Today we’d like to introduce you to Kaleigh Shortes.
Kaleigh, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I feel like I’ve always been a creative, out of the box thinker, but I first picked up a love for the visual arts when I was about 12 or 13 years old. It honestly all started when my parents bought me a little art kit for Christmas one year and from there I started to develop an interest in painting. I never was much of a fan of representational art, but I fell in love with the idea that I could use paint on a canvas to express whatever emotion I was feeling or whatever message I wanted to convey through color variations, textures, shapes, lines, etc.
Painting became an outlet for me throughout middle school and high school. Although I’m better at it now, I used to be super nervous about letting anyone see my paintings, especially ones that I painted during a rough point in my life. It was like letting someone read my diary. I’ve been able to learn how to make myself vulnerable though and share my work.
I’m currently a senior at UNT where I’m studying Art History and minoring in Social Sciences and Spanish. I started out as a studio drawing and painting major, but studying Art History has given me an angle that I really think helps inform my art. I’m also where I am with my art today because of the support and encouragement I’ve gotten from the people close to me.
Has it been a smooth road?
It hasn’t always been smooth sailing for me and my art. The cost of art supplies alone is crazy, and there have been times I haven’t even been able to afford the things I need to be able to paint. I’ve also struggled with dealing with failure and not being able to effectively communicate what I want and how I want for a painting. I think it’s inevitable for artists to fail. I’ve come to terms with the fact that not everything I create will be successful.
It just takes so much trial and error to finally figure out what works and what doesn’t, so it can be easy to feel defeated after putting a lot of time and energy into a painting only for it to end up being unsuccessful. Learning from failure now has become a driving force for me because it’s what makes me focus on rethinking my process and creating something better.
I also can be my own worst critic and a bit of a perfectionist. I struggle with not liking most of what I make because I always see areas of improvement in my paintings. Instead of letting it hold me back like it has in the past, I’ve learned to channel it into motivation.
We’d love to hear more about what you do.
I’m an abstract artist, and I work mostly with acrylic paint where I’ve been learning and developing a style in acrylic pour painting. For some reason, I really gravitate towards working with blues and reds, and I really love when the two colors can come together in a cohesive way.
I visualize my paintings by first starting with a color palette. I want the compositions of my paintings, no matter the colors, to express through movement the principles of harmony, unity, and balance. I like that different interpretations can be made when viewing my paintings.
I’m proud of the progress I’ve made from where I started with pour painting to where I’m currently at now. I have eight of my paintings on display right now that will stay up until April in a public gallery space for the first time in my art career, so I’m also really proud of that!
Where do you see your industry going over the next 5-10 years? Any big shifts, changes, trends, etc?
I’m very excited for my future with art. I definitely see myself continuing pour painting, experimenting with my process more, pushing the boundaries and working with large scale canvases. I don’t want to set any limitations for myself because I see myself going as far as I can go.
Aside from pour painting, I’m really interested in installation art, and I can see myself pursuing that as well. I also think it would be really fun to collaborate with other artists in the near future.
I see my art on display in multiple public spaces, big and small. I truly think the possibilities are endless for me in the next 5-10 years. I’m really just letting my drive to create guide me along the way. I plan on staying true to myself and my passion for art.
Contact Info:
- Email: k.shortes14@gmail.com
Image Credit:
Ethereal, Celestial Blue, Electric, Autumn and Gold, Dream
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