Daily Inspiration: Meet Kimberly Nick Gutierrez

Today, we’d like to introduce you to Kimberly Nick Gutierrez.

Thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Art-wise, I guess my journey started when I was a kid. I loved drawing and creating things so much that my parents had to repaint our house because I drew all over the walls. I remember using old art books I got from my older brothers to draw all sorts of creatures, trying to draw characters from shows like Dragonball and Yu-Gi-Oh, and even selling doodles of mine to my family for a dollar apiece. I liked drawing anything and everything.

However, it took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do career-wise and what I wanted to do as an adult. For most of my time in elementary and high school, drawing was mainly a hobby. I didn’t think I could make much money off it, and I hadn’t even considered what I wanted to do for a day job. I just wanted to keep drawing for myself and my friends. It was all for fun and served as a distraction from my depression and anxiety. It still does.

When I started taking AP Art in high school and was inducted into the National Art Honor Society, I started taking it a bit more seriously. I started thinking about how I could use my art to really express myself and explore more complex ideas instead of just creating “fan art.” Around this time, I also started considering what I wanted to do for a career and eventually decided to pursue graphic and visual design. I like communicating through images, so it seemed like a good fit.

I first went to school at the Santa Fe University of Art and Design but had to transfer to Regis University after just a year due to SFUAD closing permanently. While at Regis, I started to become more involved with local artists thanks to mentors like Ken Phillips and professors like Tony Ortega. Tony and his wife Sylvia Montero have since helped me get my first job in the design field and helped me exhibit my art throughout Denver.

I’m still in the design field, working for a local coffee roastery as a graphic designer and marketing manager. I’m also in a co-op called CHANT Cooperative, which helps me continue making art and exhibiting in local galleries. For the most part, I’m just trying to get by and keep creating. I wouldn’t be where I am without such a wonderful support system full of friends, family, and amazing artists.

We all face challenges, but would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Not really… but that’s the way life is, isn’t it? As I said, my first university closed permanently after my first year of attendance. SFUAD had been my dream school and felt like home. Then it was just gone. I had to start again in another state where I only knew one person and was further away from my family.

Even though it’s been seven years, it still makes me sad to think about how it all went down. But then, I wouldn’t have met all the amazing people I know now in Denver. I’ve also struggled a lot with depression and anxiety since I was in middle school, and it got a bit worse throughout high school and my college years. Then, this past year, I’ve also been dealing with the fallout of a bad relationship and the death of my beloved cat, Cleo. So, I guess a lot has happened over the years that should have gotten me down and prevented me from creating, but I’ve done my best to find healthy ways to cope and keep going.

Art is one thing I use as a therapy for myself, and it helps me get through those difficult times. It’s a way to express myself and how I feel. It helps me understand how to manage those feelings instead of feeling overwhelmed by them so I can work through them. Some days are harder than others, but I tell myself to keep trucking (does anyone still say that?).

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe you can tell us more about your work next?
I guess I do a little bit of everything. Lately, I’ve been working with ink and pencil, but I’ve also worked with gouache and love printmaking (especially acrylic etching).

My work lately has been a bit more abstract and focused on helping me work through some traumatic events from the past year. I like creating pieces that start conversations and get a little weird. I’m not sure if I’m really known for any particular works or my style just yet, but I hope one day I will be. One of the last bodies of work I was really proud of was a series of paintings I did for an alumni show at Regis University with Emily Kobayashi Woods.

The series was about my hometowns (Ciudad Juarez and El Paso) and featured locations that had personal meaning to me and a deep history. I painted these locations and then cut them up to rearrange them in a collage, similar to some work I had done in high school for the AP Art exam. It was a huge undertaking since I was working on these pieces, moving to a new apartment, and starting a new job simultaneously.

But it all got done, and I felt really proud of myself for doing something so daring. It’s work that I would like to revisit because I have so much love for the borderland and want to get more in touch with my roots.

What matters most to you? Why?
I’m not really sure how to answer this one… I guess lately, I’ve been trying to place more emphasis on self-care and being myself. For a long time, it’s felt like I’ve been doing a lot for other people and hiding certain things about myself to make them more comfortable. It’s important to show up for others, but I have to remember to show up for myself, too.

It’s a weird thing; it almost makes me feel selfish sometimes, but I guess you have to be that way sometimes. It doesn’t do you good to spend all your energy on people who don’t give that same energy back to you, who make you feel like you need to hide parts of yourself, or who don’t encourage mutual growth.

Maybe this is obvious to a lot of people, but a lot of this feels new to me, and it’s what I’m trying to focus on lately.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bloodgulchblue.wixsite.com/dambrosiart
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/d_ambrosia_/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dambrosiart/
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/kimberly-gutierrez-76396a98
• Other: https://www.redbubble.com/people/d-ambrosia/shop

Image Credits
Israel Gutierrez and Kimberly Gutierrez