We recently connected with Kayle Rice and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Kayle thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I was never creative as a child; I loved art but told myself that I “couldn’t draw a straight line with a ruler” and thus shied away from taking art classes in high school and college. Yet, every career assessment test I’ve ever taken listed “artist” in the top ten recommended professions. Ministry was also one of those top ten, and parish minister/hospital/hospice chaplain was my professional career. But after another such test in mid-career I decided that if the assessment test keeps saying “artist”, I’d better follow up on that.

So I took a couple of watercolor classes and created a little studio in my spare bedroom. I submitted a painting in an art show with the theme of “Whimsy” and even sold that piece! I was inspired to keep on creating and over the years have discovered that mixed media and collaging was my forte. I’m a workshop junkie and take a lot of online classes.

I have worked with so many mediums; in addition to watercolor and acrylics, I’ve done assemblage, mosaics, quilting, embroidery, ecaustic, gel plate printing….

My biggest obstacle, as I see it, is my lack of discipline and focus, although I’m getting better at that. I admire artists who create in a series or stay with a specific style or material. I’m not (yet) one of those; I see an art video online and I want to do that! Squirrel! Plus my mind teems with ideas, thus I am “Carrier of Too Many Ideas”. Essential skills? Precisely what holds me back; that teeming mind of mine.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My proudest achievement was shortly after I moved back to my hometown. The year before they had hosted their first marathon. The next year, a call went out to local artists to take part in a collaborative art project of a picture of runners at the starting line and gave out 16″ x 20″ panels to create a portion of the picture they were given. I made a paper mosaic of my section and seeing my piece among others who were very skilled, gave me a sense of pride to be part of the 80″ x 80″ collaboration.

Shortly after that I discovered SoulCollage® and fell in love with collaging. SoulCollage® is a intuitive art practice developed by Seena Frost and is now a worldwide phenomenon. Inuitively selecting images as an expression of oneself really appealed to the “not religious, but spiritual” me. I later became a certified SoulCollage® Facilitator and hosted workshops, locally and at retreat centers. From this work I developed an interest in collaging as art form.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

In collage art, my greatest interests are spiritual themes. I love Eastern philosophies, their goddesses and gods and art as well as the spiritual arts of Western religions; these are frequent themes in my collage art. I also enjoy taking vintage cards of women and making them “holy”; creating these faces into spiritual beings. This also goes for women as a whole, honoring the intuitive and the wise within as spiritual beings. I save circles from my collage clippings to become “halos”. I am now challenging myself to make 99 collages on Islam’s “Ninety Nine Names of Allah” and make them feminist. Ninety nine collages of women each reflecting an attribute of the Holy.

I also enjoy making surreal and magic realism collages; making new meaning out of juxtapositioned images to create an imaginary world.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

In the world of collage art, I believe it is imperative to create communities which encourages creatives and non-creatives alike. Smaller projects which encourages both the art form and community building are especially gratifying when creations are shared on social media. I currently participate in the Monthly International Collaged Playing Cards Exchange and get a rush when a collaged card comes in mail. The Kolaj Institute in New Orleans, LA is heavily involved in creating such community and I was deeply inspired while attending my first Kolaj Fest in 2025. Locally there are a couple of collage artists that have each held workshops and collage challenges for the community. I will be hosting a retreat on “Making Meaning” in 2026 using collage as the tools. It’s imperative to encourage and attend these types of collaborative events when making art in whatever medium one uses. Collaborative art-making can heal personal trauma, address social issues and speak to our spiritual inner selves.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaylemazoo
• Other: [email protected]

  You may be interested in KolajInstitute.org

Image Credits

All images by Kayle Rice