We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kurt Giehl. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kurt below.
Kurt, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
I spent most of my professional life working for JPMorgan in various roles across the Private and Investment Banks. When I turned 50, I had a bit of a mid-life crisis when I realized I wasn’t doing what I wanted to do with my life. While my time at JP was amazing in many ways, I wanted more out of life.
I left JPMorgan and my husband and I sold our apartment in the city and moved to our home in East Hampton. It was then that I decided to focus 100% of my time to my creative journey. Have no formal education in the arts, it was the incredibly supportive local artist community in the Hamptons that helped me start painting, exhibiting, and selling my work.
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.
As I mentioned, I started painting full time seven years ago when I left JPMorgan.
Living in the Hamptons I find inspiration all around me. My husband and I spend much of our time fishing on the waters in and around East Hampton. My seascape paintings are all inspired by these many fishing trips. With my seascapes, I highlight the subtleness of horizon – where air meets land meets water. Each painting is orchestrated to not only capture the physical beauty of the East End, but to also capture a state of mind and tranquility. These paintings are intended to induce a level of calm. An exaggerated version of the image inspiration, both from a color and composition perspective, my seascapes draw the viewer into a surreal and somewhat otherworldly scene.
I utilize a combination of acrylic and oil to create these seascape paintings. Each painting starts with a base layer of acrylic paint to enhance the depth and ultimate hues of oil paint. I then use brayers to apply the paint as this technique adds a level of abstraction to the composition. The imprecise nature of layering paint with brayers forces me to embrace unpredictability into the paintings.
Different from my seascape paintings, my Block Series is intended to create motion and movement from a completely static object – a block. Composed of hundreds of individual pieces, these paintings are in constant motion as light, shadows, and the viewer’s perspective changes throughout the day. They are textural and angular with a balance of composition that plays with the concept of chance. If you look at the painting long enough, individual blocks begin to move creating an illusion of motion. I love the structural and three dimensional aspect of my block paintings. Similar to my seascape paintings, I find something very soothing and tranquil about the structure of composition and order of the blocks in these paintings.
On any given day, I work between both my seascape and block paintings. It feels like I’m utilizing the two sides of my brain where the block paintings are an equation and puzzle that unfolds, my seascapes are lyrical and free-flowing gestures that create the painting.
Something that may be different about me than other artists, is that I love working with clients on commissions. I enjoy the collaborative process of incorporating my client’s ideas into my art, while remaining loyal to my own artistic vision. Because i involve my clients throughout the evolution of the painting, they have a real sense of ownership having helped create the artistic vision.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
One of the reasons I left my career in finance was a constant feeling that I didn’t have anything to show for my efforts. I was working hard for a large organization, but for what purpose?
Now, one of the most rewarding aspects of being an artist, is that my art will be enjoyed by people long after I’m gone. I love the idea that my paintings will have a life of their own – hopefully being enjoyed and passed down for generations to come. It’s a great feeling to think that my art might provide some level of joy in people’s every day lives.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
As an artist, I learned quickly that I needed to remain true to my artistic vision. Sharing one’s art with the world is both exhilarating and nerve-wracking. It invites a range of responses—love, appreciation, or even indifference. As long as remain true to my vision, I’m comfortable with any reaction I receive.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kurtgiehl.com
- Instagram: @kurtgiehl
Image Credits
Photo of Kurt Giehl by Jaime Lopez