Meet Katlin E Smith | Artist and Owner of Wings’n’Whimsy

At first, figuring out how to work from home and not get sucked into housekeeping 100% or painting 1000% was difficult. There was always this self-imposed guilt if I spent too much time on one and dropped the ball in the other. Time management is so important and it’s not my top skillset – but I’ve learned a few things over the years. Establishing that balance was so vital to feeling fulfilled and accomplished at the end of the day instead of guilty and overwhelmed.

It took about a year to adjust and really make strides in being an Artist with a capital “A.” 2019 was a fantastic year for Wings’n’Whimsy, and for me. I’d joined an artist collective, had studio space to work, display, and hold classes. I met local artists and grew in my own skills and confidence. I had huge plans for 2020 – art camp, studio classes, and shows were lined up and I wasn’t the only one who was excited about it. Two things happened that derailed everything. First, the pandemic hit. It brought the collective to a standstill. All the sudden there wasn’t a studio any more. I also found out I was pregnant – and twelve weeks after that we discovered our baby was actually two babies.

It was a rough year, I was sick, and had health issues that wouldn’t come to light until after the babies were born. The pandemic scared the hell out of me and my husband both. Painting, my business, took it’s place on the backburner, with only a project here or there happening. Especially after the twins were born – wow, that was learning Life Balance on steroids. Being “Mom” to two growing, thriving individuals became an all-consuming thing for nearly two years. I give major props to moms out there who work and raise their babies at the same time. I felt like I was in the weeds: overwhelmed, underprepared, and so out of my depth. I loved it, and I feared I was failing constantly. That’s not necessarily a past-tense state of existence, but my encyclopedia entries for “I can live through this, and so will they” are many and varied, and increase every day. We keep finding new ways to challenge that belief… so far so good!

Even so, my first mural was started while I was pregnant and finished when I had newborns. My second mural, the twins’ nursery, started when I was twenty weeks along. I did commissions for three stores and more for private owners. It might have been at a snail’s pace, but the pandemic and pregnancy didn’t destroy my business. The momentum was derailed, and I had to learn to balance all over again. Isn’t that fun? We struggle, we learn, we balance, and then we start all over again. I think that’s beautiful.

I started college grateful for the influences and support of the teachers in my life and determined to do just what they did. To be completely honest, college steam-rolled me, and I look back at my choices during that time and cringe – what was I thinking? Using the resources available to students, going to the guidance counselors alone would have changed my entire experience but I was determined to do it all on my own and not be a bother to anyone. Ha. Oh well. The technical art skills I picked up have served me well, and the rest is in the past. Work took over my time from school, and retail/life balance is a laughable concept. After a couple of years and a near abduction event at work (I wish I was kidding), I decided I wanted to work in something that made me feel fulfilled, and couldn’t care less about filling my wallet.

The most rewarding experience I’d had to date had been volunteering for a bereavement program in Montana called Camp Francis. The dedication of the staff and volunteers on giving children who have lost some of the most important people of their lives a safe space to feel, to give them tools in living with grief, to validate their experiences and then seeing the moment those children realize they’re not alone in the world, that what they feel is normal and okay (I could go on for days)- it was life-changing. I’ve been chasing that high of purpose and fulfillment ever since.

I found out a camp in Granbury, Texas, Camp Fire Texas’ Camp El Tesoro, had a grief camp and called to sign up as a volunteer. That interview turned into an interview with the summer camp director for a job as camp management, and that job turned into a full-time position as an outdoor education specialist.

I taught school groups about ornithology, plant identification, habitats, fossils, geocaching and so much more. We used art journaling as one of the key components of the program. Jane Lovedahl created the curriculum and it is incredible. Suddenly, all of my passions were meeting in the same place. Nature and art and seeing children’s eyes light up and sharing grins when they discover something new and fascinating. I loved it.

The camp’s grief program is nearly 4 decades old, and huge. The director for De la Vida, Denis Cranford, is founding a LGBTQ+ camp, starting in 2024. It’s called Camp Haven, and will function in the same 10% heavy topic and 90% fun summer camp. He is an awe-inspiring man, and we need that kind of support in the world. I’m so proud of him. The people volunteering for De la Vida are some truly amazing human beings – DFW is lucky to have them as a part of their community.

Once I used art as part of my everyday life, as part of my job, I couldn’t let it go. I love painting, love taking my view of the world and turning into something beautiful, something others can be arrested by. My mother asked me to paint wings as a backdrop for selfies at her and dad’s booth, Marigold Trading Company, at the Warrenton Antiques Roadshow. My first set were feathered and in tones of blue, and the feedback was addicting. People were sharing their photos, their stories, and what my art brought out in them. Empowerment, memories, breaking free of what was holding them back – it was humbling. It was electrifying. It was success I didn’t know I was searching for. I love that about art. I can pour my passion and my narrative into it, but when someone is looking at it, they view it through the lens of their experiences, are touched for reasons I never would have suspected. More than anything, that brought me to starting Wings’n’Whimsy.

Now, I balance creating with nourishing. My husband and I are voracious gardeners. Our home is an over-the-top gardening experiment born from a hatred of boring grass lawns. We kept bees for four years, challenged the city’s ban on inner-city beekeeping and won. I have two year old twins, and “mom” is an all-encompassing experience that is endless in both joys and frustrations. My children love to paint – it’s the beginning of sharing my passions with them and it brings me so much joy. I hope that carries through in my work, that when people see my paintings, “nature enthusiast and champion, joyously overwhelmed mother” comes through loud and clear.

Dallas has some pretty amazing places to visit, and when you’re as obsessed with outdoor education as I am, there’s no better trifecta than the Dallas World Aquarium, the Perot Museum, and the Dallas Arboretum.

Take a picnic and find three dozen places that compete for world’s best picnicking site at the Arboretum, you’ll earn it because the place is huge, and your eyes won’t be bored for a second. The Perot is an absorbing display of all things Texas excels at, and we’re a huge state with a lot of things to brag about. The Aquarium is stunningly beautiful, and designed to be immersive.

Fort Worth has the Fort Worth Zoo, nationally recognized and deserving of every accolade. Its beautiful, and they are tirelessly working to improve it. While we’re in the neighborhood, and we have to get all of our steps in one day- the Fort Worth Botanical gardens are beautiful. We’re going to spend more than a little time at Cidercade, because good cider and all day access to arcade games of all sorts for $10 is amazing.

Let’s go eat at Little Lily on Camp Bowie, their sushi is incredible. Down the street is another sushi place called Little Tokyo, and it’s so good – and so are their drinks. TokFries are their signature appetizer, and I could eat only that for years. Lonesome Dove is – I don’t have words. Quintessential Fort Worth fine dining – the food is delectable, the drinks more so. If we’re celebrating something, we’re stopping by the Swiss Pastry Shop. Their Black Forest Cake (the Swedish version) is world renowned, and they have the best kolache’s in the state. It’s not a real trip to Fort Worth unless you’ve eaten at Joe T Garcia’s. take a drive to the Weatherford Square and eat at Zeno’s, incredible Italian food that reminds Kyle and I of our honeymoon in Cinque Terre, Italy.

Let’s shop on Magnolia Street (and eat!). I’ll inevitably drag you to Archie’s Gardenland and Weston Gardens to fuel my belief that there is no such thing as enough plants. Let’s go hike the Fort Worth Nature Center and Acton Nature Center.

Weldon Hatch showed me it was possible to be ferociously enthusiastic about your passions, damn anyone who thought otherwise. He was an incredible man, world-traveler, zookeeper, master naturalist. Get him talking about snakes, birds, plants, and his face would light up with joy. I worked with Weldon at Camp El Tesoro – he was honestly the grumpiest (and sweetest) man I’ve ever met.

He terrified the summer camp counselors, met bad customer attitude with worse attitude, and straight up fought with the big bosses about mowing certain areas because he believed native plant habitat protection was more important than making things look country club neat. Nandina is one of life’s greatest evils, and he scowled so fiercely every time he saw it. If he didn’t like you, you knew it.

But if he liked you… I can’t see sideoats grama without hearing his voice. I can recite his favorite rants. Rabbit stew and dump cakes are the best damned things to eat, don’t even challenge him on that. He took my coworker and I to lunch, teased us mercilessly when we did something stupid, introduced us to his favorite things, and shared his love of everything nature any chance he got. He had a diabolical giggle when something tickled him. He raised an amazing daughter who has shown the same passion and incredible dedication to her own children. My greatest regret in life is not making it to the hospital for a visit before he passed. He was larger than life, and I’ll never forget him.