Daily Inspiration: Meet Kathryn McGregor

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kathryn McGregor.

Hi Kathryn, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’ve considered myself an artist for as long as I can remember but it wasn’t until I started taking art lessons at age 15 from my mom’s artist friend, Julie, that I really knew it would become a part of my future. My high school didn’t have a great art program at the time so these private lessons were really all that I had in regard to truly learning how to draw and paint. Julie was the one who pushed me to apply to art schools & for college and even went with me for “portfolio review” days at the Art Institute of Chicago. Eventually, I decided to attend Hope College, a liberal arts college in Holland Michigan, to study studio art and learn about more than just painting but all kinds of art disciplines.

After graduating college in 2021, I tried to figure out different ways I could make a living as an artist. As we all know, it’s incredibly hard to become a gallery artist and even just a full time oil painter in general. I worked different art-related jobs, I worked as a gallery/studio assistant for a little bit in Michigan and, when moved out to Arizona to get married and start new, I worked as a Marketing Assistant for Chandler Center for the Arts.

I had been taking on oil painting commissions all through high school and college and continued to pursue this on the side. Eventually, our wedding photographer and long time family friend, Andrea Neff, told me about “live wedding painting” where an artist will attend a wedding and paint the event live as it is happening. I thought it sounded incredible but also very intimidating. So, naturally I wrote it off for a few more months. But then my mom mentioned the same thing to me. She thought I would be perfect for it, so I started to research what it was and how the artists do it. I had always been a very fast painter and loved painting from life as opposed to from a photograph. But not only that, I had always wanted to own my own business, I loved working with people, and thought “what’s the worst that can happen!”

December of 2022 I started working on a page on my website to explain what live painting is and what I would charge, etc. I was going back and forth on the whole thing when a wedding planner reached out to me in March of 2023, asking me if I do weddings and if I could paint at her client’s wedding in April. My page on weddings wasn’t connected to my website at all but it must have been published because that’s how she found me. I told her that I had never painted live at a wedding before but I was interested in doing it in the future, that I had gone to art school and could fix the painting either way in the studio if for some reason it went wrong, and that I would only charge my commission rates rather than a live painting rate. She accepted and I booked my first wedding, just about a month out!

From then on, my business has blossomed. It truly has been the biggest blessing finding this niche. In January 2024, I quit my marketing job and decided to pursue art & live painting full time. I couldn’t be happier with the way my career is going, it really feels like what I am made to do!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The biggest struggle was finding my niche with oil painting that I could pursue. It was so stressful trying to make money as a commissioned artist, working multiple part time jobs in the art field that didn’t pay very well. It was so frustrating when everything I tried to do to help my painting career didn’t seem to take it anywhere. Sometimes it felt like I was drowning and that I would just have to look for a completely new career.

Once I found live painting, for the most part, it has been smooth sailing! I really do believe finding the right niche that you have the motivation to pursue–really pursue–is the key.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a professional oil painter specializing in painting live at weddings. I would say that I am mostly known in the wedding world for my work but I am also just starting to show my own personal art at festivals and other art walks in the Phoenix Valley as well.

My personal art focuses on the idea of people interacting with one another in nature. I love the idea of looking in on a moment that you are not a part of. In a way, live painting is a similar idea in that I am not actually a part of the festivities but yet I get to observe & capture what is happening through my own perspective. I think that is a beautiful thing–capturing a moment in its most natural & innocent state.

As an artist, I think I am set apart specifically in the way I conduct business. I am very professional and I really enjoy the business aspect of being my own boss. I love helping and making things easier for others–especially in the wedding industry. It’s such a stressful time for couples when they are planning weddings and if I can help ease some of that stress by being pleasant to talk to, easy to work with, and excited with them, it fulfills me so much.

Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Talk to as many professionals in the field as possible. It’s incredible how much I have learned in the past year and a half just by finding professionals in my field, talking to them & asking questions.

Networking is huge–I had no idea that it would make that much of a difference when I first started out.

If you are starting out in the art field–never stop practicing! If you always find something new to learn or get better at, you will amaze yourself with how much you can grow over time. Even if you don’t think you need it!

Contact Info:

• • Website: kmfineartstudios.com
  • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weddingpainter.az/

 

Image Credits
Kaylie Miller Photography | https://kayliemillerphotography.pic-time.com/client (photo: pink dress, personal photo) Claire Morin from Amour is French | https://www.amourweddingfilms.com (photo: black dress, painting the Abbey On Monroe) Taryn Schae Photos | https://tarynschaephotos.com (photo: black dress, painting a wedding ceremony scene) Memory Lane Productions | https://www.memorylaneproductionsllc.com (photo: painting in the dark with a bright light) Matthew Wheeler Photography | https://matthewwheelerphoto.com (photo: painting in a pink dress a scene from Schepf Farms)