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

Kayla, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I have been artist since I was a little kid, always doodling and drawing. In high school, I took art for every elective possible and my senior year I took an “Art Portfolio” class with the intention of putting together a portfolio for art school. But somewhere along the way, the “advice” from the adults in my life set in and I decided to go to college for science instead of art.

I kind of strayed away from art for quite a few years during college because I was working full time and going to school full time. At this point of my life, I didn’t even think about art any more as a realistic career option. While in a botany class, a professor noticed my plant “doodles” in my notes and he told me all about how there are people who make careers out of botanical illustrations. It wasn’t until this point that I had ever thought I could combine my love for the arts and sciences. That interaction planted a seed (yes, pun intended) in my mind that would stay buried for another few years while I kept my head down and kept working hard.

Eventually after college, I got a job working for the county and found myself sad and unfulfilled. So I started drawing and painting again in my free time and also started thinking about other career options. This was the point when I knew for sure that I wanted to be a full time artist. I didn’t yet know what that looked like or how to get there, but I knew I had to leave that stable, county job to do something more flexible while I found a way to spend time building up my art practice again.

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.

I am an acrylic painter living and working in St. Pete, FL. My work is heavily inspired by my background in botany and environmental science, as well as my love for St. Pete. After a long hiatus from art in college, it was my interest in nature that lead me back to art.

Once I started playing around with mediums, I settled on acrylic paints because I love the way that I can bring color and vibrancy to my work. My paintings started off very plant-focused and consisted of mostly flowers, leaves, and close up images of tropical fruit trees. Once I started developing my painting skills a little more, I started adding more unique and strange elements to my work. I did this whole series of St. Pete and Florida local places using very bright colors and added a UFO to the background of each. At the time, it was just a way for me to play around and experiment, but the series actually got really good feedback from my peers and gained me quite a few local followers.

As of now, I say my artistic style has “weird Florida” vibes. I still do a lot of plant focused art as well as some weirder stuff too. I like painting local landscapes and parks. You can always count on my paintings having very vivid colors. Most of my work has a deeper theme or feeling that I am trying to communicate with the viewer. A theme that has come up often in my recent work is the idea of St. Pete being a safe space for the more unique, weird, and colorful Florida folks.

Outside of my own weird, original paintings, I sell lots of merch (including prints and stickers) at local markets and art shows. I have also done quite a few custom paintings for my clients and I am always looking for more commissions that allow for some creative freedom. I also recently got into mural painting and I absolutely love painting large scale. I love the idea of doing bright, vibrant murals of native plants and animals to educate people about protecting local habitats.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I think this is an excellent question and I could probably break this down and go on for far too long about it, but I will condense!

First off, I think that there are a lot of people out there that don’t view themselves as “creatives” because they don’t practice a visual or performing art, but I think that is absolutely not the case. There are so many creative people out there that don’t even realize their creativity. For the people running small businesses, working in marketing, developing new ideas and products for a company, building community, etc., you are all “creatives”!

The other side of this is that for every “creative” or artistic job, there are also a lot of other hats that you will need to wear. An example of this from my own life is that as a full time artist, only about 50% of my work week is actually painting. A good portion of my time is spent applying for shows and events, doing inventory and supply orders, packaging and shipping orders, designing and planning new projects, and most importantly of them all, making time to continue finding inspiration! There are a lot of self described “non-creative” people I have met that don’t realize the other half of what goes into this career path. It can be very rewarding, but it is also very hard. There are often long nights working to meet deadlines, long days out in the hot sun at events, and all without any direct coworkers to help you get through the day.

One of the bigger hurdles that I didn’t foresee is when “non-creative” friends and family don’t understand why I am “always busy” or “always working”. I fully admit that my work-life balance could use a little attention, but at the end of the day, I do this because it is what I love. I do it because it is fulfilling and I enjoy it. Having a little understanding for your creative friends can go a long way!

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

I think that one of the simplest ways for society to support artists is funding! Art brings so much life and personality to a place. Art is necessary in society but often the first thing that gets cut when funding is low. But picture a town like St. Pete, with murals on almost every building and art shows and events every weekend. The art is what catches people’s attention and draws them in. It stimulates growth in the local economy, but unfortunately a lot of local artists are still living near the poverty line or struggling to find secure housing in the same areas that benefit from their art.

There are already some towns that offer occasional grants and scholarships to local artists, but I think the need goes much deeper than a couple hundred dollars awarded to a few artists each year. Affordable housing and transportation is so important to this dynamic. There is a reason why people joke that only rich kids can afford to be artists. It’s time to change this dynamic!      

Contact Info:

• Website: www.kwheintzart.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/kw.heintz.art
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/kw.heintz.art