Check out Lindsey Kooyman’s Artwork

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lindsey Kooyman.

Lindsey, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
Since I can remember, I’ve had a constant need to create. As a kid, I was constantly doodling and daydreaming in class. I was more focused on making my notes look attractive instead of actually digesting the information on them. Between drawing small things here and there for classmates and creating gifts for family, my medium quickly grew from charcoal to colors. After high school, I moved around living in different places like Louisiana, North Carolina, San Marcos and Austin. All the while, still searching for my purpose when art was it all along. It’s not easy making a living as an artist and for a long time I let that way of thinking keep me from pursuing an art career. I would draw on the side in hopes of finding a more stable way to make income. Problem was, I had a difficult time trying to find something else to do with my life. My main passion was always in creating.

Taking a trip to the ocean was a sort of turning point for me. I remember watching the blue waves only to notice the green within the blue. Then, the yellow within the green. This continued through pretty much the whole color spectrum. When I made that connection, I saw colors differently in everything. All I wanted to do was dramatically emphasize all these colors on canvas. I created a small ocean series and the more I painted, the more I became obsessed with it. I had people offering to pay for my pieces and it naturally evolved into a side job. Eventually my love of colors and animals intertwined and I felt like I had found my niche. At this point, I became solely focused on creating. I think I got to a certain point in life where I stopped trying to force things that just didn’t fit and pursued what felt right. Once I stopped fighting against my art and started fighting for it, everything fell into place. Painting is my calling and I feel like I am right where I need to be. It’s such a freeing feeling and I’m excited to see where my art journey takes me.

We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I’m a mixed media artist. I use everything from oil and acrylic to calligraphy ink and gold leaf. Anything I can get my hands on, I use on my canvas. I love challenging myself by figuring out how to blend different mediums together to create a vibrant, eye-catching piece. My process is slightly different with every piece and I never know exactly how it will turn out until its done. Determining when it’s done though, is the tricky part. My favorite part in creating is there are no rules in art. You can go all in without holding back or abiding by guidelines and I believe that’s how breakthroughs happen for artists. I believe that’s why there’s a huge reflection of each artist in every piece they make. You can’t make mistakes in art and it is a never-ending journey of self-discovery. To me, that’s absolutely thrilling.

I believe art has the power to change lives and I create art to give people comfort and hope in finding their narrative. My approach of experimentation and kaleidoscopic colors reflects the chaos and uncertainty of life. However, I believe we can find beauty even in the chaos. I hope my viewers are inspired to always look for the beauty in everything.

What do you think it takes to be successful as an artist?
To me, being successful as an artist is a combination of producing what I envision and drawing enough attention to my work where I can financially support myself comfortably and contribute to my family. I will be successful as an artist when I can create art constantly. The entrepreneur quality is what I feel is essential to being successful. Unfortunately, that quality doesn’t come natural in a lot of creative people (myself included), so you have to teach yourself. I’ve learned spending an hour a day working on the business side of art, whether it be promoting myself, emailing or researching galleries, can get you very far. That, and remembering people’s names.

Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
I share the majority of my portfolio, pieces for sale and what’s to come on my Instagram account: @lindseykooymanstudio. You can also see my work on my Facebook page. I’m currently working on a website that I will be making public soon- stay tuned! You can support my work by sharing my art with family and friends and attending art shows I am a part of. I deeply appreciate all and any form of support and kind words!

Contact Info:

• Website: Website in progress- stay tuned!
• Email: lindseykooyman@yahoo.com
• Instagram: @lindseykooymanstudio
• Facebook: Lindsey Kooyman Studio

Image Credit:
From my instagram @lindseykooymanstudio
Tasha McPherson – Personal Photo

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