We were lucky to catch up with Madeline Kiel recently and have shared our conversation below.
Madeline, appreciate you joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
In my creative journey, I’ve experienced the desire to pursue a career in the arts two times.
The first being a foundational moment of when I realized that paint could make my heart come alive. At early age of 8 years old I remember taking my first and only art lesson(s). My class took place in the basement of a higher end art gallery in the heart of the historic gold country town of Auburn Ca. My teacher was so inspiring. I remember sitting at this little table, surrounded by other artists (from all age ranges) and being challenged to draw a horse, without using lines, but only using dots and upside down. This intimidated and excited me. My teacher explained this was helping my brain unwire from the obvious to really seeing the image I was referencing. I remember being locked into the moment of drawing this horse. I loved it. I remember flipping the horse I had just drawn “upside down’ right side up and the feeling of pure bliss rush through my body as my 8 year old eyes took in my newest masterpiece. My guess as to why this is a core memory is because in that moment I saw I could succeed challenge of seeing something and bringing it to life.
The second time I realized I want to pursue a career in art was fairly recent. I have always loved painting, but over the last 4 years have fallen in love with it all over again. I am finding new challenges in my craft all the time, and like my 8 year old self, I feel a sense of curiosity. I recently decided to take some time to study my craft, understand the techniques of the old masters, as it is something I’ve yet to do. The more I invest in art, the more I fall in love and want to continue to use art to communicate and connect with culture.
Madeline, 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 was born in beautiful Northern California, spent my childhood on a cattle ranch in Gold Country, fostering a deep love for western culture from an early age. Daily you would find me either riding horses or painting them. If you had asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up I would have said “an artist”. Unfortunately I stopped painting around 12 because it wasn’t “cool” (lol). While in my 20’s I was studying music in LA but dropped out of college to live as a missionary. This took me all over the world where I worked with many different cultures. I also spent 2010-2016 living in the projects of Nashville, working with kids, addicts and the homeless. Around the age of 22 I picked up a paint brush again, which rekindling my love for art. I would paint as a way of personal therapy and sometimes sell my work, raising money to continue my lifestyle. During this time I fell in love with the beauty of humanity. In 2016 I left the “missions” lifestyle and moved to Hawaii for a few years to find myself after giving so much of myself to help people. It was during this time I decided to pursue music/art and move back to Nashville TN in 2018. My love for people has never shifted, which brings me to my art. About 3 years ago I kept having visions of old cowboys and Native Americans. I decided to start researching the history of the west and began learning about the black cowboy. I was so moved by these stories of men and women of the west that I had never heard of that I decided to start painting them. Once I started doing this I had a vision of Snoop as a cowboy and thought that maybe putting him in a cowboy hat would help people start to break the stereotype of cowboying being just a “John Wayne”.
Now I have been using pop culture icons like Snoop Dogg, Tupac, Biggie etc to expose the real west within pop culture. My style, characterized by vibrant colors, soft light, and heartfelt emotion, exudes a gentle class reminiscent of modern baroque. I am very proud to say my art has hung in galleries in Nashville, Tennessee, captivating the hearts of art enthusiasts, like Ben Weprin founder of AJ Capitals and The Graduate Hotels. Notably, my recent portrayal of Waylon Jennings now hangs proudly in Eric Church’s home. I have also painted several unknown cowboys that have found their way back to the family or cowboy themselves.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is creating something beautiful that someone loves! The feeling of hard work and bringing something to life is only matched by the feeling of dropping off the piece with the buyer, seeing their face light up, knowing that they love it.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
Ah social media! A gift from God if used correctly. Think about it. You post a video and it gets 200 views lets say… thats like having 200 people walk into your studio to see your art, if that happened you would be stoked!! I would encourage anyone just starting to post their work on social media to continue to do it! I remember when my Snoop pieced popped off a few years back. I had been posting my art for a while with no major response and then suddenly a video hit. I think strategically you want to make sure you’re posting at the right times, understanding the audience you are wanting to reach and just know that it really is a lot of work but so worth it. The way I built my audience is actively posting and actively engaging with my audience. I sometimes have months that go by where I don’t post and regret it. With the algorithm you really want to stay active.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://madelinekiel.com
- Instagram: @madelinekiel
- Other: Tiktok @madelinekiel
