We recently connected with Kimberly Dow and have shared our conversation below.

Kimberly, appreciate you joining us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

In my late 30’s, I was in the middle of a divorce with 3 teenage children. It was starting over to the extreme, but with dependents. The biggest risk I think I have taken is not running out to get a customer service job at that point, but to stick with my art career. It was scary and kind of insane to imagine making enough to support myself and the kids. I had been making progress in terms of sales and press/awards, etc. It was not nearly close to what I needed now, but I kept at it and somehow it happened for me. I hustled so hard – including painting under a different name with more fast kitschy impressionistic work that kept me afloat. When you are in that position, you are not having any thoughts about ‘selling out’ – you are just doing the financially responsible thing. In the end, those days of painting 10 quick pieces a day taught me so much about running a business and perfecting my skills. I also successfully kept those kids alive who are thriving adults today. Go me!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have been drawing & painting since I was a small child. It sounds trite, but I always knew I wanted to be an artist. Nothing else would do. My children (and others) have often told me how lucky I was because there were never any angst over choosing a career. It was this, or it didn’t matter…nothing else would make me happy.

I was lucky enough as a 19-year-old college student to get a part time sales job in a local gallery (Meredith, NH). There was a frame shop there as well, so I took my work in to get framed with my employee discount. The owners saw my floral paintings and hung my work immediately next to paintings by Tony Bennett. They sold fairly well and I was sure I would be famous by the time I was 25. All artists reading this will laugh at that.

I painted still lifes, florals and landscapes (having shows here and there) mostly until around the age of 30. I wanted to paint portraits of my children, so I taught myself through books, trial and error and with the help of other artists on the internet who would help, critique and generally harass each other in art forums. That advice was absolutely indispensable.

Once I felt I had a good handle on painting people, that became my obsession that stands still today. I feel like my art is voyeuristic. I so enjoy watching people. I can sit in public for hours just watching, sketching and making up stories about strangers. Many of my stories that end up in paintings are personal on some level. I paint children, I paint women finding their way back to confidence, I am painting older women often these days which makes sense as I am aging myself. I believe that many of my paintings resonate with other people because of the stories in my head that swirl while I work. There are layers and deep meanings and full on conversations with the canvas that happen when I am creating. Sometimes viewers get exactly what I am trying to say, other times they assign their own meanings to the paintings that they see. I LOVE when I have a painting that everyone seems to read differently.

I paint portrait commissions as well and it is a cherished part of my art practice. I do not think any artist worth their salt can paint someone and not fall a little bit in love with them. Staring that long as someone’s face you can just imagine their hopes and dreams and how they feel about themselves. Helping someone pose in a way that shows their true best self is absolutely a joy. I feel like I may specialize in women feeling free, sexy and joyful. I am all about all the ways to empowerment.

One of my favorite things about my career is when I find a series I want to explore in depth. I’ve done an imaginary marching band with children in the woods that was so damn fun. I’ve done a series with a couple of beautiful women in a creek fighting the devil (who was trying to seduce them with music) for their souls. Right at the moment I am doing a series with animals at an imaginary dinner party. Blame the current political climate on wanting to avoid people for a short time. I think of these paintings as ‘Escapism’ art.

One of the questions here is what I am most proud of. It probably has to be the Sirens & Secrets Series I painted. I used two women, musical instruments, a suitcase, an umbrella, a stand in for the devil, and a nearby creek to create a story about a young woman falling in with the wrong crowd/doing drugs – then her fight to get away from that and enjoy her beautiful life with her children. It was based on my daughter’s own story and it was painted out of sheer love and pride.

My work is available in several galleries, my own studio shop online and there are copies of many pieces on the moon as well. I participate in shows regularly and I occasionally enter competitions to get my work out there. I have features in art magazines on average a couple times a year and try my best to keep up with social media so anyone looking to collect can find me easily.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I was able to attend a couple workshops with two different artists I admired in my early 30’s – and those may have single-handedly improved my work the most. It involves travel and time and expenses, but if you are as aspiring artist, that is something I would highly recommend. Find your favorite artists and learn from them.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

The idea of ‘selling out’ as an artist. I take that to mean you are in it for the money, not the creativity. Nonsense. We all need to make a living and I am proud of the business I have built. I have to eat just like anyone else. That ‘starving artist’ troupe needs to end. Who can be creative when the lights get shut off? Sometimes it means painting a portrait of someone you would rather not because you are obsessed with something else. Sometimes a dog portrait with a silly bow on their head that you will not share on social media (because you don’t want any more of those commissions, but it did pay the grocery bill last month). The hustle is real in this line of work – do it with pride and never mind the snobs who want to talk about ‘real art’. You do what you must to continue the obsession.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kimberlydow.com
• Instagram: @kimberlyrdow
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1185422114

Image Credits

Kimberly Dow
Mark Harris (photo of myself in front of painting)