Kim McKendry first took art classes as a child. Her family is from the Netherlands, and art lessons would follow lessons in Dutch.
“My mom used to teach us Dutch lessons, and we would get through those, and she did art lessons after,” McKendry said. “I remember doing these art lessons and loving them, but always being very hard on myself. I have many, many memories of just drawing for hours.”
McKendry, who lives in Belmont but is originally from Pennsylvania, went on to study art in high school, but her trajectory stopped there. She initially wanted to major in fashion, but when she went on to Indiana University of Pennsylvania, she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business, Marketing and Economics.
“I mean, my creative energies have just always followed me. But I think a lot of creatives take a long time to get to the real path,” she said.
McKendry’s “real path,” it turned out, became clear during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was then – after time working as an event planner and a cosmetologist and having three children – that she revisited her love for visual art.
“It’s one of those things you wish you had known as a child. You’re just a creative, and to follow your dreams,” she said. “I feel like art’s always been a childhood dream that I just kind of left behind at one point being like, ‘Oh, is this practical or not?'”
McKendry’s foray back into art began when a friend invited her to do a pet portrait with her.
“And it was just awesome. Like, I’d never use paints, and right away … I’m like, Oh … my dog turned out quite good. I was like, this is cool,” she said. “So I did a few pet portraits through some of those years for some people, more as a hobby again.”
During the pandemic, McKendry’s mother invited her over for virtual watercolor lessons.
“I would say by the second or third lesson, I was just enjoying it,” she said. “That’s really how it started, through the virtual lesson that I took.”
McKendry soon began to get commissions, and then for a competition, she painted a scene from downtown Belmont.
“My original sold really quick. And my thought process was, why not make art accessible to everyone? Because there’s a lot of people that don’t appreciate originals or can’t afford it, so like, why don’t I figure out how to make prints?” she said.
McKendry connected with a photographer in Asheville, who photographed her work and helped her make prints. Her business grew from there.
“I started doing a few festivals, and those were very successful,” and her paintings and prints are now available in shops in Belmont and Cramerton, including Give Grace Boutique, Confluence, Belmont Yoga and the Belmont Bookshop.
She said her downtown scenes have been the most popular, as well as portraits of houses.
She said she wants to feature other downtown scenes, and she has her eye on McAdenville.
“It’s really hard to get a shot of downtown. To get the way it’s angled, you almost have to get a bird’s eye view. So I’m trying to find the connections to where I can talk to the town,” she said. “I definitely want to branch out, like I was saying, to do more towns. I mean, it doesn’t just have to be in our area, but I feel like the local scenes … and the watercolors have been my thing I’m most proud of.”
McKendry says she draws her inspiration from her childhood dream, but also from daily life.
“I really think my inspiration came from that childhood dream, or, you know, talent that was kind of lost and then refound,” she said. “On a daily level, I feel like my inspirations come from everywhere. As a creative, I feel like life just uses my drive. I feel like I’m constantly just looking around. I’ll see a texture or something. It’s almost like a snapshot in my mind.”
She said her goal for her art is to make it accessible.
“I just want art to be for everybody. There’s different niches of people that appreciate expensive art and originals, and of course, that’s a beautiful thing and I appreciate that more than anything,” she said. “Some people think, ‘Oh, I’m not into art.’ But then they see, it could be just on a sticker or … a $30 print.”
She also wants to open a studio and add a philanthropic element to her business.
“I do donate a few pieces a year,” she said. “I’ve always had a heart to help people. I’m just hoping I can incorporate that down the road.”
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