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For today's episode we sat down with Kim Casebeer, a landscape painter who works primarily in oils, often depicting vast western vistas with dramatic skies. Kim discusses the importance of design and composition in her work, influenced by her background in graphic design. She also shares her experience with a significant commission from Mountain Trails Gallery in Jackson, Wyoming, a triptych of large panels totaling four feet by nine feet. She highlights the challenges and rewards of large-scale painting, including the need for patience and perseverance. Kim also recounts her experience transitioning to a full-time artist, emphasizing the value of teaching, maintaining relationships with galleries, and the role of social media and newsletters in connecting with collectors. She advises aspiring artists to be authentic and find their personal style, often through learning from different mentors or workshops as well as painting from life. Finally, Kim tells us about her upcoming workshop and two-person gallery show!
Kim's FASO site:
https://www.kimcasebeer.com/
Kim's Social Media:
https://www.instagram.com/kimcasebeerartist/
https://www.facebook.com/KimCasebeerFineArt/
https://bsky.app/profile/kimcasebeer.bsky.social
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Transcript:
Kim Casebeer: 0:00
So having the perseverance to keep going, that would be the one thing that I would always want to pass on to my students, because, well, as students, I hear just generally, a lot of I haven't painted for a while, or I don't know what to do next. And, you know, there's just a lot of doubt. Which is, which is natural, right? We all have doubt. It just it, just the different doubts change, but, but I think that's natural, and so I think it's a good lesson to them that these, these, these things are possible, that you can do it. Yeah,
Laura Arango Baier: 0:39
welcome to the BoldBrush show, where we believe that fortune favors a bold brush. My name is Laura Arango Baier, and I'm your host. For those of you who are new to the podcast, we are a podcast that covers art marketing techniques and all sorts of business tips specifically to help artists learn to better sell their work. We interview artists at all stages of their careers, as well as others who are in careers tied to the art world, in order to hear their thighs and insights. For today's episode, we sat down with Kim case Baier, a landscape painter who works primarily in oils, often depicting vast Western VISTAs with dramatic skies. Kim discusses the importance of design and composition in her work, influenced by her background in graphic design, she also shares her experience with a significant commission from mountain trails gallery in Jackson Wyoming, a triptych of large panels totaling four feet by nine feet. She highlights the challenges and rewards of large scale painting, including the need for patience and perseverance. Kim also recounts her experience transitioning to a full time artist emphasizing the value of teaching, maintaining relationships with galleries and the role of social media and newsletters in connecting with collectors. She advises aspiring artists to be authentic and find their personal style, often through learning from different mentors or workshops, as well as painting from life. Finally, Kim tells us about her upcoming workshop and two person gallery show. Welcome Kim to the BoldBrush show. How are you today?
Kim Casebeer: 2:03
I'm good. Thanks. I'm glad to be here. Yeah, glad
Laura Arango Baier: 2:06
to have you, because your work really pulls you into the scenery. And I'm also, you know, a huge fan. You're welcome. I'm huge fan of the type of landscapes that you, you try to paint, right there are these beautiful broad like, especially like the one behind you with this huge sky and these clouds, it really makes you feel like you're in there. And I love those types of paintings. Yeah, you're welcome. So I definitely admire your work very much, which is why I'm also excited to have you and excited to be here, yeah, but before we dive into your beautiful work, do you mind telling us a bit more about who you are and what you do?
Kim Casebeer: 2:50
Yeah, I'm Kim casepier, and I am primarily a landscape painter. I work in oils for the most part, but I actually started my art career in soft pastel. So I worked in soft pastel for about, oh, 10 years before I took up oil paints. I primarily split my time between my studio, where I'm at right now, working on large paintings. And then I also spend quite a bit of time plein air painting. And I do that mostly for study, just because I really like to be out in the environment and study the the real light and and the in the scene that I that I want to paint. So that is mostly what I paint. I am drawn to, like what's right behind me, large Vista type landscapes, most of mostly in the western United States. I live in the Midwest. I live in Kansas. And we have these. It's called the Flint Hills, and we have their big, vast, rolling hills. It's mostly cattle country, so you don't there's not a lot of buildings, not a lot of things that are in the way of the landscape. The landscape is very pristine, and we have big skies. And I love, I love to paint big skies and and that is where I get my love of big skies is from, from where I live, here in Kansas.
Laura Arango Baier: 4:27
Yeah, and I love that. It's so imposing. It's so it really, it reminds me of, you know, the Romantic period of, like, the Hudson River Valley School, where they had these gorgeous, like, scenic, like, wrap your like, it just wraps its arms around you, basically, type of paintings and that, that's the feeling I get from your work. Just so, great. Yeah. So, oh, good,
Kim Casebeer: 4:47
good, good. Yes, yes. Because I do try to bring those, those skies that I see in the Midwest. I try to bring that idea to the western landscape, like the one in behind. Me, you can't see the whole thing, but it's, it's, it's the Tetons. And a lot of people paint the mountains. That is the focus is the mountains. And I, I focus on the mountains some of the time, but a lot of times my work will encompass the mount, the whole scene, the mountains, and then a big, a big sky in with along with that, right?
Laura Arango Baier: 5:24
Yeah, yeah, because the grandeur comes from the whole scene. Obviously, the mountains are very imposing, but then, you know, you feel even more small when you realize how big those mountains are and how much bigger the sky is as well. So it's this very interesting sort of scale thing that happens with that, but also I'm curious to know, when did you begin to follow the path of the artist?
Kim Casebeer: 5:49
Yeah, I have really been drawing since I was very young. I've always been draw, been been, I've always been some type of artist since I was very young. And I say it's actually a little bit of a miracle perhaps, that I became an artist because I grew up in a farming community. My mother was a nurse, my dad was a farmer. There were not artists around us that just didn't exist. I didn't even go into a museum until I was in college, until I, until I, I went to college to get a BFA, a bachelor of fine arts with an emphasis in graphic design. And that is when I expanded my horizons, I guess, so to speak, to to go visit museums and and just be more involved in the arts and really understand what what art was. But it's always been, it's always been part of of who I am, honestly. Yeah. Um, so after I graduated from Kansas State University with an emphasis in graphic design. I worked as a graphic designer, and then later as an art director. So I think a lot of artists come from that place of learning design. First that is, that is where I come from, is learning how to design things in the commercial art world. And then the wonderful thing about that is I can take that idea and bring it to my fine art. Is the idea of design and composition, and I am sure that's why I have always emphasize emphasized design first in my work, trying to get a strong design in my work before anything else because of that.
Laura Arango Baier: 7:44
Yeah, yeah. That makes perfect sense. Because, you know, with graphic design, there's so much, obviously design, but there's so much that goes into it that is about planning and making sure that there's a harmony in any image that you make, which, in the end, that's also what we need as painters, is to have an understanding of this harmony, this on almost like this, this secondary language the paintings have, because we obviously have the language of like the drawing and like the the parts that most people like, which are like the rendering, right and like they they take for granted everything else which is like the the value and The the edge work, the all of these other components, right? The any other like sort of compositional rule, right? If you're using the rule of thirds, or if you're using any other compositional thing, those are so, so valuable. And I think having that background can have such an advantage for you also, because you're already instinctively aware of these design aspects, right? Precisely,
Kim Casebeer: 8:44
precisely, yeah, they're the bones of your painting. Is what it is. It's just, it's the structure that's underneath. And most people are not aware of that, but it is a very important aspect,
Laura Arango Baier: 8:55
yeah, yeah, yeah, um, would you say that when you're personally, when you're when you're trying to design a painting. How do you begin? Do you, for example, since you do plein air, do you, you know, walk around try to find a scene that is, you know, compositionally working? Or do you sometimes bend the rules a little bit and move the scene how you want?
Kim Casebeer: 9:20
Usually, when I'm outside, it is one thing that catches my attention, and most of the time, that's the light. That's the light and the shadow patterns that are happening. So I'm not going to say that I don't first look at the composition, because that is an aspect of it, but I think I look at the light and the the atmosphere, the the the feeling that I'm getting in the landscape first, so I definitely move things around and that that's easy, it's easier to do in the studio, I will say that, but, but if you've painted outside for a long time, it starts to become easier when you're outside as. Well, and, and I do that, I'll move, you know, just moving trees over, or waters that just seen the bend of the water or something. That's, yeah, yeah. That's pretty common,
Unknown: 10:11
yeah, yeah, yeah. And
Laura Arango Baier: 10:12
then do you, do you like, sometimes use some sort of, like, armature, or is it just moving things around until it feels right for you.
Kim Casebeer: 10:23
I have studied armatures. I've also, I've studied the Edgar Payne design composition, and then also various armatures. And so I do, I think that that's probably a second nature to me, is to just to see that in my head, the more obvious ones, like an L shape or a diagonal or S curve and those kinds of things. Yeah, yeah, I see those. Okay,
Laura Arango Baier: 10:51
yeah. I was curious because, again, like you have, you already have this sort of intuition about it that you've built because of studying it, and so sometimes it's very interesting to hear your experience, even though, for you it's, it's sometimes like underlying, right? Like for students, it's something that we have to, I guess, more more openly, have to, like, learn, right? Because it's sometimes in certain like schools, it's not necessarily what they teach. They teach. Maybe, you know, in Atelier, specifically, they'll teach good drawing and good painting, but they won't necessarily teach composition. It feels like more like a later down the line type of thing. So that's also why I'm inclined to ask you, because of your background, about how you handle composition, because I think it's very underrated and very important.
Kim Casebeer: 11:42
Yeah, it's been an important part of my, of my work for a long time, and and maybe some of that is because I I teach workshops too. And so when I teach workshop workshops, I am reminding the students of those armatures. And because of that, I'm reminded myself. So I think that kind of works hand in hand, yes,
Laura Arango Baier: 12:04
yes. It makes sense. Because as a teacher, obviously you need to know the subject twice, if not three times, better than the students, so that you have a better, better way of explaining it to them. Because they're Yeah, yes, and oftentimes it'll take them listening to that three times in order to get it,
Kim Casebeer: 12:22
yeah, I always, I always say, though, that it's, it's interesting. I love teaching. It is it's good for the students, but I learn as much. I always say that I learn. I can learn just as much from the process of teaching as that they can.
Laura Arango Baier: 12:39
Oh yeah, oh yeah. Because it, it forces you to really investigate all the little, little pieces of how you do something in order to properly explain it, right? I mean, it's, I think it makes a huge difference. I like, I think anyone, most, like most of the people that I interview, who are painters who are also teachers. I find that their work very much shows how like they teach. Because it seems like every, every person I've interviewed who's a teacher has a very, very good grasp, one on painting, and second on explaining their work in the interview, which is really great. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, no. It's, it's wonderful. I love interviewing teachers who are also, you know, full time artists,
Unknown: 13:28
because it's, oh, it's a I feel
Laura Arango Baier: 13:31
like there's more information that you give to our listeners than maybe someone who hasn't had that introspection about why they do what they do, which, you know, I could see that, yeah, yeah. So I really appreciate it. And then also, I wanted to bring up this really cool project that you worked on, which is a little bit monumental. Do you mind telling us a bit about it?
Kim Casebeer: 14:00
Of course, it is monumental to me. It is I'm finished with the project, and it is shipped off to the framer currently. So that feels really good. It's a very large commission that I received from mountain trails gallery in Jackson, Wyoming. That's my gallery, and in Wyoming. It's going to a collector's home, and it's a triptych, which is three panels. And so the each panel is 48 tall by 36 wide. So they're vertical panels, and that total is about four feet by nine feet, all together, all together. They are framed separately. However, they're going to be framed separately. There's three separate panels framed in three frames. So it takes up about four feet by 11 feet on the on the collectors wall, which is significantly large. Larger than anything else that I have painted. So it was, it was a big project,
Unknown: 15:05
yeah, yeah. I
Laura Arango Baier: 15:07
mean, how, how has that changed your perspective on your work? Because, I mean, you those are really big sizes, you know, to go from, yeah, smaller plein air to something that size. It's a huge jump, right,
Kim Casebeer: 15:21
right. Um, yeah, it's, it's been very interesting. First of all, it, it took four months. Give it not, not constantly painting, but the whole process from, from, because it's a big process. There's studies that I created first I did, well, first off that, let me back up. I first did sketches, and then I did a study that was proportionately the same. The three panels were 12 by nine, but that's still a lot smaller. And then, and then I started in with the the the regular size that the 36 by 48 so, so everything had to be sized up, which I found interesting because I sized up my palette. I got a larger glass palette, and size that up. I purchased really large brushes, size 16, size 20 brushes, at least, to get started on the on the painting and and this the panels, creating the panels. Everything was everything was large. Everything was a larger version of what I've done and I've I paint large ish in my studio, like 36 by 48 for one painting would be pretty average for me, maybe even a 40 by 60. But this is still significantly larger than than those. So, yeah, that whole process was very, was very interesting. In addition to sizing the materials up, the the process itself, going from study to paint, well, from sketches to painting, study to the big the big painting. All of that just took so much more time than I'm used to. So there was this whole process of having more patience for the process, having perseverance, just being able to continually work on it, and then also being having the ability to recognize, Okay, it's time to maybe put it away for a little bit, because there were definitely those moments also where, okay, I'm not going to make a lot of good decisions right now, because I've had it in front of me For so long, you know that. That how you feel when you've looked at something for so long. You just, you don't see it anymore. You need, you need fresh eyes on it. And so there is a time when you have to put it away and then go do something else. And and I'm used to that process. There was just more of it. There was just more, more times more more stops and starts than I'm perhaps used to on a 36 by 48 painting,
Laura Arango Baier: 18:12
right? Yeah, and that's understandable. It's it's so much more ground to cover and so much more to look over more than once. I mean, with a with a smaller painting, obviously, you you have a smaller brush, and it's a lot faster to go through the motions, but with the writing, oh, everything is just exponentially bigger in every sense, more paint brushes, more patient,
Kim Casebeer: 18:41
right? More patience, more patience, more perseverance. It's like, I can do this. I don't have to, like trying to talk myself into it. Occasionally was was was necessary. I'll be honest, it was necessary.
Laura Arango Baier: 18:53
Yeah, it seems like a very intimidating project. Um, what? What made you say yes to it.
Kim Casebeer: 19:02
Well, I have always actually enjoyed painting large, and so this would honestly be something that I would eventually want to do. So I wasn't, it was intimidating, but it was also, I felt like it was a really good challenge. I knew I felt ready for the challenge. I did. I did. I felt ready for it. And I think it would be something that I would do again. You know, there are certainly things that we do as artists like I'm never doing that again. But this would be, this would be one of those things, okay, I I've had an I've had almost a month or so since I've worked on it, and I could look back now and say, Yeah, I would do that again. Yeah,
Laura Arango Baier: 19:48
yeah. It's a huge step out of your comfort zone, but it's good to know that it's something that you were already aiming for as well, because, yeah, it gave you that opportunity to challenge yourself. Off and right. And I have heard from, you know, from different articles and sources, that attempting something difficult, right, and being able to complete it is really, really good for your brain. And it makes it really, makes you on one side, it makes you grow. And on the other side, it also reminds you that you are capable, right, that you're not just like, because I feel like, especially as artists, we often times get this imposter syndrome that is kind of difficult to shake because we keep moving the goal bar further and further away, right? So right, a little bit like, behind or like, Oh, I could totally do better without realizing that we're doing amazing, right? So doing a big project like this is becoming it, I think is a very good indicator of, you know, telling yourself like you did something really difficult and you overcame it, and congratulations, and you can do it again.
Kim Casebeer: 21:03
So true. I don't think as artists, we had ourselves on the back as much as we should. Maybe I don't know it's an interesting idea. Yeah,
Laura Arango Baier: 21:13
yeah. I think also because, you know, it's on one hand, it's very solitary career, right? We don't really have much people around us, unless you know, in your case, you know students, it's a little bit easier to maybe hear something, but it's not quite the same as having like your own mentor or having like someone there with you telling you something. Oftentimes, I think artists are their own worst critics.
Kim Casebeer: 21:40
Yes, yes, yeah, we can be Oh yeah.
Laura Arango Baier: 21:47
Would you say that there's like, a major lesson that you got from, you know, doing this project that you would want to pass on to your students.
Kim Casebeer: 21:58
Okay? I do think it is the having the perseverance to keep going that would be the one thing that I would always want to pass on to my students, because, well, as students, I hear just generally, a lot of I haven't painted for a while, or I don't know what to do next, and you know, there's just a lot of doubt, which is, which is natural, right? We all have doubt. It just, it, just the different doubts change, but, but I think that's natural. And so I think it's a good lesson to them that these, these, these things are possible, that you can do it, yeah, yeah,
Laura Arango Baier: 22:42
yeah. That's very inspiring. It's very motivating as well. Because, oh, I think so much of you know, for example, like painters block, or your artist block, as they like to say, is fear.
Kim Casebeer: 22:56
I think, Oh, for sure, for sure, yeah,
Laura Arango Baier: 23:00
especially when it's, you know, someone who's just starting out, or someone who maybe doesn't see themselves like they're quite at the level that they want to be at. I think it's so easy to just give up or put it away, yes,
Kim Casebeer: 23:15
yes, yeah, yeah. So
Laura Arango Baier: 23:17
I think yeah, trying something a little bit intimidating, it can, it can, you know, really push the person to right, go for it. Yeah,
Kim Casebeer: 23:29
right. I I've discovered for myself now that I'm done with the project. I Oh, I don't know. I've done a couple different sizes since I've been working on an 18 by 24 and a 24 by 30, these sizes have seemed so easy and so that intimidating part, I thought, well, this is interesting, because this is not intimidating to me now, and I'm finding what I'm finding for myself is that my My brush work is getting really loose with these, like, if I want to call it medium size 24 by 30 size, that's that my brushwork is just very loose. It doesn't feel like the fear is gone a little bit. I'm not saying it's not there ever, but it's, it's, it seems easier and and I think, I think that has to just be a coming off of that large size and going to something maybe more average, what we would normally paint in the studio.
Laura Arango Baier: 24:35
Yeah, yeah. I was actually going to ask you, if you know, when you said yes to the project, were you? Were you scared?
Kim Casebeer: 24:42
Oh yeah, oh yeah. I was, I was I'd be lying if I said I wasn't. But I, I've always been intrigued by challenges to a certain extent. So I just I looked at it that way. I looked at it as a challenge that I wanted to try and. A right or wrong. In my mind, I thought, well, if I'm going to paint this large, I would rather do it for a commission piece, for something that I know that I can get through and that is sold, then for something that might hang on a wall and I and I've got to and maybe it won't sell, or maybe it will sell, but I don't know. I don't know that's an unknown. So I don't know if that's right or wrong, but that's, that's how I looked at it. I looked at it like, Oh, okay. Well, they like my work. They They commissioned it because they liked my work, and they saw, they saw the work in the gallery, and they liked the work and and because of that, I was fairly certain that this was going to be a positive project, right,
Laura Arango Baier: 25:47
yeah. And I think also the the pressure of having to make something good, right, and having, like, a bit of a deadline, I think that also helps a bit, because if I took on a large size and it was of my own volition. I I could definitely see myself doing it and overcoming right, but at the same time, I would be worried that I would allow my fear to defeat me every so often, and just like, set it aside for a while, and then hopefully, yeah, maybe forget about it, and it's in a corner of shame for a little bit, unless I'm excited enough that I can keep going right. It's unless you can, yeah, right, right. You're,
Kim Casebeer: 26:29
you're right about that, that if it was a project for myself, it would have been a lot easier to put it off in the corner. And they I will get back to that at some point, whether I do or not, but there was a deadline. It was, it was an extended deadline, but there was, there was a deadline there looming at some point that needed to be tackled. Yes, yeah, yeah.
Laura Arango Baier: 26:55
There's something Yeah, exactly. There's something helpful about having that third person, just like looming over here, like, give us the peace. So I guess if someone can, I don't know, hire a friend to be like you need to have it done by this day. Maybe that'll work, right,
Kim Casebeer: 27:17
right, right. I also will say that commissions can be tricky like that, because you could have that person standing over you a lot and asking you, when is it done? When is it done? And I have been fortunate. I have had that happen to me, but I have been fortunate, at least in this instance, I was very fortunate that these people were pretty laid back about it. They just wanted me to take my time and paint, make a strong painting. And that was so I was fortunate that that was the case, that they were willing to wait
Laura Arango Baier: 27:54
for it, yeah, yeah, that's awesome. That is so awesome. I yeah, I'm very inspired by that that makes me want to take on a good project. Yeah, just
Kim Casebeer: 28:06
on that large painting.
Laura Arango Baier: 28:08
Yeah, I think I'll definitely ask someone to to be on the lookout for me and give me a deadline.
Kim Casebeer: 28:14
There you go. Oh man, yeah. And then also, speaking
Laura Arango Baier: 28:18
of kind of scary, jumps out of the comfort zone. Um, what was it like for you when you made the jump into becoming a full time artist?
Kim Casebeer: 28:31
Yeah, that is an interesting transition. I was okay. So for myself, I will say that. I think I got a little bit lucky, because I was a graphic designer, like I said, earlier, earlier than an then an art director, and in the evenings and weekends, whenever I could, I was painting, I started showing at a couple of galleries, and it was early, 2000s I believe, like late 2001 I had a one person show, and then I had another one person show, early 2002 and with those two shows, I don't remember the percentages that I sold, but a good portion of the paintings, like over half of the paintings from each show sold, maybe more like three quarters of of each of them sold, and it was a time when when sales were really good, in general, in the art market. And I just and that I realized that I sold more. I made more selling the work during that time, during about a year, than I did in my for my annual salary as an art director. And so I guess I was lucky in that respect, that it almost seemed like a no brainer. Oh, if I can do this, then why do I have the day job? What do I need? The day job? I don't need the day job. And so that allowed me to have the confidence. To to do, make that leap, to make that jump. The the motivation part, I think, is is different. We all have to have that figure out what that is that's going to motivate us to to move forward. And I will say for myself, I feel like it is shows in the galleries, because you have a deadline. Because you have this deadline, you have to put out 20 pieces at a certain time. It's so it's the shows at the galleries that give me that motivation, and also commissions and other things like that. I think I need that deadline. I think I need that that motivation, but that definitely helped, especially at the beginning.
Unknown: 30:45
Yeah, yeah. Interesting. At
Laura Arango Baier: 30:48
BoldBrush, we inspire artists to inspire the world, because creating art creates magic, and the world is currently in desperate need of magic. BoldBrush provides artists with free art, marketing, creativity and business ideas and information. This show is an example. We also offer written resources, articles and a free monthly art contest open to all visual artists. We believe that fortune favors the bold brush, and if you believe that too, sign up completely free@boldbrushshow.com that's BOLDBRUSH, show.com. The BoldBrush Show is sponsored by FASO. Now, more than ever, it's crucial to have a website when you're an artist, especially if you want to be a professional in your career. Thankfully, with our special ink FASO.com/podcast, you can make that come true and also get over 50% off your first year on your artist website. Yes, that's basically the price of 12 lattes in one year, which I think is a really great deal, considering that you get sleek and beautiful website templates that are also mobile friendly, e commerce, print on demand in certain countries, as well as access to our marketing center that has our brand new art marketing calendar. And the art marketing calendar is something that you won't get with our competitor. The art marketing calendar gives you day by day, step by step, guides on what you should be doing today right now in order to get your artwork out there and seen by the right eyes so that you can make more sales this year. So if you want to change your life and actually meet your sales goal this year, then start now by going to our special link, FASO.com/podcast. That's FASO.com/podcast, um, so from the beginning, you've, you've been working with galleries right, even like when you were right, an art director, okay,
Kim Casebeer: 32:36
yes, they were first galleries that were local, regional, and then I aimed for national galleries. Nice, yeah, yeah, yeah. I've been working with various galleries for quite, quite a while. It's
Laura Arango Baier: 32:50
great, yeah, yeah. It's a I think that the gallery model can be really helpful. For the reason that you said, you know, participating in shows, you have to have these deadlines. You have to have X number of pieces completed. So that creates a good amount of pressure for, you know, at slash motivation, yeah, people pressure.
Kim Casebeer: 33:11
Motivation, whatever you want to call it, yeah.
Laura Arango Baier: 33:16
So since you've worked with quite a few galleries, I wanted to know, you know, how do you recommend and then also, how do you personally maintain a good relationship with your galleries?
Kim Casebeer: 33:29
I definitely believe that is a two way street. The as as an artist, you have to provide your best work in a timely manner, and that is your job, to provide good quality work in time for your galleries. Then the galleries responsibility is that they should be promoting your work and selling your work, and so when both of those things are happening, then there's a really good even relationship between a partnership, really a partnership between the gallery and yourself, and when one of those things isn't happening, well, then the relationship, it doesn't work as well. So I think that is that that's the key you have, to keep that relationship balanced, where everybody is doing their part,
Laura Arango Baier: 34:27
that's a good point. Yeah,
Unknown: 34:29
yeah, yeah. And then
Laura Arango Baier: 34:32
that makes me wonder too. You know, what does happen if you know you realize that maybe the gallery isn't a good fit, like, how do you handle that situation?
Kim Casebeer: 34:46
I try to communicate as as well as I can. I mean, the first step is to have a conversation, right? Just sit down, have a conversation. I don't think this isn't working for me and. And maybe you can work it out. Maybe you can work it out with the gallery. And if you can't, you do have to be willing to move on? You do you have to be willing to move on? It's a really interesting relationship, because I think so many times that gallery artist relationship feels more like a like a friendship, or like a like a personal relationship, and yet, there's other times when you have to step back and treat it like a business relationship, because that's really what it is. It's a it's a business relationship, yeah, so, so it's, it's really both. And I That's why, I think that's why it's so tricky for for artists and and galleries too, because it's both,
Laura Arango Baier: 35:47
yeah, it's, I mean, it's interesting, because obviously, you want to be friendly with your gallerist, and you want to be, you know, in a good spot, you know, relationally, like you said. I've also heard people like say that it's like, like, a marriage, right,
Kim Casebeer: 36:03
yeah, right, right, yeah.
Laura Arango Baier: 36:05
But then it's also, I guess, also in a marriage, you do have that aspect of, you know, financial management, which is really important, an important thing to communicate with a gallery, as well as an American
Unknown: 36:19
Right, right?
Laura Arango Baier: 36:21
Interesting. And then oftentimes, you know, one of the things that I think is difficult when working with galleries is the situation that sometimes they don't necessarily tell you who your your collectors are.
Unknown: 36:34
How have you
Laura Arango Baier: 36:36
personally been able to, you know, have a connection with your collectors, despite, you know, working with galleries, right,
Kim Casebeer: 36:44
right? First, I think it's very important to show up. So if there is an exhibit, if you are part of an exhibit at a gallery or an art center, or really any place, you should you should show up. You should be there, especially during the opening, for sure, and perhaps other times too, I have had situations where the gallery, this is more local my Kansas City Gallery, that's not very far away, so it's easier for me to get to it's a few hours where we've had an opening and I'm there. And then we also do, maybe another day, the next day, do a like a demo day, a more relaxed day where we're demoing and and the idea is, is that we can talk more one on one with people, because it's not quite as busy, it's not quite as crowded as the opening night was. And then I've had situations where perhaps we try a an ending Reception The show is getting ready, because most of the shows are two, three months long, and then you have an ending reception where people can reconnect with you. And so I think you have to, you have to go to those and and connect, connect with your collectors. Yeah, I think that's very important, but they also collectors will also connect with you in other ways, and one way I do that is with newsletters. So I have, I actually have two newsletters. One is, I would call it a general newsletter, so it has the show information, but it also has workshop information, classes, all those types of things. So a lot of artists subscribe to that newsletter. And then I have a second newsletter that is dedicated to collectors. And at least mine is, it's a little smaller, but it is, I would say it's just as important. And it only talks about the shows that are coming up or or maybe a photo of what's on my easel at at this moment, those types of things that a collector is going to really be invested in.
Laura Arango Baier: 39:00
And then, if you don't mind me asking, How often do you send your newsletter?
Kim Casebeer: 39:06
I try to sit so the one that goes out to the general one, I send out once a month, most of the time. Sometimes I see about money, but I try to send it out once a month, and the collector newsletter is maybe a little bit less often, maybe six times a year, is probably more practical, right? I don't know why I do that. I think, in my mind, I think that the collectors, maybe they just don't want there's, there's probably less information, but maybe they don't want the newsletter as often, at least, that's what I imagine. But I don't know. I don't know if I have any basis for that really. It's just seems like something to do, not to, not to send it out quite as often. Yeah,
Laura Arango Baier: 39:57
it sounds it sounds comfortable to send it. You know, six times, yeah, I think, yeah, that's right, it's comfortable, yeah? Because they, they also, they're usually busy as well, and, and it's a good idea, like, you know, having those two different newsletters, because obviously, a collector who is an art appreciator, but not necessarily an art doer, right? Or a hobby artist, yeah, I feel right for them to be sent right? A bunch of information that for them is jargon, right? Because there are, there's a lot of words that we use that, you know, for the layman, it might be a little bit like, what is scumbag, right?
Kim Casebeer: 40:36
Right? If I'm talking about design and composition and how you're going to learn that they might be interested in that there are those collectors who are actually interested in both aspects purchasing art and also how it really are. Are legitimately interested in how you are creating your art. But there's also a lot of people who probably don't want to read all of that.
Laura Arango Baier: 41:00
Yeah, yeah. And I think that's normal for anyone who, like, you know, is an enthusiast of something like, you know, maybe someone who maybe hires someone to make some clothing for them, right? They won't necessarily not that they don't care, but they won't necessarily be too concerned with the how. They're more concerned with the result, right, right. So yeah, exactly yeah. Six months, six months with me, six times a year, sounds very Yeah, yeah. Sounds very reasonable one, because it also gives this feeling of scarcity that, you know, they might be like, true, like, it's exciting, like, I'm looking forward to, like her next, you know, newsletter so I could have a little bit of that where you're not being right new present, but you're also not disappearing completely. So I think it's a very good balance, and it's also that's interesting. A lot of artists also don't necessarily make time for making newsletters. I think newsletters, they're so useful, they're amazing. But then most of us have that as a new year's goal. Monthly, by like March, we're burnt out because we overdo it. So I think starting small like that, maybe, you know, every two months or something, is healthy, healthy start and healthy degree, right?
Kim Casebeer: 42:19
Yeah, right, right. Well as Yeah, because as artists, that is not our priority. Most of us, our priority is to be in front of our easel painting, not marketing. That isn't our priority, but we do have to. We do have to make time for those types of the marketing. Yeah,
Laura Arango Baier: 42:39
yeah, yeah. We have to wear all those hats, right? Yeah, which, by the way, now that you mentioned marketing, of course, what are other marketing tools that you personally use to sell more of your work? Could it be like social media, or do you also sell things to your newsletter?
Kim Casebeer: 42:57
I besides the two newsletters I am on social media. I would say that's probably the next most important. I would put my newsletters as the most important, though, because that is, to me, a more direct connection between the people who really, really want to hear from you. But that being said, I also have heard from collectors who will follow me on Instagram. They'll see something that they like, and they will reach out. They will reach out to me and say, Well, where can I buy that? Or they will reach out to the gallery. If I have said where, where it is located, they will reach out to the gallery and they will purchase I've heard from people because they are on social media, and so I don't think we can take, take that for granted. I think we do need to have some kind of presence on social media. Yes, so I'm on Instagram and Facebook, and recently, blue sky, I'm trying that one out too. So we, we have to try all these things and see what, see what works,
Laura Arango Baier: 44:02
yeah, yeah. And then, you know, that's also another changing landscape. I mean, it's Oh yeah. Try to keep always changing. Yeah, yeah. It's another hat for the artist to write,
Kim Casebeer: 44:14
another hat. But, but, but again, you you might be on to something about the scarcity, though, because I find when I am at least for me, if I am trying to post every single day, that feels a little, oh, I don't know. It just feels like too much sometimes, and I'm almost more comfortable with a couple times a week just showing people what what I'm up to, and that kind of depends on what you have going on, right? Like, sometimes you might be out planner painting. Typically when I'm out plena air painting, I am creating a new painting, maybe two or three new paintings a day. And so hosting more often makes sense. And when I'm in the studio working on some large. Painting. I don't necessarily want to stop and post constantly. I want to be in my own little world and create and then post less often and then show people this is what I'm working on. But there, there might just be times when it makes more sense to post, like once or twice a week. I do think we have to think about that. Not just like a hard and fast number, like this is how many times I need to post, but more like, how it how it works for your schedule, what you're working on at that moment,
Laura Arango Baier: 45:34
yeah, yeah, having that flexibility, yeah. And then also, you know, you bring up a good point, we're not machines, right, right? Yeah, features, yeah. So it's good to have more of, like that organic sort of way of approaching it. Also, because, you know, I mentioned before, like, burning out, right? You can burn yourself out really easily if you're piling on all of these things. And then also the pressure. There is a certain type of pressure in social media, especially also with, like, answering comments, and if you don't post it a certain time, then all of these other things that come in with it. I think it's good to just be concerned with posting something good and just letting it be,
Unknown: 46:20
yeah, continue doing your thing. Yeah.
Kim Casebeer: 46:23
Well, just being authentic like that just seems like that goes on that goes along with the being and being yourself being authentic. If I am whipping out little plein air paintings more often than it probably makes sense, like, oh, look what I did, and now I'm in this new location painting. That makes sense. And if you're in your quiet zone, in your studio, it makes sense to be a little bit more quiet. It's just, it's just being ourselves. Yes,
Laura Arango Baier: 46:49
definitely. And then I was curious to know, because, of course, a lot of artists, we tend to diversify our income. And you mentioned teaching. Do you find that teaching has helped you? Because I know, obviously with with sales, right? It's not. Sometimes you might go like, a month without selling something, right? Or you might go a bit of a while, or another month you might sell like three, four paintings, and that's awesome. But how have you been able to temper those highs and lows in your income
Kim Casebeer: 47:23
with the sales? Yeah, I think definitely teaching helps that we all need more than one avenue of income to to feel, to feel like we are making progress. And I have done both in person workshops, which I love, and then online workshops and classes which I which I also love for different reasons. And I think those, those avenues allow some flexibility, so that then when you're back in your studio, you're not feeling that pressure to I've got to sell something so. So I think the avenues of income are very important.
Unknown: 48:04
Definitely, yeah, yeah.
Laura Arango Baier: 48:07
And then, do you have any final advice for someone who wants to become a full time artist?
Kim Casebeer: 48:16
I think there's so much advice we could give, right, but I think the overall one that I really need to say is that you have to be authentically yourself. Now. That is easier for me to say, perhaps, than somebody just starting out. And so I also tell people it is absolutely okay to to look at different what what other artists are doing, and to maybe there's something about what they do that you click, that clicks with you, and you want to try that. And so you try on these different, these different hats. You try on being a, you know, this type of landscape painter, or a plein air landscape painter. And then after a while, though, after trying different things, you have to figure out for yourself what who you are and and I that's a very important aspect of being an artist. Eventually, you have to start feeling comfortable in your own skin and not trying to pretend to be another artist just because they sell well, or some other reason that you that you find Yeah, so I it might be that might seem like kind of an abstract type of bit of advice, but, but I think it's so important. I really think it's so important. And we are, we are bombarded with all these images on social media and other at other places now, and so we see what everybody is doing. And I think now more than ever, it's so hard to get out of that mindset of looking at what everyone. Else is doing and reminding yourself of who you are.
Laura Arango Baier: 50:07
Very beautifully set, yes, very wise words, I totally agree. And it's, yeah, I agree that social media, it's, you know, and I've mentioned this in past episodes, is that it's a double sided blade, right? It's a double edged sword, and it's, it's great for inspiration, but then Right, right point where you know, you have to say to yourself, Is this something I appreciate, or is this something that resonates? Because there's a bit of a it's a blurry little edge, but it's there, yeah and right, yeah, yeah, yeah. And you make a great point with not focusing on the economic aspect of it, because right one, social media can lie something right, right? Successful. But times out of 10, you know, artists are doing their best. And you know the their success may seem a certain way, you know, on paper or on Instagram, but you know, never know what someone's actually going through with their work and with their, you know, personal lives. So it's also good to remind yourself that they're human and right? It's good to stay in your lane also and and figure yourself right, because, in the end, that's what we're all aiming for as artists, right, to be like you said, authentic, to find that inner voice, which actually, if you don't mind asking, What was it like for you to find your personal voice in your work.
Kim Casebeer: 51:44
I took workshops from several landscape painters that I admired. In the beginning, I haven't taken a workshop for a while, but I've but I took them because I admired the work that they did, but but then I found myself, I found myself doing that exact thing where I would start to paint like them, and then you have to stand, take a step back and like, Wait a minute. What? What am I doing here? And so, so I, so I took several workshops, and I guess combining all of that information was helpful. What really, what really pulled me to my authentic self, I believe, is plein air painting, because it was when I went out to be in the moment of of capturing light and the atmosphere, just what was in front of me that I stopped for. I just forgot about that idea, you've got to find your style. I hear that from a lot of artists, like, well, I need to find my style. Like, oh no, that's not how it works. The style finds you. You just paint, and you get into the moment, and then the style finds you. And it took me a little bit to figure that out, because I was trying to find my style. And when I went out and plein air painted, that's, that's when that clicked, because I was in the moment. You don't have time to overthink like, oh, what? How? How am I going to paint this? That wasn't, that wasn't the point. The point was to simply react to the landscape that's in front of me in that moment. And so when I started doing that, I stopped thinking about how other people painted, and I just painted. And then a style happened. Now it's kind of funny to hear other people talk about my work in that way. They say, Oh, she has this interesting style. And I, yeah, I know, I it takes me aback a little bit like, Oh, I do I have style, because I don't even think about that now, I really don't. It's just, it's an interesting transformation that happens. So I guess as to other landscape painters, I would say that would be obvious, like, get out and plenty of paint, because you can be in the moment. So, yeah, that's my best advice to just get out there and do it.
Laura Arango Baier: 54:12
Yeah, it's great advice. Again, I feel like there's this recurring theme that we've got going of pressure with plenty air painting, there's a bit of a pressure, right? Because the light is changing, yeah, yes, everything is changing, and you have to catch it so it does shut off that side of your brain, of, you know, imitation, right,
Kim Casebeer: 54:37
right? Or overthinking, yeah.
Laura Arango Baier: 54:39
Just like, get it done. Get it done. Get it done. That's true. I've actually, yeah, I've actually heard a lot of plein air painters who also mentioned, like, if you want to get really good just, just do plein air painting. It'll improve your skills tremendously. Because of heard
Unknown: 54:58
it here for. Folks again, go out there and do it, yeah, yes, yeah. Do it. Do it afraid,
Laura Arango Baier: 55:11
yeah, yeah, yeah, because I don't know, I feel like, if I feel some fear, it feels like it's something I should probably do, right?
Kim Casebeer: 55:24
Yeah, we can't stay in our comfort zone exactly all the time.
Laura Arango Baier: 55:29
Yes, exactly, exactly. And that's also it applies, obviously, to painting. You know, where, if you want to grow as an artist, if you want to find that mythical style
Unknown: 55:43
that
Laura Arango Baier: 55:45
you have to step out of that comfort zone. There's absolutely no way. Yes, you do no other way to do it. And then also applies to life as well, you know, in a more philosophical sense, yeah,
Unknown: 55:54
yeah. So true. So true. Yeah,
Laura Arango Baier: 55:58
awesome. Well, do you have any upcoming workshops that you would like to share with us? Or,
Kim Casebeer: 56:05
yeah, I have, I have, it's, yeah, the next workshop that I have scheduled for now, anyway, is in Vail. It's the Vail Valley art Guild, and that is August. Oh, I'm sorry, I put it, I wrote it off to the side. You're August at in with the Vail Valley art Guild and and then I also have a show coming up that's, that's more recent, that's in April. I have a show at my local gallery, Strecker Nelson West gallery here in Manhattan, Kansas. It's a it's a two person show. So those are the things that I have on the calendar right now. I have a lot of other I always travel to Jackson once in the summer and deliver more work so so people can see more of those my events on my website if they want to see more.
Laura Arango Baier: 57:01
So yeah. And what is your website? Yes, what is that? It's,
Kim Casebeer: 57:06
it's Kim K spear.com
Laura Arango Baier: 57:09
pretty simple, yeah. And then your social media,
Kim Casebeer: 57:14
yes. So on Instagram, I am Kim K spear artist. And on Facebook, I'm Kim K spear, fine art. And on blue sky, I'm just Kim K spear. And why all the different ones? I don't know. I wish I had an answer for
Laura Arango Baier: 57:32
that, but you still Kim K spear, which is what counts? I'm still Kim K spear, right, yes, right, yeah. And I'll include all of your links in the show notes so people, okay, check out. Okay, you sound good and sign up for your newsletter. Yeah, um, so, yeah. So, thank you so much, Kim for all the awesome advice you Yeah, thanks for having me. This was fun. Yes, it was. Yeah.
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