Art & Life with Kim Johnson Nechtman

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kim Johnson Nechtman.

Kim, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
From a very young age, I have always been interested in art. My mother supported my interest by keeping me enrolled in some kind of art lessons such as tole painting, silk screening, painting, and drawing. As I got older and a life filled with other distractions, I set art aside. College consumed my time as did becoming a manicurist to support myself, but after attaining my Liberal Arts Degree from Arizona State University, I returned to my passion for art. I began with a few classes at Scottsdale Artists’ School thinking art would become an enjoyable hobby. However, watercolor had a different plan and delivered its strong pull to my desire for creative self-expression. I knew I would need to practice constantly to become good, which led to devoting more time to art and less time to being a manicurist. To make the transition to a full-time watercolorist, I began entering in art shows. As I began winning awards consistently, people began asking me for lessons. At this point, I’m now seven-years into my watercolor career and my only regret is not having had the confidence to make the career change even sooner than I did.

Can you give our readers some background on your art?
As a natural people-watcher, it wasn’t long before I felt compelled to paint people and animals. I wanted the challenge of expressing their moods through the use of color, light source, and design. With my pieces, I want the viewers to connect with what the subject is feeling, to experience the dynamics of the moment and find a certain irony in my subjects. I use color to express strong light, shadow, personality, and mood. As a studio painter, I use photo references converted to black and white as my starting point. This enables me to determine my own color scheme in the results. I also use transparent watercolors so that I’m able to use as many glazes as necessary for effect. As I begin with my drawing, I imagine how I’m going to paint the result so that by the time I begin putting paint to paper, I’ve already envisioned the result multiple times in my mind. Still, ‘happy accidents’ do occur quite frequently. This is the beauty of watercolor, that one can never be completely sure what is going to happen. You learn to go with the creative process and not be strict with the vision. I have learned to embrace the spontaneity of watercolor!

What would you recommend to an artist new to the city, or to art, in terms of meeting and connecting with other artists and creatives?
My suggestion for making the connection into the artistic community would be to join group painting classes or a critique group. The new friends I found in my early classes grew from finding people with subject interests similar to mine which gave us things to talk about. Meeting different instructors helped me gain the knowledge that comes from strong and motivating critiques. When you can surround yourself with people who share your passion and are willing, to be honest, and supportive of each other, you are in the best environment for creative growth and build lasting friendships.

What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
The best way is to go to my website: www.kj-art.com where my art and schedule can be seen.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.kj-art.com
• Phone: 480-251-6442
• Email: kim@kj-art.com
• Facebook: http://facebook.com/kimjohnsonnechtman

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