Life & Work with Katy Kidd

Today we’d like to introduce you to Katy Kidd

Hi Katy, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was born in Denver in 1972. Being 52 years of age and looking back on everything I have done I would say, without doubt, that grit and resilience have been the traits that have gotten me the farthest, especially in the mental game of being alive. In relationships, kindness, patience and tolerance have been my greatest assets. Raising kids takes a lot of this too. Never assuming someone knows I love them, I tell people often how I feel. In business having a wide perspective with being able to zoom in and out of situations has helped me dampen negative experiences, accept defeat with some amount of grace and all the above never has failed me. I tend to think the next catastrophe is around the bend. Employing gratitude keeps me in awe of life and humble in terms of what I think I should be entitled to. With this attitude everything is a win, even the losses.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I tell people that the longer anyone is alive the more stuff happens to them. My life today is beyond beautiful and I have had my share of difficult times. I have lost too many friends to suicide or drug overdose. I have been divorced 2x. I have lost money and made money. I have walked away from situations that I thought I could not survive, finding wells of courage from somewhere. I was pregnant at 20 and raising a kid, on welfare, living in a van and trying to go to college. Having my son at such a young age was difficult, but it helped me get my life together, stop using drugs and having my son (and daughter) are 2 of the the best things I ever did.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a visual artist and a musician. When I was a kid in the Denver Public School system in the 70’s and 80’s all I recognized early that all I wanted was to be an artist. My parents would take me regularly to the Denver Art Museum and to galleries around the city. They were lovers of the arts. When I left Denver at 17 I lived an alternative lifestyle and ended up being pregnant at 20. After graduating college with a BFA I moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Immediately I started working for a ceramic artist, then a handbag designer and on and on. In the 30+ years that I lived there I managed to work, for the most part, in the art field. By the time I had left in 2021, I had earned prehistoric pottery restoration, fine art restoration, how to run and manage several successful art careers although not my own. I had owned a hot sauce company, a landscaping company, waited tables, sang in a funk band for 4 years and wore Many other hats along the way. It was a colorful life. In all of that time, raising a family, working for others I nickel and dime my art. When I landed in Denver in 2021, for the first time in my life, I was able to focus solely on my art. In the past 4 years it has exploded. Early on I chose to be a ceramic artist, but I have mostly been a painter. My subject matter is the modern day west, global culture, vintage automobiles, world religions, human rights issues and many other things that tend to creep in. I have a gallery in Santa Fe, Keep Contemporary, that represents my artwork. Currently a large piece of mine is in the US Embassy in Kinshasa, in The Democratic Republic of the Congo. This winter I packed up the oil paints and pulled out my printing press and have been focusing only on printmaking. I use paper lithography, linoleum cuts, mono prints and screen printing to create quicker works or art than I could while painting. In the past I could churn out 1 painting every 6 weeks. now I can make almost 6 prints in one week. I have had to think strategically which is a large part of living the life of a working artist. I am not the kind of artist that stays up until the wee hours of the morning creating. I stopped drinking years ago so I am the antithesis of Jackson Pollack. I work normal 9-5 hours, 5-7 days a week. It’s a myth, at least in my experience, that artists are or have to be inspired at all times. I have found myself perhaps 2/3 of the time dragging my butt to the studio, making myself show up and do the work. To me it’s a job like any other. I love what I do and I still have to chop wood/carry water.

In the past year I have had the great fortune to be able to start a band with my 31 year old son. It’s just the 2 of us. He makes the beats, I write the lyrics and sing and he mixes it all up and as a result, we are slowly building a list of songs. We are having a blast.

Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
Have smart feet. There will absolutely be days where you have no motivation, your heart has been broken in some way, you will feel stuck and invisible, like the universe has forgotten about you. You will have thoughts like “Who the hell thought this was a good idea and that I could pull this off?”. You will be fearful, angry and entitled. Having smart feet means your feet take you where you need to go. You stop listening to the voices in your head during these times and your feet are in charge and make you show up and continue the work, whatever it is. These times will come and go. Sometimes when a door has closed you are just waiting in the hallway for another to open. The hallway isn’t a bad place to be although you might resist the idea of being there. There is much to learn in the “pause” or the pauses in life. When in doubt you just have to do the next right thing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://katykidd.org
• Instagram: katykidd2
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_me5MXK738bl2LgxwCLLcbXtSD8mjtSq_A