Life & Work with Kimberly Tuttle of Goodyear

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kimberly Tuttle.

Hi Kimberly, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’ve always said I’ve been an artist since I could hold a crayon; I’ve been creative my entire life; my preschool teacher said I was very good with scissors, and I was always chosen for arts and crafts projects in elementary school. I have a passion for expressing how I view the world, and I didn’t realize until recently that I have a deeper reason for that.

On February 5th, 2024, I received an official Autism diagnosis, which is vast and gives me an explanation for why I’ve always struggled in life. I’m currently 26 years old, and this diagnosis finally made sense in my world. It also came with a diagnosis of Complex PTSD and Expressive Language Disorder, which is mostly from being misunderstood my entire life and not having my support needs met from an early age. I didn’t know about Expressive Language Disorder, but when the doctor described it to me, everything made sense. It’s a disorder that involves difficulty communicating verbally and expressing my ideas and thoughts as I speak. I am very grateful that this interview is in written form, so I have the time to say what I want without the pressure to say it all out loud and miss important details. Anyway, I needed to share that part of my story as it is a massive part of me and validates why I haven’t been able to use my voice for most of my life.

This is a summary of how I got to where I am today. I was born and raised in Eagle River, Alaska, with just my parents around. Most of my family resides in Montana and Utah; my parents ended up in Alaska after my dad worked as a heavy-duty mechanic up north in Alaska (the slope). I’m my mom’s only child and my dad’s 4th, with my youngest sibling being almost exactly 18 years older than me, so I grew up as an only child with no family around. My now husband and I met when he was 13 and I was 12 at my neighbor’s Thanksgiving; he’d just lost his mom to cancer the year prior, and my dad was working on the slope that year. We kept in touch and started officially dating when he turned 18, and I was turning 17; after a few years of dating and living together in a tiny Anchorage apartment, my now husband joined the military, and we had a small, quick wedding to make the transition into the military easier.

The Airforce brought us to Arizona in June of 2018, the first few months I attempted to start my art business doing watercolor pet portraits full time, which I’d been doing here and there since I graduated high school, May 2015, but we quickly realized that it wasn’t sustainable at the time, so I worked some odd jobs to get by. I also learned in those first few months of moving to Arizona that I had a lot of mental health issues that had gone undiagnosed, but I didn’t start to face them until after our daughter was born in December 2019. The job I was working during my pregnancy only offered maternity leave if you’d been with the company a whole year, and I was a few months shy of that, so I was forced to quit. I decided that I needed to give my art business another shot, and I tried to start immediately, but my mental health got in the way. I couldn’t ignore it anymore, and my distraction of working full time was gone, but I still didn’t know how to get help.

Then COVID hit in the spring of 2020, everyone was not doing well, and I was extra isolated with no outlet to leave the house, no family, and a few out-of-state friends. I had a severe mental break in the summer of 2021 after a string of harmful coping mechanisms; I started seeing a psychiatrist who diagnosed me with OCD, Depression, Anxiety, and PTSD, and then about a year later, I started seeing a therapist who diagnosed me with Bipolar Depressive which didn’t sit right with me, but she did give me the confidence to go no contact with my mother which has helped my healing immensely. Over those years, I still worked on my art business by taking a few pet portrait commissions but never really got anywhere. It was getting to a point where I either needed to give my art business my all or give up and get a regular job.

So, in the spring of 2022, I ordered an iPad to see if making art digitally would be easier to manage while handling my toddler. This was the start of my business becoming what it is today. With the depression and other life stressors, just getting out my watercolor supplies was way too much, so I needed something easy to grab that I could pick up and put down as needed. This led to making my first sticker designs, and I used Printful to manufacture and fulfill my stickers on demand. It was costly, though, and I was also using Esty to sell my products, so there were some sales where I’d lose money on an order, which was discouraging. Over the winter of 2022, I did a ton of research and devised a plan to purchase everything I needed to make my stickers in-house using a portion of our tax return. This was the best decision I’ve made for my business; this was the pivotal moment when things started changing in my life. After some trial and error, I got the process down; I’d also moved off of Etsy and redesigned my website using Shopify. I made a goal to start doing markets in the fall of 2023 but ended up signing up for my first set of markets in March, thanks to a family friend who gifted me an old tent and table they no longer needed from their business. My first market was at the Outlets at Anthem and hosted by Retail Therapy AZ. My tent broke, and it was so windy I couldn’t have made it through the day without help from a fellow vendor with extra tent weights. That market was a few weekends in a row, and the connections I made along the way have been excellent.

Towards the end of that spring Anthem market hosted by Retail Therapy AZ, I was chatting with the market manager at the time, Mea. I mentioned how bad the website for Retail Therapy AZ was (it was so bad if you remember the old website, you know); I was no web design expert. Still, I could at least do better than what they had then; I had experience with Wix, Squarespace, and Shopify from my website journey. And plenty of time. I could not believe it when the owners of Retail Therapy AZ, Erica & Jacque, reached out to me via email to overhaul their website. One thing led to another; I kept doing markets most of 2023, I got into the Downtown Glendale and Westgate Retail Therapy AZ storefronts, I got more website clients and started offering wholesale stickers, I started doing digital pet portrait stickers too, and so much more. 2023 has been a whirlwind with so much learning and growth for my business. Another part of 2023 was the continuation of my mental health healing journey, leaping to do the autism screening when my diagnosis didn’t sit right, also dealing with the transition of my husband leaving the military when his 6-year contract was up, everything was still swirling as we’ve just entered 2024. Still, I hope this year will stabilize and that I’m on the right path for me and my little family! The Downtown Glendale Retail Therapy AZ location is closing at the end of February, so I’ll be moving my shelf to their Fashion Square location, which is getting an overhaul. I’m so excited to see how my products sell there! I’m not doing markets right now, so I can focus on creating original artwork that isn’t pet portraits; this is part of finding my voice and sharing my perspective with the world. I also want to inspire anyone who may relate to my journey to never stop trying to find your voice and that your experiences are valid and essential.

Would it have been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My journey has not been smooth, but I acknowledge that I have been fortunate in the opportunities presented to me. Mental health has been the biggest challenge, especially going undiagnosed for so long and not understanding why I was so burnt out. Being a creative person and needing to create art to feel better, but being too depressed to even think about touching my art supplies is a terrible thing I wouldn’t wish on anyone. I still haven’t perfected my life balance, but I’ve come a long way to be the best I can be. With my new diagnosis, I’m able to better accommodate for my support needs and make the rest of my healing journey a lot easier to navigate. I’ve also been using my new artwork to continue healing, which has felt amazing. I have a painting I haven’t shared anywhere yet that was an emotional piece related to my relationship with my mother. I’m planning on making a video about it to help others.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a jack-of-all-trades artist since I work in many different mediums, but my central art is done in watercolor or digital. I specialize in semi-realistic pet portraits in my style with close attention to detail. I’m known for being an animal lover, for my iconic teal and brown branding, and for making my own vinyl stickers in-house. I’m so grateful and honored to bring some comfort to people who have lost their beloved pets. Most of my commissions are of pets no longer with us, and I can put some of their pet’s spirit into the artwork. I am proud of my connection to animals and ability to capture them in my art. My watercolor paintings being on canvas sets me apart the most. I also have a background in custom framing, so I ensure that my art is accessible and made to last. My watercolor paintings on canvas are sealed with a UV archival varnish that makes them basically waterproof, and you can hang them on the wall without needing to frame them. Traditional watercolor is done on paper and is delicate since the paint reacts with water. UV exposure also takes a toll on the painting, so it is recommended to use UV-protective glass to prevent the artwork from fading.

What are your plans for the future?
One of my goals this year is to grow my social media to make more sales on my website; I’m also planning on developing more products to offer at my storefronts and online. I want to explore my artistic voice with original concepts outside pet portraits. For big future goals, I’d like to be successful enough to live comfortably and maybe someday open an art space/gallery/coffee shop combined vinyl record store with my husband so we can both share our passions and offer a place for the community to develop. I don’t want a big, glamorous life, just a simple one with those I love.

Pricing:

• 3″ Vinyl Stickers are $4 each
• Postcards are $3 each, and Notecards are $5 each
• Most Prints range from $10 to $25
• Digital Pet Portrait w/ Stickers $45 to $60 (depending on how many stickers you’d like)
• Watercolor Commissions Range from $45 to $1000+ depending on size and complexity (size list on my website)

Contact Info:

• Website: kimberlyreneesart.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/kimberly_renees_art
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KimberlyReneesArt
• Other: https://linktr.ee/kimberly_renees_art

Image Credits
The main photo and first two I uploaded were taken by DV Portraits Photography