very watery layer on and it pools or it dries in a real lacey edge and does all these really cool amazing things .”
I never thought I would hear such an emphatic spin on the old expression of watching paint dry , but I could see clearly what she meant as she allowed me to tour some of the works in progress around her studio . From the first splash of watery paint to the final careful ink outline , Kim works with her paintings rather than on them .
The joy that Kim finds in what she does was a running theme throughout our discussion , and it shines through in her art . Unfortunately the collapse of the art industry during 2020 and the beginning of 2021 led her to taking on other work and the restrictions on her creative process that came with that . After at least five years of being a full time artist , the adjustment was hard . “ It just doesn ’ t work when I have to pour it out on demand ; what I created when I worked at the bakery were these super tight pen heavy pieces .” In June , she was able to step back from her temporary employment , embark on an adventure into the mountains , and start an amazing new collection of pieces in a triumphant return to life as a full time artist . The new works that have come out of it all are bursting with lush inspiration .
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“ This new body of work is inspired by my trip to the Olympic National Forest . I put in my notice and went camping with a friend for six days and it just charged me up with this amazing green energy and dripping moss and all of the little tiny critters . I made a whole list of everything that we saw and took a ton of reference photos .” Driving people to reconnect to the