We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kari Whiteside. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kari below.
Alright, Kari thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
Though not every painting, print, or mural of mine speaks to everyone, all of my artwork is very meaningful to me in one way or another, I only put paint down when I have inspiration, so each of my pieces is embedded with a deeper story than meets the eye. Not only do I absolutely love answering questions about how I made my pieces, but also why I made them. Whether it be my “Growth” series of paintings, in which each bouquet is based on a real one that I have collected over the past few years from various special people and places; or my “Treesus” print, which captured exactly what it felt like to be a chill college student with no real worries; or even my pet portraits, which express the personalities of the animals and their humans alike; each piece was created for a specific reason. I always feel such a strong connection to the people who give my pieces a home, because we have a mutual understanding and appreciation for the meaning of the piece. Something that spoke to me also speaks to them, so much so that they want to have this piece inside their home. This is why some of my favorite types of artwork are murals, since their “home” is the entire neighborhood! Whenever I complete a mural, I feel that a bond has been forged between myself and the community. For example, my murals, “Welcome to Isla Vista” and “The Monarch House” make it seem as if I still have family in my little college town of Isla Vista, California, and that I will always be welcome back to visit them, no matter how long it has been. I’d have to say, though, the mural that originally got me addicted to this feeling of community, meaning, and belonging, was my “Be Creative” mural at Kester Elementary School in California. I completed this mural with the help of some of the elementary school students, and their reactions to it were astounding. One student’s mother told me, “He used to hate coming to school, but now that he is doing art after school each day, he can not wait!” It brought me to tears. It was so heartwarming to see the kids point out their little personal square of the mural, knowing that it would be there for years to come. It was then that I realized the true power of public art, and I decided to continue trying to bring my communities together in this way.
Kari, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Hi everyone! My name is Kari Whiteside, and I am a painter/printmaker/muralist obsessed with portraying nature and my surroundings through art. I’ve been creating ever since I could hold a crayon, and I will never cease to! I was born and raised near Los Angeles, California, and now I reside in Seattle, Washington. I have been doing art for my entire life, and began pursuing it more professionally in college. There, I learned many new painting techniques, the art of printmaking, and I even had the opportunity to paint a couple murals! I have wanted to be a professional artist for my whole life, and my journey had just begun. After college, I started experimenting and playing with new painting styles, such as impressionism and impasto, and fell in love with using thick paint to represent texture and using a minimal number of bright colors to make a big visual impact. I have since developed my own painting style and methods to create paintings of my favorite subjects: flowers and landscapes. Now, I sell my pieces through my website and I love participating in all the art shows and art fairs as well to spread joy through art!
A little about my artwork: I am endlessly inspired by the West Coast, from the massive sandy beaches and adorable beach towns of SoCal, to the quirky, lively hustle and bustle of Seattle. I also draw inspiration from random everyday things: flower bouquets, knick-knacks on my desk, my pets, my stuffed giraffe toy Jimmy, my ukulele… the list goes on! What could be next? In my artwork, I love drawing out and emphasizing the natural colors of my subjects to create something vibrant, lively, and a little messy, well, because life is colorful and messy and beautiful! In my paintings, I’ve become obsessed with mimicking textures with thick acrylic paint. I love globbing it on my canvases to create voluminous flower petals, or spreading it to create fun scenes and delightful landscapes. In my murals, I use a combination of outdoor paint and spray paint to create colorful displays for businesses and individuals that desire something more for their blank walls. In my linocut prints, I love trying out different fun carving patterns and using thick, bold lines; my prints will make you yearn to run your fingers along the blocks from which they were birthed. I love concocting creations that are fun, uplifting, energizing, and sometimes even funny… so I hope you find a piece that resonates with you! And if you like my style but can’t find quite the right piece… I accept commissions as well to work with clients to craft the piece of their dreams!
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
I believe the hardest thing to understand about life as a creative if you do not work as a creative is how personal rejections can feel. As an artist, you put a lot of meaning, and a lot of yourself into everything you do. Being rejected is not just based on your resume, or your work experience, or objective reasons; it is based on how much people like your art, and how much it speaks to them. It feels like your blood, sweat, tears, heart and soul are being rejected when people do not like a piece that means everything to you. In order to work as a creative, you have to muster up a ton of resilience to keep pushing onward in the face of people who dislike your work, because eventually you will be found by people who relate, who understand, and who will uplift you. But there is always rejection that follows you that you must learn to conquer if you are to move onward in your creative journey.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
Many of the people who follow me on social media have seen me in person at some point. Therefore, my advice in terms of how to spread awareness of your brand on social media is: get out there in real life and promote it! Apply for that art show! Participate in art fairs! Make cards and a sign with your Instagram handle on them! People and clients that you reach in person are going to be very passionate about your work if they get to see it up close, and especially if they get to get the inside scoop from the artist themselves. These people will then follow you and spread the word about your work to their friends, and by continuing to meet with people at art events, you will begin to build a network of people and clients to uplift you, refer your art to others, and help get your work seen by many more than if you were working on promoting your brand alone online. 
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kariwhitesideart.com
- Instagram: @kari.whiteside.art
- Facebook: Kari Whiteside Art (page)
- TikTok: @kari.whiteside.art