Paintings With Soul

In Process Detail, currently untitled, featuring a miniature horse and a handful of hyacinths. Entire painting is 24" x 36" (pictured section is approximately 24" of the 36" width) and, when finished, will be $1599 plus s&h to the first asking kindly. Inquiries may always cometo me. I accept paypal, venmo, personal checks and payment plans.

I am seeking to become less literal and more emotive with form. I've been doing this with color and brushwork for the last couple years, and now I want to do so compositionally. It's so freaking hard, to shift from painting an actual object to painting the spiritual essence of that object. I've been at the easel for 9 hours today, and I am far more exhausted than I'd be had I just been painting this pony's likeness directly. But every minute was worth it - I'm learning SO much.

And this painting will be a stunner!

Thanks, as always, for following along with my art journey,
Warmly, Kim

"That is the Way it Was," 23" circular panel, acrylic on pine, featuring my rescued bunny Gertrude Stein, $999 plus s&h to the first asking kindly. Inquiries may always cometo me. I accept paypal, venmo, personal checks and payment plans.

Some days, I question my calling altogether. What's most important when this happens is to show up anyway, and continue to show up. Because the brushes won't pick themselves up and finish the piece for us.

Thanks, as always, for following along with my art journey,
Warmly, Kim

"The Rebirth of Wonder," 16" x 20", acrylic on gallery stretched canvas, $649 plus s&h to the first asking kindly. Inquiries may always cometo me. I accept paypal, venmo, personal checks and payment plans.

What is it about youth that is so full of wonderment? and how do we sustain this sort of wonder long-term? 

I watchedBrene Brown's Call to Couragelast night. I've read all of her books and find her studies (shame, vulnerability and courage) fascinating. This special was entertaining and enlightening, and I thought it was also serendipitous that it came across my radar randomly the same evening I was pondering the final direction of this painting.

Thanks, as always, for following along with my art journey,
Warmly, Kim

In the studio with Kimberly Santini, the official artist of the 2015 Kentucky Derby In the summer of 2014, I received a phone call inviting me to be the official artist of the 2015 Kentucky Derby. I thought it was a prank call. Seriously, I did. But we sorted things out, and I stayed professional during the entire conversation. After we disconnected, I screamed with joy, and the kids and I had a good couple laps outside the house. And then, they had to be sworn to secrecy, because no one in the universe was supposed to know until the formal announcement in November.

That was a LOOOOOOOONNNNG 5 months.

Then, everything after that, was a whirlwind.

I painted all summer in secret and shipped the piece off to Louisville in October. At that time, The Caped Crusader was taking a sports marketing class, and I asked if he would come with me to the reveal at Churchill Downs. We set off, just the two of us, on an early morning flight. Starting at the airport gate,I began posting photos, documentin…

"Colliding Worlds," 16" x 20", acrylic on gallery stretched canvas, $649 plus s&h to the first asking kindly. Inquiries may always cometo me. I accept paypal, venmo, personal checks and payment plans.

Day Three of Kentucky Derby week. Four years ago today, I was fulfilling my duties as the Official Artist of The Kentucky Derby, sitting in a box at the finish line at Churchill Downs, watching the running of The Kentucky Oaks. And today I'm working in my jammies from home - but I am wearing a hat! a baseball cap adorned with roses! Sigh. Good times.

"Colliding Worlds" is another paint over, although the entirety of the previous painting (a Firefly one) is completely buried. That sometimes happens. And I guess it also plays into the painting's concept - expectations vs reality - nicely, too.

Now to figure out what I'll paint tomorrow. I'm all out of these little 16x20 canvases, and I feel like I get a head start when they already bear layer…

Detail and full view of "The Edge of the World," 24" x 30", acrylic on panel, $899 plus s&h to the first asking kindly. This painting is currently hanging in the show "Muses, Myths and Magic" atThe Art of Custom Framing through May 24th, 2019. Reach out toDianaif you are interested in purchasing.

It's day 2 of Kentucky Derby Week, and I'm sharing a painting I thought was unfinished. I didn't know what else it needed, so tucked it away in a stack of other such pieces. But when I came across her a few weeks ago, I saw that she was done. And glorious in her detail.

This is a paint-over - there is a portrait of The Princess underneath, and while her face has been entirely covered, much of the marks around the perimeter of the panel remain or peek through the new layer of paint. I love this sort of effect. I call it ghosting.

Thanks, as always, for following along with my art journey,
Warmly, Kim

From the archives, this is "Big, Bigger, Biggest," a 10" x 12" painting that now sits in a private collection (thank you very much!).

One of my favorite things to teach is the complexity of whites and blacks. Neither are straight up, and when a student processes this for the first time, it gives me goosebumps. The simple exercise of studying a black and white object in different environments is a great beginning.

Half of being an artist is about learning to see beyond preconceived notions. The next time you look at a sky, count the variety of blues there. And really look at those clouds - how many different colors do they hold? do YOU have goosebumps now?

The last 30 days has been fun, wandering about in my archives and revisiting stories. Thanks for following along with me - I'll make a point to share older pieces more regularly.
Fondly, Kim