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

Kprecaia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Kp Inspires is a digital illustration studio that was founded with the intention of spreading inspiration and motivation in various ways to the world. As an artist, my aim is to use the power of illustration to express love and celebrate individuals. In a world often filled with overwhelming negativity, I choose to be the opposite. Drawing inspiration from language, photography, and my own curiosity, I enjoy creating portrait art that forms connections with viewers. Often, I leave my art without eyes, allowing viewers to connect with the emotions portrayed. Vibrant colors are a central element in my work, as they evoke and capture positive feelings. I aspire to serve as a reminder to hold onto hope, find joy, and embrace confidence. Through personal projects and collaborations, my dream is to see my artwork showcased and utilized worldwide, on digital murals, skateboards, yoga mats, campaigns, publications, movie covers, albums, stationery, and beyond.

Kprecaia, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Kprecia Ambers, I am an artist from Minneapolis, Minnesota and I make art to share inspiration and encouragement.

While pursuing a degree as a web designer at Concordia University St.Paul, a class that was apart of my course was graphic design. There I was introduced to new possibilities. When tasked with an assignment to create a poster, I fell in love with the idea of connecting with people through art. I learned a lot throughout and changed my major to graphic design. In the summer of my Jr year in college I sat down and begin to think about how I wanted to connect, encourage, and celebrate people. The world can simply be overwhelming and hateful. I wanted to be the opposite and create products that made people feel good. The idea came to create home decor items. At the time I didn’t know what I wanted to show. When my senior year came I got the opportunity to make whatever I wanted. This was my time to shine as my teacher encouraged each of us to explore our interests. For my project, I learned the history of African Adinkra symbols. I loved how their characters, colors, and patterns carried meaning and it inspired me to create my own symbol collection. By the time I graduated in 2015, my curiosity grew for patterns and I envisioned my work printed out in the world as commercial art on stationery and more.

My goal was to first gain experience within the industry before pursuing entrepreneurship. The journey started with reaching out to designers to gain experience and advice. I seeked to find Black artist and business owners. The challenge proved to be more challenging than I thought and the results were discouraging. So I changed course and worked at a nonprofit. Taking advantage of my downtown, I began to explore what I wanted to share with the world. That is when the idea was born to simply create portraits and incorporate patterns into my art. People relate to people. I found freedom and made what I wanted to see in the world, Black representation and art that evoked positive emotion. Soon I started sharing my digital self-portraits on Instagram along with messages and stories of encouragement. Along my journey I got an internship at a branding company called Neka Creative as an account manager. I was super thankful to work for a Black owned business and took in as much as I could. When my internship ended, I collected notes, applied what I learned, created an ecommerce site, and applied my art on pillows. Kp Inspires officially became a business in 2018. In the beginning I focused solely on applying my art on pillows and home decor items, participating in vendor events and gallery shows. Since, my career remains to fulfill the same goals it was founded on blossoming into a world of ventures and new found opportunities as a freelance artist.

I am known for my vibrant depictions of portraits and I have worked with a variety of clients creating art for products, publications, advertising campaigns, and packaging. Currently I have an artist collaboration with Target’s Home Room Essentials! My art is featured on pillows, mugs, doormats, shower curtains, canvas, and tumblers. I also recently illustrated a book called Echo in the Distance, by Shayla Michelle. I feel apart of my purpose as an artist is to amplify stories and celebrate representation. The industry needs to continue to push toward diversity and inclusion and I am happy to be apart of fulfilling that need. Especially in the current political state we are in and its impact on educational systems and work spaces. These days I am pouring into my visions to uplift Black stories and create commercial art. I’m taking control of my dreams and making my own products to give a glimpse of how I visualize my art and its impact. My hope is to use the power of illustration and collaboration to be a voice of love. Viewers can support, shop and find my products online at Kpinspires.com.

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

Choosing to be a business owner. There are many hats I have to wear, the challenge is both rewarding and scary at times. Like any job you have do things you may not always want to do and when you are in charge of your own schedule, self-discipline is constantly calling you out. At times I don’t always feel like I know what I am doing. It’s truly a walk of the unknown. With all the different hardships, resilience is added. I am reminded of my purpose to share art and inspiration and be an example of the power in being yourself. To get through I push myself to be uncomfortable and utilize my support as guidance. Regardless of the different challenges I am thankful to wake up doing what I love each day even when it’s not my dream project. I am excited to continue building and seeing where my career takes me.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

As an a business owner I had to learn the importance in taking care of myself physically, mentally, and spiritually in order to show up better. It can be easy to make life revolve around clients and things needed for my business. Almost as if there is no off switch. This was getting heavy and draining, especially during 2020 when so much was accruing. I had to stop and take time to reflect on what self-care meant to me and how it looked. I became a priority, setting aside time to workout and focus on inner healing. Little did I know it was preparation for a season in which I began experiencing digestive issues and I was faced with no choice but to care for myself. Although I didn’t understand what was happening with my body, I was healing in other ways learning to value my mental care and spiritual care. I also feel I became wiser, questioning my thoughts and lies I maybe telling myself. This spilled over into my career as 2020 was the first time I leaped into becoming a service. I started taking my good and bad experiences to weave out the type of clients I wanted and how I could start taking control over how my business functioned. I had a lot more power than I was giving myself. Anything that caused my a headache was a call out to find a better solution for. This reality escapes me at times, when it comes back to mind I feel relief take action.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kpinspires.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kprecia/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kprecia-ambers/

Image Credits
Art & photos with pillows and canvas collection (first 3) – Target Yellow Nina Simone canvas, Tina Turner notebook, and illustration with quote – Kp Inspires illustration studio Image of me and Shayla Michelle – Echo in the Distance book being held – Belen Fleming, Belu Photography My personal photo – Uncommon collaborative – Bre McGee