Community Spotlight - Kim Carson Whitt

Kim, 72, is a retired arts administrator, arts educator and "not retired as a longtime artist". She lives with her family in Mississippi, on 26 acres of land where they run a small artist and yoga Air B&B and retreat space. It’s the beautiful landscape and ways of nature around Kim, and the centered quietness of the rural South that inspires her.

Here are Kim's thoughts on her art practice in her own words...

Before discovering Take Two courses, I had been searching and exploring for about 10 years for the intersection between weaving and painting. I was interested in combining the elements from both disciplines to create a new method of expressing myself as an artist.

Toward Light by Kim Whitt

Having been a weaver for well over 40 years I wanted something new, more immediate, and yet still a process. I turned my creative attention to painting in oil and cold wax. This gave me the texture and color I loved. But I kept wanting to take the painting further into who I was as an artist. I could not deny that I was a weaver and began sewing and weaving on the painted canvas. Yet it was still painting AND textile no matter which came first in the processes I developed.

Process is an important part of why I do art. It has always been meditative, cathartic, and a place of centered peace for me to be involved with. Shelley Rhodes' work and her Finding Fragments course inspired me to think about manipulating a canvas with weaving, sewing, collage and mixed media including paint. I then watched Claire Benn’s video about Out of This Earth and felt a strong connection with the process and final results. I immediately realised that combining the two courses into one body of work, one approach would be the intersection I had been searching for!

Windows in Your Heart by Kim Whitt
 

I am only at the beginning of this incredible journey of exploring pure earth pigments on unprimed textiles with sewing, weaving, and mixed media. I produced 22 pieces which are included in an exhibit of my work currently being shown at the Columbus Arts Council in Columbus, Mississippi until 30 November 2024.

Thank you so very much for the opportunity to share my story in hopes of inspiring others.

You can see more of Kim's work on Instagram.

Planting Seeds by Kim Whitt

Letting Go by Kim Whitt

To connect with more talented fibre and mixed media artists join the Take Two Community Group.