at such extreme levels, I admire companies that are built with sustainability at their core which permeates into every aspect of their offering. However, it takes continued vigilance to ensure both input and output are within the flow of the circular economy.
It's disappointing to see that industry disruptors like Virgin, Amazon and Space X are investing so much time and budget into space travel which is an extremely carbon-intensive activity. They have the means to contribute to the protection of our planet, and they're choosing to do the very opposite.
How do you define success, and what lessons have you learned so far that you could share with our audience/readership?
Success for me is being happy. Meeting targets and achieving goals give good dopamine rewards, but they're usually short-lived – there's always the next thing to aim for and the drive to go further, higher, faster is never-ending. It's ingrained in our culture.
Seeing success as happiness requires me to stop striving and pursuing and focus on my state of being instead. It's about letting go of expectations and trusting in the flow of life. Of course, it's much easier said than done, but the more I let go, the happier I feel.