Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kelly Spieker . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Kelly, appreciate you joining us today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

Sometimes I wish I had started my creative career sooner, but I think timing is everything. I was still finding myself in my 20s, but now that I’m well into my 30s, I have a better idea of who I am, what my long-term goals are and how my art fits into those goals.

Kelly, 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 am a dot mandala artist whose motto is, “the more obscure the canvas, the better.”

But that’s not my only medium. From macramé and dream catchers to refinished furniture and jewelry, I’ve tried it and found a way to filter it through my unique point of view.

It was in 2021, right in the middle of the pandemic, that I first discovered dot mandala art. Bored with all of my hobbies and coping with the anxiety that arose during quarantine, I watched a couple of dot painting reels and before I knew it, I had the dotting tools, a stack of canvas and paint. And while I can’t draw a stick figure to save my life, it turns out I’m good with dots and circles.

Dot mandala painting started as a hobby and quickly turned into a meditative practice of counting dots and sharpening my skills. I love pairing colors that may not obviously match and finding random and obscure canvases to fill full of dots. I never thought about selling my art, but as the finished products started piling up, I figured I’d give it a try. Thus the Adopted Alien Project was born.

I’ve never been as proud of anything as I am of this small art business I’ve created, and it’s taken two years, but I’ve built a small following and a handful of loyal, dedicated clientele – folks I can count on to share my social media posts, be curious about new products and show up to every weekend show. I love working on custom orders because I get to take someone’s favorite colors and not only turn them into something beautiful, but I get to see the look on their face when my work exceeds expectations.

So far, I’ve yet to find an idea too big to accomplish and I am up for any challenge.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is the community of creatives I’ve found along my journey. I had no idea Colorado Springs was full of so many unique and talented individuals, and I’m honored to call some of them my friends. I feel lucky that they’ve purchased art from me, made trades and even requested custom orders.

Some friends recently opened their own store front and commissioned me to paint their register wrap. It’s not visible to the public, but when I hear them say it’s “just for them” – it almost means more.

I love that I get to share my art with my community and I can honestly say, without any hesitation, that if it weren’t for the folks I’ve met since my first little 6 foot table set up, that I would not be where I am today. They also push me to be a better artist – I mean, if I can earn the respect of Colorado Springs’ finest – I must be doing something right. This thought only makes me want to do better so that I can continue to see my business listed among theirs.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

For a long time, I subscribed to the theory of hustle culture. If I wasn’t the busiest, most successful corporate employee among my peers then I was failing – hard. Then, in 2018, I truly experienced depression for the first time in my life.

It’s easy to say, “Oh, I feel depressed,” when something goes wrong or you’re having a bad day, but actual depression is as bad as they say. It is debilitating, defeating and ugly and without the right kind of help, impossible to move past. Being depressed is easy – it’s doing the work to stay in recovery that’s hard. But I do the work every day, and I would not change what I’ve been through despite how difficult it was, and sometimes, still is.

I’ve had to face the fact that my brain won’t ever be the same as it was when I was 25 or 30 or 35 … my coping mechanisms have changed over the years, my ideas of self-care and self-preservation have changed, my priorities have changed and my goals for the future.

Now, instead of the hustle culture, I long to live a life of simplicity. My husband and I are working towards a future where we can live outside a big city on a decent-sized piece of land, raise some chickens and goats (and maybe an alpaca or two), and I can focus on being a full-time artisan. I have so many ideas, so many things I want to try and learn. I am meant to take care of the house, of hoards of animals and I’m meant to be a creative – an artist.

Contact Info:

• Website: adoptedalienproject.com
• Instagram: @adoptedalienproject
• Facebook: @adoptedalienproject