50 Over 50: Just Be Courageous and Create - Kimberly-Ann's Eclectic Practice
- Kristine Schomaker
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
At 70, Kimberly-Ann is converting beaded necklaces into bracelets. She's also just finished entries for two simultaneous shows, and next on her radar is another Call & Response bookmaking project and a local art fair.
Her work is eclectic and varied. She works in leather, semi-precious beads, on gourds, with many different types of paint, paper, and found objects, as well as photography. She's been creating art in one form or another since she can remember. There was the childhood challenge of paint by numbers and she just painted out of the lines. She also remembers taking endless numbers of photos with her mother's Brownie camera, but her mother never put any film in it.
How's her work different now than it was before 50? She's more prolific in painting and collage, whereas when she was working she focused on photography. Also because of the new groups she's in, her work is more esoteric and philosophically based around women.
The hardest part about being an artist at this point? The time spent schlepping her work to across-town galleries. The traffic jams are crazy making.
Someone just turned 50 and wants to start making art—what does she tell them? Look for the free classes on the internet and try as many as you are able, until you find a medium or technique that brings you joy.
Does she try to keep up with what matters in the art world? Do I care? There is so very much art out there in the world that one cannot keep up with everything, nor does she want to. She does her best to keep up with the groups she's in, as they keep her trying out new ideas, concepts, and practices.
What do artists her age bring to the table that younger artists don't? Basic knowledge of techniques, composition, and color theory.
What keeps her going when everything feels impossible? Making Artist Trading Postcards and Concertina works of art.
What does she wish she'd known when she was younger? Art is subjective and not everyone has to like her work. In fact she doesn't even have to like it—where something she does not like can be altered physically into another piece of art.
Just be courageous and create.
She has an A.A. and B.A. in art and has studied Japanese Art/Architecture as well as computer graphics. She occasionally teaches art classes and has had her work exhibited in many public spaces and galleries.
At 70, she's more prolific than ever. More esoteric. More philosophically based. She's in groups that keep her trying out new ideas, and she's making work about women and for women.
The traffic jams are crazy making when she schleps her work across town. But she keeps doing it anyway. Because art is subjective and not everyone has to like it. She doesn't even have to like it. Something she doesn't like can be altered physically into another piece of art.
Kimberly-Ann is based in Port Hueneme, California. She painted out of the lines as a child. She took endless photos with a camera that had no film. And at 70, she's still creating—leather, beads, gourds, paint, paper, found objects, photography.
Just be courageous and create.
