We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Renee King a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Renee, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
I was born with a brain that always looked at the world wondering, what if? As a child, instead of buying board games, I’d make them. In high school my modular schedule let me spend my extended free time in the music room or the art room, playing piano or sitting in front of a blank canvas asking, what if? In college I declared a music major and art minor but dropped the minor because I wondered what if … I wanted a social life. I finished a Master’s degree and my career as a high school choral director took off because I asked what if … I became a director in a male dominated career? That, marriage, and children consumed my time until children moved out of the house and then, what if, led to a class with Katherine Salverda, an awarding winning artist who taught art classes. She and I had great conversations, I found out that she loved to sing and what if I gave her voice lessons in exchange for art lessons? It was a match! What if led to a dear friendship steeped in honesty. I remember my fear around making a mistake and Katherine saying, “Renee, this isn’t a block of marble and you’re not Michelangelo! It’s a piece of paper!” I learned the extraordinary freedom around taking artistic risks.
After moving to a southern suburb in the Twin Cities to be closer to family I found and studied with award winning artist Doug House. I discovered that working with these artists was part instruction, part finding my own artistic voice, and part passing it on. It was never about competition; it was about teaching techniques that allowed me to ask what if I find my own style?
In 2019 my husband and I were hired by an American school in Bratislava, Slovakia and jumped at the opportunity for the adventure. At this time I was doing pastels. But, how do I bring fragile pastel paintings back safely? I happened on a flyer advertising watercolor classes, nothing like pastels that can flake when moved. The class was taught by Lucy LeMay, an award winning watercolorist, and I was in love! Not all artists are teachers but Lucy was phenomenal, so generous with her time and expertise. When the Y class ended a small group women from the class continued to paint with Lucy monthly and I found my creative clan. It made it difficult to leave them for Slovakia.
In Slovakia my husband gifted me with lessons from Pável, an architect turned urban sketcher. Days wandering Bratislava, a city over eleven hundred years old, I shed my fear of plein air, folks standing behind me as I painted in the old city. His eye for the details that matter taught me to bring life to urban landscapes.
Then COVID hit, everything closed down, and the painting group asked, what if we paint together via Zoom. After COVID restrictions ended and we returned home we started meeting in person again to laugh, paint, learn, and ask what if.
Urban sketching led me, most recently, to Ian Fennelly, an urban sketcher from Hoylake in England whose approach is all about capturing the character of a building, a street scene, think an architect meets expressionism. Whimsy and movement infuse his work and his instruction. I’ve grown from an artist trying to capture exactly what I see in front of me to an artist working to put the feeling of a place on paper in watercolor.
Painting, any kind of art, is life long growth. Master a technique or style and doors open to the next skill, the next medium, and artists are the kind of folks that ask, when those doors open, what if?
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My style of painting has evolved over time from trying to paint in a more realistic style to a style that captures an idea. I now enjoy painting a whimsical impression of what I see. I persevere, I am willing to take artist risks, I’ve learned to befriend mistakes and laugh with them not at them. That has allowed me to step past any artistic fear I might have. As a consequence discover the personality, joy and soul of a scene.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
I am in a successful gallery in Stillwater, Minnesota. It is filled with wonderful artists and a variety of mediums. When I started feeling more confident about my work I often thought about finding a spot to display my work. Stillwater is a very charming town. It is the birthplace of Minnesota and attracts many tourists. I had been in the gallery several times but never thought that I would produce work that would be of high enough quality to be displayed in the gallery much less sell. I had some time off of work and planned to go the next day and visit Stillwater. I did not plan on talking to the gallery staff about exhibiting or even visit the gallery. That evening my husband and I had a Chinese dinner. Of course fortune cookies were part of the meal. My life changed when I read my fortune, “You need to take the risk. Success is in your future.” I decided then and there I needed to try. The next day I packed several pieces into the car. As I was driving to Stillwater I kept telling myself that it didn’t matter if I was accepted or not. What mattered was I tried. My What Ifs” turned from, “what if they don’t like my work” to “what if I was accepted”? I walked into the gallery and met the owner. He loved my work and was losing an artist at the end of the month. Not only did he love my work had had a wall space for me! I have been in the gallery now for 16 years.
Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?
Selling art is not something for the faint of heart. Some months are far more lucrative than others. It is hard to stay positive during the months when there are few sales. I have been at the gallery long enough now to know that there are highs and lows. I display at the gallery and work 3 days a month. One day a couple walked in and asked me if the gallery had any pieces by Renee King. I was so surprised that I didn’t say anything for a moment. When I got my focus back I said, “I’m Renee King. Let me show you my wall.” They bought a piece of mine which is always good for your artistic self esteem and it was the first time I realized that I had name recognition. A few days later a couple came into the gallery, looked around, and then the woman asked if I was an artist. I told her I was and she asked where my work was, I took her to my display wall and she became excited because my paintings had really caught her eye when she first walked in. We discussed a few pieces and she saw things in them that I had not considered. She and her husband loved my work so much they bought 4 pieces! It’s so important to connect with people, to see a piece through each others eyes, that moment of shared vision, connection, is the power of art.
Contact Info:
- Youtube: Women of the World, Sisters Under the Skin
Image Credits
Charles King