We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kaelyn Gavin a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Kaelyn, thanks for joining us today. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?
Creating art full-time has been one of the most fulfilling choices I’ve ever made. I am very lucky to have a long-term boyfriend who has always supported my dreams, and who continues to support our household while I learn to make a living from my artwork. My plan going into college was to become a software developer after graduation, which would have helped provide a sizable dual income for my boyfriend and I. There are times where I consider taking a couple of years to use my degree to earn a good salary, but there is always a worry in my heart that taking that path might never lead back to working full-time as an artist. Some artists are lucky to see their work become immediately profitable enough to learn a living from, but most of the creatives I meet have similarly experienced the slow-building process it is to sell your own artwork.
Growing up I believed that being an artist was a pipedream that only few people are lucky enough to get the chance at in life. I regrettably learned how to suppress the desire to become an artist, trying to limit my own expectations of what I felt was “realistic” to have as a career. When I returned to creating again in college art classes I truly appreciated how fulfilled creating artwork made me, and I did not want to let that eagerness and passion slip away again.
Ultimately, I believe we all create our own definitions of career success. In college I defined success as the ability to make as much money as I possibly could. It’s taken a lot of reflection and patience, but I now define success as the ability to trust your intuition and passion, and letting both lead you to a life that uniquely fulfills you. Being an artist follows my definition of success, and so I truly believe that I am on the right path.
Kaelyn, 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?
I moved to Boise immediately after graduating from Northern Arizona University in 2020. I spent the previous four years earning my Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics, but I had realized during my junior year that art felt like the path I was meant to pursue. My boyfriend, Matt, has been incredibly supportive of my dream to create art full-time, which remains one of the greatest gifts I have ever received.
In 2020 I created my small business, KaeGavinArt, and began working out of a home studio that I created in a spare bedroom. The ceramics courses I took in college had sparked my love for clay, but the pandemic delayed my plans of finding a local pottery studio to create at. In the meantime I experimented with various creative projects from home, including punch needle mug rugs, embroidered felt pins, greeting cards for a local book club, framed embroidery commissions, and a pet portrait that I printed from carved linoleum.
In 2022 I was able to finally return to ceramics through weekend classes. When a local artist community, Catalyst Arts Collaborative, posted on social media that they were looking to open a new pottery studio, I reached out and partnered with five other artists to create Cat Clay. We officially opened the studio in October of 2022, and now offer accessible ceramics classes to the public.
As for KaeGavinArt, I have been focusing on making punch-needle mug rugs, which remain the most popular item on my website. One of my goals this year is to expand the number of mug rug designs I offer by working with a tufting gun, and to experiment with large scale tufted art pieces.
Although I consider myself an extremely new artist, I think the variety of mediums I like to work with is what sets me apart. I used to feel lost by not having a “niche” that I felt comfortable committing all of my effort to, but in trying to find my “niche” I ended up learning a variety of new mediums that I continue to enjoy working with. Embroidery, printmaking, sewing, and tufting are skills that I’ve only recently acquired in the last two years, which have been incredibly fulfilling in their own ways.
It’s important for me to share with others that they too can find their own creative voice—at any stage of life, with any level of prior experience. By documenting my work on social media, I want to show the variety of art that can be made from home, and to hopefully encourage any aspiring artists or creatives to make art of their own. The most influential tools I’ve used to learn how to create have been YouTube tutorials and learning from other artists online. I can only hope that my work might one day inspire someone to express themselves artistically, and to share the love of art with others in their life.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
While in university I took an art education course that left a lasting impact on my view of the importance of encouraging art. I distinctly remember a discussion we had that focused on the amount of time an average person spends creating artwork during their lifetime. My professor was explaining that the amount of artistic “talent”/skill that a person has is related to the last time they practiced creating artwork–which for many people is during elementary school. Those who may seem “artistically gifted,” are likely to actually just be artistically consistent, having grown their skillset over time like you would with any other ability. This realization that most individuals stop developing their art skills at a young age made me realize how neglected art is in our society.
In Boise, I learned that most elementary schools here don’t even offer art to their students, making me wonder if these children will ever have the chance to be encouraged to create. Making art is so much more than creating something fun to look at–it’s the development of fine motor skills, story-telling, emotional expression, and problem-solving. As a society we rely on artists to create our culture, yet so many of us are not actively participating in telling our own stories through art. To me, the best way to support artists and creatives is to encourage yourself and others to find avenues that build your appreciation towards the arts by creating it yourselves. Working with Catalyst Arts Collaborative has reinvigorated my drive to help others find ways to work on their art skills beyond school, and to meet creatives in your community that build a network of support for the arts.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Being an artist has given me some very unique and rewarding opportunities to see firsthand that anyone can successfully create art themselves, regardless of their prior experience or perceived capabilities.
Last year I had the opportunity to take my parents to my pottery studio to teach them how to make a piece of pottery on the wheel. My mom has Multiple Sclerosis (MS) which is a chronic disease that affects your central nervous system by causing lasting nerve damage. Due to her MS, she experiences dizziness, leg pain, and her right hand remains continuously tingly. When my mom said she wanted to try the wheel, I felt so excited that she wanted to share my love of pottery with me by trying something completely new to her. It wasn’t until after the experience at the studio that I could fully process how incredible it was to see her making pottery despite dizziness and decreased sensation in her hand. She even made a small vase that was much better than the first piece I ever threw on the wheel in college! It was incredibly rewarding to see how happy she was to hold her first finished piece of pottery, and remains an inspiring memory that will stay with me for the rest of my life.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kaegavinart.com
- Instagram: @KaeGavinArt