About the Artist

It's not strange that the oldest daughter in a large family takes on a tremendous amount of responsibility.  Not only for herself but also for her siblings.  My journey through life has been one of responsibility and lessons I learned from my life of travel with a military family and then with a husband in the oil and gas industry.

The four of us kids learned to play outside and keep ourselves occupied while our parents worked and studied as they became more educated with PhDs and Master's Degrees, as well as moving around the world to a new school, neighborhood, and environment every 2 years.  I'm not sure why I felt I should take care of my other siblings, but I always did.  

We made mud pies (which we occasionally tasted), climbed trees so high my dad had to help us get down,  skipped rocks, rode bikes, went for hikes, went to the community pools in the summer, and somehow, rarely got into trouble or got hurt.  Of course,  I was always on the lookout for the safety of my brothers and sister.  

We didn't have a television in our home until I was in about 5th grade.  I remember we rented a television to see the first man walk on the moon.  It was a grainy picture in black and white, but it was amazing.  My dad always popped a huge kettle of popcorn and filled the bottom of a paper shopping bag with it and we all dug in.  I can still smell the popcorn popping and hear the sizzle of the butter melting.  

It seemed like we were always surrounded by beauty and nature.  The sunny coast of California, the deep blue Mediterranean Sea, the rocky cliffs of Norway, and the deep forest of New York and Pennsylvania with moss, pine cones, and soft forest floor, Chicago suburbs and cement, The Big Texas Sky!  We ventured through the Grand Canyon, camped under waterfalls, and drove through the desert4 in the summer when my dad got orders for Viet Nam where our radiator failed and we had to turn on the heat in the car to avoid a total disaster.  We were never bored.  I still don't understand the concept of boredom.

The richness of these experiences kept me wanting more, but always different.  Perhaps the variety of experiences, languages, food, people, and environment is what draws me to continue to explore and experiment in my art.  I'm never satisfied with creating the same thing over and over.  My brain continually says, but what if..... and then my hands do that!  Maybe it's with color, texture, mark-making or subject matter.  It's like some of my childhood adventures with my siblings.  They charge in different directions and I tried to corral them up so that they all stayed safe.  My ideas are like the kids scattering in many directions. 

One memory of when we lived in Turkey reminds me that I have always wanted to be a painter.  An artist was out in the town square and my parents paid to have him draw each of us as what we wanted to be when we grew up.  My older brother was an astronaut, my younger brother was a cowboy, and my sister was riding a horse.  I stood in front of an easel with a paintbrush in my hand.  My parents still have those drawings.

As an abstract painter, my challenge is to represent the emotion or essence of an experience.  Like the feeling of a hurricane, as in my painting “Harvey”.  It was the turbulence of the water and flooding in the streets, with people carrying their possessions in a plastic bag on their heads.  I painted the anxiety of when would the flood waters stop, should we try to make it to higher ground or stay put, the emotional aspect of the hurricane, not the hurricane itself. 

I hope those very special people who stop to take a look at my work will feel some of the wonder, anxiety, sadness, happiness, or just joy that I've felt while painting.  I can't imagine a better career at this time in my life than sharing those things with others.  I hope you will enjoy some of my journeys with me through art and let me know how you experience it. 

What is your favorite color? What mood does it put you in?  I'm thankful you stopped by to look at my work, and look forward to hearing about your journey as well. Please sign up for my Collector's List and you'll get first dibs on new works as well as specials.  

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 Kim attended high school in San Antonio, Texas followed by Texas A&M University, and finally graduated with a degree in Occupational Therapy from Texas Woman’s University.  Following graduation, she married the love of her life, a Norwegian named Otto who was a professional Engineer in the oil industry.  He has since retired.  They traveled a lot as a young family, to Norway as well as West Africa.  In April they celebrated 41 years of marriage.

Kim enjoyed a long career in Orthopedics as an Upper Extremity Certified Hand Therapist.  Meanwhile, she had three children who were raised in Katy, Texas, and went on to successful careers and started families of their own.  Kim, otherwise known as GiGi to her grandchildren, continued to paint and enter juried shows.  It was so rewarding last year when she received Signature Status from the National Watercolor Society.  As listed in her CV she continues to learn, show, and sell, and hopefully inspire others to paint for her passion of painting.   Kim is also an Elite Signature member of the Watercolor Art Society of Houston and a Purple Sage Signature member of the Texas Watercolor Society.

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

Art Museum Texas at Cinco Ranch, March-September 2022

Art Museum Texas at Sugarland, Jan-September 2022

Katy Area Artists, “The Winter White Show”

The Gallery at Villagio “Splash”

EDUCATION

A variety of workshops by renowned artists who specialize in Creativity, Composition, and Color

1992       Certified Hand Therapist, HTCC

1983       Texas Woman’s University, Denton and Dallas TX, Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy

My Art education is informal through mentors, in-person and online courses by internationally known as well as local artists.  I believe there is never an end to learning.  My art mentor and dear friend, Gerry Finch, continues to inspire my creativity and skill level.  I live in rural Texas, outside the metropolis of Houston.  I have been married for 39 years and have 2 children, 5 grandchildren, and a very sweet dog, Mia.