We had the good fortune of connecting with Kaity Harmon and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kaity, what’s one piece of conventional advice that you disagree with?
The phrase “If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life” always rubbed me the wrong way. Don’t get me wrong, I love being an artist; it’s everything to me. However, it’s a lot of time and work. It takes effort and a ton of trial and error. And that’s just doing the fun stuff. There’s also the business aspect to everything, and that is its own can of worms. Yes, I love it, but to say it’s not work would be a lie.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
When I first started, I generally focused on acrylic painting. I never really had a particular subject in mind; just went with whatever came to mind in the moment. Now, I’m a lot more focused. I stick with oil paints and I’ve been shifting my subject matter to portraits. I do my best to capture the detail of my subject and bring out their personality. I don’t think anything about being an artist is truly easy and portrait work is the hardest form of painting I’ve attempted in my creative career. The only way I can say that I “overcame” – putting that in quotes, because it’s always a work in progress – is with trial and error.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
This one is a little tough, since we are in the middle of a pandemic. Hypothetically, if everything was all good, I’d start off by taking them to the Flying Saucer. Place has a huge selection of beer and the vibe is really relaxed. Of course, we would check out the Kimbell Art Museum. For some grub, I think hitting up Mi Dia or Oni Ramen.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Dawn with Painted Willow Art has been a huge inspiration to me the past couple of years. She has some wonderful meditative art classes and is one of the best teachers ever. Check out her amazing paintings and classes on her Instagram (@paintedwillowart)!

Website: acciokaityart.com
Instagram: @acciokaityart
Twitter: @acciokaityart
Facebook: facebook.com/acciokaityart

Image Credits
Michell Hammack

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