Paintings With Soul

  check her out, make her yours Wish, 20x20, acrylic on cradled panel (no need to frame, painting will arrive wired and ready to hang), $1900, available exclusively through my website. S&H inside the contiguous US is on me. Hawaiian, Alaskan and Canadian shipping available at additional cost. I voted Tuesday in the primaries here in Michigan (along with My Better Half - this was the second time he, as a new US citizen, was able to vote, and it is wonderful to share this together). I may be a glutton for punishment, but I felt a sense of hope after doing so - not just because his voice is now counted, but because we do have a say in what we want for our communities. In a world that seems hell bent on all sorts of horrors, Hope is a powerful thing. That’s what this painting is all about - the fervor behind a wish, and the agency to manifest it. Wish is available for purchase on my website where you can an also view her in a room setting or get your nose right up into the marks...

check her out, make her yours Thistle, 16x16, acrylic on cradled panel (no need to frame, painting will arrive wired and ready to hang), $1450, available exclusively through my website. S&H inside the contiguous US is on me. Hawaiian, Alaskan and Canadian shipping available at additional cost. This painting is an empath watching a loved one ache, knowing the best they can do is listen, sit with and love them through it. I think we’ve all been there at some point or other…. In lighter news, my online pet portrait workshop opened yesterday - students from all over the world are eagerly introducing themselves and setting intentions for the course. This evening is our zoom launch party (the 23rd) at 7pm eastern. I’ve opened this session up to students and the public - I’ll show over 100 of my portraits, talk about concepts and compositions, share some tips culled from the last 25 years of commission work, and get us situated to push some paint. You don’t have to be enrolled in the cla...

check her out, make her yours Phosphorescent, 20x20, acrylic on cradled panel (no need to frame, painting will arrive wired and ready to hang), $1900, available exclusively through my website. S&H inside the contiguous US is on me. Hawaiian, Alaskan and Canadian shipping available at additional cost. Originally Phosphorescent had a dahlia over each eye. It was interesting and oh so beautiful, but distracting. The flowers overpowered her face and she became secondary in the painting. It was not what she wanted at all - she pushed herself back to the surface of the painting, and in the process that second bloom dissolved. I think this approach is still intriguing, but would be better suited to a full body Bear, with a stronger ratio of Bear to Flower. Like I said, I learn new ways to approach this concept with each painting. I have another one in process now where Bear’s mask is veil like, drifting across her face with the lightness of cottonwood. There’s something interesting that...

Profusion check her out, make her yours Profusion, 20x20, acrylic on cradled panel (no need to frame, painting will arrive wired and ready to hang), $1900, available exclusively through my website. S&H inside the contiguous US is on me. Hawaiian, Alaskan and Canadian shipping available at additional cost. This was a challenging painting week - as the complexity of these masked bears grows, so too does the difficulty level. I am literally learning on my feet as the pieces progress. Which frankly is one of my favorite ways to learn - by doing! Profusion hit a point where I thought she had further to go, but my critique group (yesterday) declared her finished. I weighed the possibility of stopping,** but ultimately it felt like I was copping out. So this morning I deepened her value relationships, added a passage of smaller marks, pulled one of the flowers forward and allowed the barely suggested eye to disappear. I am so pleased to have taken these risks - the painting is all the...

check her out, bring her home Divine, 16x20, acrylic on cradeled panel (no need to frame), $1600, available exclusively through my website. S&H inside the contiguous US is on me. Hawaiian, Alaskan and Canadian shipping available at additional cost. First there was Masquerade, then Witness , followed by Sweetheart and most recently Divine . With each one, I learn something more about melting two separate objects together, and the idea of peering through a mask becomes all the more fascinating. I have been reading legends about Bear as Creator. She still lumbers through my dreams, watching or guarding or protecting a perimeter around me. And with Divine, she visited my garden and the yellow peonies which opened up a few days ago. What might we say, were we to meet our Maker? and what might She, in turn, have to say to us? Divine is on my website for direct purchasing, along with viewing in a room or right up close. I am so grateful for your interest in my work. Thank you so...

check her out, make her yours 24”x36”, acrylic on a cradled wood panel with 1-1/2” profile (no pressing need to frame), $3000 to the first asking nicely, includes s&h inside the contiguous US. Hawaiian, Alaskan and Canadian shipping available at additional cost. Cumulonimbus can ship at the end of April 2026. I signed two paintings on Friday, which is uncommon, but also a bit overdue as I’ve not finished anything (other than Mona’s posthumous portrait) in a couple of weeks. I’m still painting daily - even Tuesday after the studio flooded, although it wasn’t for long. Painting is one of the few ways I escape all the noise of The Real World, and I’m finding my daily studio routine to be a life saver anymore. There is always an element of current events in my work, although it’s not super obvious. In this one it is the feel of a roiling storm building. The pixellated edges are my way of saying how unreal current situations feel (I actually quite like this effect and will be leaning in...

check her out, make her yours 24”x30”, acrylic on a cradled wood panel with 1-1/2” profile (no pressing need to frame), $2250 to the first asking nicely, includes s&h inside the contiguous US. Hawaiian, Alaskan and Canadian shipping available at additional cost. Snowcapped can ship at the end of April 2026. I tried a number of new things with this one: restricting my palette to four blues, one red and two yellows working with large value shapes, feeling my way into Bear’s pose and weight distribution use of glazes to unify and soften passages You can see her progression   here . I learned quite a bit and am eager to roll it into another piece. Stay tuned. The link above will take you to my website for direct purchasing, along with viewing in a room or right up close. Payment plans are also available - see below for terms. I am so grateful for your interest in my work Thank you so much for your support. Big Mountain Bear Love, Kim. PS Payment plans on request for purchases great...

  Snowdrop, acrylic on 24"x23-1/2" panel, $1200 plus s&h   to the first asking nicely . Questions can always come   to me. Last week I was utterly delighted to see snowdrops peeking through in my garden  particularly after another spell of yechy weather - a major ice storm, lots of melt, then over 8" of fresh snow followed by lots more melt. Come March I am so ready for spring. I'm tired of the damp and always being cold. I crave a boost of color, something a bit brighter than the muted tones and high contrast of winter days. But March gives us a peek at warmer weather, then rips it away. She is a relentless tease and a horrible influence on April. So I celebrated the snowdrop. And I might just continue to do more. But wait - is that crocus over there......? (Also, did you know that snowdrops are a symbol of hope? seems fitting to latch onto them, then, for that reason alone.) Here is  the link  to view Snowdrop larger, peek at her in a room, or even pu...