We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful S. Christopher Kuithe. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with S. Christopher below.
Alright, S. Christopher thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
When I was around five, my mother told me that I had a spiral bound notebook where I would draw the Spice Girls platform sneakers in different styles. My favorite Spice Girl at the time was Baby Spice. I even named a turtle after her (insert crying emoji). When I was in second grade I remember my teachers taking notice of my drawings, but didn’t really start practicing until I was about 16. I first began with rough fashion drawings, and I mean VERY rough. For Christmas that year I got a book that teaches you how to draw, but instead of reading it I just tried to imitate the drawing examples that were provided in the book.
After that I tried my hand at drawing objects around the house. Patience was the hardest part to learn. All of the drawings were unproportional, not in the right perspective and had no gradient scale, but I continued to draw and they began to improve. I will say looking back, I could’ve applied my patience enough to read the book and follow along. I’m sure there were lessons or techniques that would’ve aided my learning, but I wanted to get the pencil to the paper as soon as I could.
What Ive come to learn is the best way to learn is to just do it, and give yourself grace through the process. Comparison is a killer to creativity and even today I have to remind myself of that fact. Take it one paint stroke at a time. Practice, study other artists work, try your hand at what they did and see what you learn. There is so much information out there and to this day I use it to better my artistic abilities.
One of the most important things to understand is to draw/paint what you see, not what you think you see. Sometimes the colors in your reference/nature don’t make sense in the brain but if you see that color in your reference, put it down! If it doesn’t work you can always paint over it but if you see a color put it down. A lot of the times my artwork doesn’t make sense until the next to last pass of the paint brush.
For a long time I thought not going to art school kept me from learning what I could only learn in college. Even though I still sometimes wonder, what I hear most from artists is that they have learned more about art after college than they did while in attendance. I hate to use an overused saying but if you put your mind to it, you can truly teach yourself anything. I think what stops most people is lack of patience, inability to give the skill the time it needs, and not waiting until you “know” everything. Best way to learn is to start!
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.
Most definitely! I initially started pursuing art to create fashion illustrations, but soon realized I had more to say than just fashion design. When I was 16 I discovered Alexander McQueen and that was the beginning of my art journey. I was so enthralled with his ability to communicate challenging topics in such ethereal and beautiful ways that I was determined to teach myself how to draw and draft my own designs. As I continued to practice my art and my sewing, I got to spend my senior year of high school at Nashville School of the Arts. After graduation at 19, I was asked to open a contemporary dance performance by Found Movement Group with a fashion show at The Oz Venue here in Nashville, TN. I created a 10 piece collection that was really well received.
As of 2018, I took a 6 year break from art and tried the corporate world; I soon realized how detrimental it was to my creativity and mental health. Today, I am currently focusing on my art career, but plan to merge my art and fashion designs together. With my new journey into my art, I have been practicing my plein air painting, practicing in different mediums, working on pet portraits, figurative art, architectural artwork and continuing my political and surrealist works.
I like to challenge myself to capture things I haven’t before. I feel that every challenge helps me grow as an artist and creator.
When it comes to what sets me apart, I think growing up with a lot of traumatic experiences has helped give me a broader perspective in this life. I foster a deep responsibility to empathize and care for those less fortunate than myself. Women, marginalized communities, youth, I care for all of these groups, always have and always will. I aim for my art to share ultimate truths, and even from the beginning that has been the theme. I love to create spaces where objects and topics can merge in new ways, communicating emotional realizations and ironic truths. What I want people to know the most is that I always lead with love and compassion and want to provide the highest quality work I can. Whether the work being a commissioned pet portrait, surrealist landscape or a charcoal drawing, I want my initials, S.C.K. to be synonymous with high quality work.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
I don’t like to define myself with my struggles, or look for sympathy, but to deny the truth of my life is to deny what makes me who I am today. I grew up in a lot of chaos. Parents divorced when I was four which I think was a blessing for both of them. My mother always had tons of love, but struggled with alcohol and emotional dependence.. My father battled his demons as best he could, but to deny there was anger and fear growing up would be to lie.
When I was 15, after missing 78 days of my first freshmen year in high school partying, I was forced to move from Atlanta to my father and step mothers home in Nashville. Three days before my first day of high school here in Nashville we got a call from my mother’s brother. My mom hit a pine tree going 50 miles an hour, under the influence. She was distraught that us kids moved. She had to be life flighted to the hospital. We were told she had a 50/50 chance of surviving. As a teen I felt a responsibility for her and for the incident but now know there was nothing I could’ve done. She made a full recovery, learned to walk again, and now has been sober for 13 years. We have a wonderful relationship.
I spent a lot of my life walking on egg shells, and still struggle with that even as an adult. I was made to doubt my decision making which internalized to me questioning my intuition. I’ve since done the work to trust my gut and see the light within myself that most people never fully understood growing up.
After graduating high school and realizing I couldn’t go to art school, I turned to drinking. Shortly after turning 21 I was kicked out of my father’s house as my alcoholism had taken over and moved to Brunswick, GA to go to rehab. I was in rough shape. I went through a half way house there that truly changed my life. I finally started sewing and painting again. After four years of sobriety I moved back to Nashville and unfortunately started drinking again. After many detox centers and pitiful cries for help I finally got sober and have now been sober for four and a half years. My life has been quite the journey, but everything always brings me back to my paint brush and my sewing machine.
I know this is a lot to share but I want people to know that exterior things and people will always try to dissolve our interior beliefs, steal our light and inspirations, but its our job to push and always fight for what we want in this life. Even when it feels like there is no way out, keep pushing and find people that build you up. I now aim to be a light for others, inspiring them to do what they think they can’t and not to compare themselves to others. We have to be our own judges, no one else’s opinion matters.
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 biggest lesson I’ve had to unlearn is waiting to feel like I know what I’m doing, I always thought other people had more understanding than me, more skill, more knowledge and therefore it was pointless for me to create. The opposite is true, and the only time we have is in the now. I seek knowledge for myself, and funny enough the people who speak the loudest are usually the ones who know the least. So start whatever your soul aches to do, seek knowledge and practice whatever it is you want to get into. There is so much knowledge out there nowadays. We have the ability to teach ourselves things that once was only attainable by institutions and colleges.
I can’t even tell you how many pieces of my art started off on a whim and turned into my favorite pieces of art. The best thing I’ve learned is to just do it! Do the thing you’ve been thinking about doing. It all starts with a thought, then action and you’ll be surprised with what you can accomplish.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sckcreative.design
- Instagram: sckcreative
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sckuithe
- Other: TikTok: sckuithe
Image Credits
I have the rights to all images used.