Asia Eidson
Chatting with Isabella Breedlove, a local artist and self-described Topo Chico obsessive, brings to mind a famous quote often attributed to Mark Twain: “Never let your schooling interfere with your education.”
In other words, intense structure and processes not only don’t work for everybody, but they can be downright detrimental for those with a certain creative drive. Education comes in many forms, and not everyone needs to toil in the rigid system. Isabella certainly didn’t.
Born and raised in Fort Worth, Isabella attended Trinity Valley until high school, when she decided she’d experienced enough of the academic life and begged her mom to homeschool her.
“It was the social aspect, but it was also just not liking schoolwork itself,” Isabella says. “I’m so creative brained. Like, why do I need to know what the third line in the Declaration of Independence is?”
While there were some hardships and rough patches along the way, the permanent ditching of school seems to have paid off. Isabella, now 24, is one of Fort Worth’s most prolific and imaginative artists. And her freeform paintings — unstructured, unpredictable, and flowing — make it even clearer how incompatible she is with the stiffness of school.
When she paints, it’s pure intuition.
Isabella says, “My actual process when I’m in [my studio] is to turn my music up as loud as possible, dance around, and sing at the top of my lungs while I paint. And I drink so many Topo Chicos. That’s it.
“But I draw a lot from my journals.”
As a tool to cope with life’s cruel curve balls (parents’ divorce, battling addiction, illnesses, loneliness) and draw inspiration, Isabella has journaled for most of her life.
“The only way I could get through [my early hardships] was journaling,” she says. “I have journals from 2010 just pouring my heart out onto paper and drawing and creating and painting.” It was her release valve – her whistling spout to let a little steam out.
While she’ll occasionally look at older journals, Isabella says she prefers to ignite creative sparks with more recent entries and chooses to focus on journals she’s kept since becoming sober five years ago. This sobriety is something she calls “the best gift” of her life, and it wasn’t too long after her sobriety that she decided to go all-in on pursuing a career in art.
Of course, the career choice would lead to a 300-square-foot apartment and eating popcorn for dinner most days — a small price to pay. “I was so broke,” Isabella says. “But every single dime I had was going to my career. To painting, to supplies, everything. And I was, like, ‘No, I’m going to do this. This is what I want to do with my life, and I can’t imagine doing anything else.’”
Impressed with her resolve, Isabella’s mother and grandparents cleared out some space in an unair-conditioned warehouse behind the world-famous Joe T. Garcia’s restaurant to create an art studio for Isabella. If you’re wondering why the space is next to Joe T’s, it’s because Isabella’s grandfather, Lanny Lancarte, co-owns Joe T’s. Yeah, I should mention Isabella’s family is what one might call Fort Worth royalty.
Lack of AC aside, in this warehouse, Isabella has found both an ideal creative space and an inspiring creative partner in her grandfather. In case you didn’t know, Lanny Lancarte also dabbles in painting.
“I don’t think anyone supports me more in my career than my mom and my grandparents,” Isabella says. “And what a beautiful thing that I get to do what I love every day.”
Sounds like she’s had one hell of an education.
BY THE WAY...
Asia Eidson
Who Are Some Local Artists Who Inspire You?
John Holt and Ginger Walker: “Some artists can be gatekeepers, which I can respect, but neither of [John nor Ginger] are that way at all. They’re the first ones to lend a helping hand. They don’t see me as competition but, instead, as our being part of the same artist community.”
FROM THE FEED
1. Isabella with her grandparents, Jody and Lanny Lancarte. “My biggest supporters have always been by my side.”
2. “My favorite people in this world celebrating my five years of sobriety.”
3. With mother, Kelly Lancarte. “I wouldn’t be the woman I am without her.”
Sydnie Liska
4. “My brothers, my best friends, my whole heart.”
5. With Aron Marquez, Mark Wahlberg, and Abraham Ancer. “Coolest part of this photo, Marky Mark has my painting hanging in his home office.”
6. “Hard launching me and the love of my life.”
7. Isabella in a homemade dress during her second collection release, “The Other Half.”
