We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kelly King. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kelly below.

Kelly, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

By creating an immersive art and shopping experience, I’ve made it my mission to share or impose art on people who wouldn’t normally view it. When you step into a small store you might not expect to be surrounded by murals and art installations coming out of the walls and ceiling, but that’s what Goblin Shark Emporium is all about. It’s filled with art and products made by mostly local artists and independent brands. With all the recent LA and OC developers changing the face of Oceanside, I wanted to help keep something local and to help benefit artists like myself. Not all art in cities by the beach has to be pictures of waves, art can also be weird, bright, and fun!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I started out as a special make-up effects artist and steadily worked as a sculptor and fabricator for about a decade. I was laid off from three different artists positions in a row, the first thing to go at downsizing companies are always the art jobs. It was then I had an epiphany to be my own boss and help support other struggling artists by making a store for the weirdos and art kids like myself. I wanted to create a store for artists by artists so I contacted all my friends I had been doing street fairs with for years to see if they wanted to be a part of it. Once I had the location, I spent the first month turning it into an immersive art experience and filling it with inventory. I hired a local muralist, Nicholas Danger, to cover an entire wall with an insane mural of all the weird things I love including my pets, he also did the outside signage. I also hired another local artist, Cheryl Sorg, to cover another wall with an amazing raindrop installation and later make a bright and transparent curtain for the front window. While they worked I painted a mural on another wall, created a blacklight installation and hanging Wonderland style light installations, and a gallery space out of a fake hedge wall. Everything in the store is made by artists and independent brands, mostly local, and features a different local artist every month in the gallery space. One of my favorite things about the store is being able to introduce people to new artists they might never have found on their own. Any non local artist in the store is someone I’ve been following for a while and have been buying their work already. The store is a glorified gift shop that sells art, vintage, vinyl, and unique gifts of all kinds. I am very proud of what I was able to create in a month and all the joy it has brought my customers and vendors. I am so thankful to have been accepted into the local community with open arms and am very thankful to my friends and loved ones for all the help they provided before and continue to provide.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

After the third layoff in a row, I decided I couldn’t start over again with the possibility of the same thing happening in another two to three years. I was told I was getting laid off halfway through December 2021 but my last day wouldn’t be until the 31st. At first the panic set in and I immediately started looking for jobs but to no avail. Luckily a winter holiday had already been booked in Idyllwild so I had time to clear my head. It was there that I had the epiphany of opening a store/art experiment and from there everything seemed to fall into place. After a month long artist residency in January it was time to get to work. I found the listing for the space the day after it had been posted and by the end of March I was on the lease, I even got the keys on my birthday! April was spent putting the shop together and the grand opening was May 1st. It all seemed to happen very fast to most people but I knew there wasn’t time to waste. It has been one of the best and most challenging experiences of my life and I wouldn’t change a minute of it.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Stop diminishing your own work. Everyone’s their own worst critic keeping them from doing bigger and better things. One day I realized that indeed everyone has this same stupid voice in their head and yet they’re a respected and accomplished artist, business owner, or fill in the blank with whatever job here. Quit judging your work against your peers and think about it from an outsiders perspective. An accountant may look at a painting you’ve been beating yourself up over and think it’s absolutely amazing; whereas I myself can’t handle numbers so what they do is astonishing. One day I told that voice no and have been ignoring it’s what ifs and you’ll nevers since then. I definitely wouldn’t have opened a store on my own if I hadn’t.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goblinsharkemporium/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/goblinsharkemporium
• Website: www.goblinsharkemporium.com

Image Credits
Tim Sams and Ashley Gallagher