Conversations with Kayla Thompson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kayla Thompson.

Kayla , we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I have been obsessed with animals, art, and the outside world for as long as I can remember. My earliest memories are staring at a jaguar and playing with the gorillas through the glass at the zoo for my 4th birthday. Unlike other little girls, my heroes weren’t Taylor Swift or Brittany Spears, they were the Irwins and Jane Goodall. I was very shy and quiet as a child and teen and connecting with animals and nature made me more content then connecting with people. I read every animal book I could get my hands on. I was always drawing animals, and began doing commissioned pet portraits at the age of 11. I started painting when I was 12, and fell in love with color and the endless possibilities that came with a paint and brush. I never took art lessons, save an introductory painting course that my aunt put me in for my 12th birthday. I started out selling pet portraits for $25, and painting animals on rocks along with my canvas paintings and pencil drawings.

I am the oldest of 6 kids. We didn’t have a lot of money growing up, but that never bothered us; my parents took us outside and instilled a love for nature in us. We camped, we spent alot of time on the lake, we went to every zoo and wildlife sanctuary we could. My parents allowed me to practice mural work on our house walls when I was a teenager, which launched my start into mural work.

I was homeschooled for most of my childhood, other than about 2 years in high school, then obtained a Bachelor’s in Animal Science. I was heavily encouraged to pursue art, but to also be realistic, art is a difficult career path. With no family or connections in the professional arts, I had to figure out my own path.

Shortly after I graduated, I pursued a career as a vet tech, while simultaneously building my portfolio, teaching art classes, and continuing to take pet portrait commissions. I sold art at every local show I could attend, and sold art out of coffee shops, restaurants, and smoke shops around town. I worked as a vet tech for the next 7 years, and traveled to art events as often as I could. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, I decided it was time to get really serious with art; I had just been let go from my second job I held as a waitress due to the restaurant shutting down, and we could not survive off of my vet tech salary alone. I started selling art online, and started to make international sales on top of my local ones. I then spent the next 2.5 years traveling to art and music festivals around my full time job schedule once the pandemic restrictions lifted. I live painted and did mural installs across the country, from Arizona to Florida, and everywhere in between. I started experimenting with my own art style, and I picked up fire spinning- which is a performance art all on its own. I also met my partner in a fire circle, who has been invaluable supporting my art the last few years.

I made the move to Colorado from Arkansas a little over a year ago. I fell in love with Grand County through my partner, who has worked and lived in Colorado off and on for several years. I worked snowmaking around painting commissions when I first moved out here, which was both the best and worst experience of my life. (But you could not beat those sunsets and snow rainbows I got to experience). Moving to Grand County, we found a family within the community.

Someone once asked me, “Why do you create the art that you create?” And I wrestled with that question for years, because I’ve always made art for as long as I can remember. But what I really want is to make people stop and remember, what life is really about. I create to bring attention to the things that God has created, and to bring awareness that we should be striving to do everything in our power to protect these animals that share our space from ourselves, to protect these lands from ourselves, and to live in harmony with the natural world.

I’ve started recently launching painting workshops, to share in the power that creating can have. I didn’t have an art teacher growing up, I want to share everything I’ve learned along the way. While I have recently been working on North American landscapes and wildlife art, I still have a huge passion for exotic animals and love to create works featuring exotic and endangered species. My goal is to be able to start raising actionable difference in wild spaces- providing help through art.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has not been a smooth road to get to where I am. I had two kids while I was pursuing my college degree, and was a single mom by the time I graduated. I developed Complex PTSD due to domestic violence as a young adult, and art became even more important as I could pour my emotions and feelings that I had trouble expressing with words, into my art. The festival scene also came with its own struggles, I was sexually assaulted at two different events in Florida. Throughout all of this, I heavily struggled with substance abuse attempting to cope with everything I had been through; but painting helped. I am now 1.5 years sober. Through art, I could give a voice to those who can’t speak up for themselves. I struggled with my faith, which is a huge part of my art. But through the things I’ve dealt with along this journey, I’ve found there is a reason for everything. The struggles make us stronger, more creative, and more appreciative of this beautiful life we have. It’s very important to me to continue to demonstrate to my kids that no matter what you go through in life, if you refuse to let it knock you down, nothing can stop you from accomplishing your dreams.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I work mostly in acrylic paint. I specialize in wildlife, but have began to paint more landscapes recently. I work in mostly realism, but I also really enjoy creating surrealistic pieces. I enjoy working with neon and UV reactive/glow paint; and incorporating them into a semi-realistic painting. I’m most known for my pet portraits, I have not kept count but I believe I have painted somewhere around 2,500 pet portraits in the last 12 years. My absolute favorite thing to paint though is wildlife.

I had the pleasure to participate in the Fraser Mural Festival this past August, and am currently working on a few projects around town. In the studio, I am working on painting a few different series: a ski lift landscape series and a north american wildlife series. Spinning fire has also inspired my newest series I’ve begun working on: animals hanging out or catching a ride on lit fire props. My most recent one involves several frogs hanging on to a lit fire poi.

I am most proud of the fact that I have gotten this far without ever being represented by a gallery. I have always been self-represented and worked directly with my collectors. I love to do commissions, I really enjoy taking what people envision in their heads, and bringing it to life for them.

I think the thing that sets me apart from others is that I am completely self taught, I never attended art school, and I spent 7 years as a vet tech before leaving the field to pursue art full time. I have spent most of my teens and adult life working hands on with animals every chance I got, whether that was when I was training horses, raising bottle baby kittens, or in my work as a vet tech. I believe that brings a unique perspective to creating art about animals, and it doesn’t hurt to have a thorough knowledge of anatomy when painting them. Working as a vet tech for so long helped me to see first hand how life changing animals can be in people’s lives, and is a big reason why I continue to do pet portraits and wildlife art now. Historically, wildlife art has not been considered “fine art”, and I hope that my work can help continue to change that perspective.

Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
My biggest piece of advice would be to practice as much as you can, and create as much bad art as you can too. We all have bad paintings, or what we think are bad paintings; but some of my worst creations that I thoroughly disliked, were my fastest sellers. And network, network, network. While the online space is vastly open for possibilities, nothing can beat in person connections, get out to every art event you possibly can. Whether you go as an attendee, or a participating artist.

I wish I had known first starting out, that the biggest part of being an artist, is to authentically be yourself. Don’t copy others, work through what is important to you, and how you can show up as truly, fully, you. We are all different and unique in our own ways, and that is what makes your art great. Now, I also would say to seek out instruction for the technical side of things, I could have advanced my paintings so much faster had I taken the time to make sure I learned the basics first. (I’m looking at you, color theory.) Having a thick skin and being open to criticism can also help to really improve your art, sometimes you can’t see things in your painting that a set of fresh eyes can pick out and notice. Being open to suggestions and collaborations can help you to create a better piece of work.

Pricing:

• Pet Portraits start at $300
• Wildlife and landscape paintings vary from $250-$5200
• Commissions and murals dependent on subject and size

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaylaelaineart/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kaylaelaineart