Painting Energy, Feminine Power and Connection

Interview with Art at Vixen (Kirsten Todd)

1.      Please tell us something about your background and your art journey so far.

I’ve been making art for as long as I’ve been able to hold a pen. It’s always been what I wanted to do, I always knew from a very young age that I wanted to be an artist. It is my purpose— the way I process life & emotion and express my inner self.Professionally, I got my degree in graphic design and I’ve spent decades working across branding, campaigns, packaging, web and illustration, which gave me a deep respect for craft, composition, typography, visual hierarchy and how an image communicates. But alongside that, painting has always been my passion.In recent years I’ve stepped more fully into my practice as a contemporary artist, creating expressive portraits and abstract work — mostly in acrylic, often alongside spray paint and mixed media. My work has been exhibited in the UK and internationally, and I’m building ongoing bodies of work that feel like chapters of the same conversation: the Divine Feminine, energy, resilience, and our connection to all that exists.

Quan Yin

2.      Describe what a normal day looks like as an artist.

A “normal” day usually starts with grounding — and honestly, a dog walk in daylight is a non-negotiable. Nature resets my nervous system and reminds me that everything is cyclical: light, weather, seasons, change. That resets me and gives me the inspiration to do the work. In the studio, I’ll often begin by simply looking. I sit with the canvas and tune in — tuning to the energies around me asking myself: what does the painting need next and let my hand be guided by my intuition, so the work becomes a working meditation.My process is intuitive and layered. I build marks, leave sections of the background  visible, then return again with more layering of strokes. I’ll move between bold, expressive strokes and smaller detailed features to areas where the canvas breathes through. Some days are pure painting; other days are the unglamorous side of being an artist —writing, updating the website, admin, and promotion. I also have days where I have my graphic design head on and spend days doing design work for clients from web design, social media, to food packaging, branding, retail design and corporate identities, and large scale out of house advertising, eg 48 sheets, bus rears, and window graphics. So out of a full week I usually spend about 50% of the time painting. At weekends usually from spring onwards I open up my front room to become an intimate gallery space displaying my artwork for people to purchase.

3.      Can you tell us more about the theme in your art and your inspiration?

The heart of my work is the Divine Feminine - not just as “woman”, but as an energy: creative, powerful, intuitive, compassionate, fierce, tender, restorative, as woman as the creator and creative force. I’m drawn to that balance of strength and vulnerability, and I paint figures who feel like they carry a story in their gaze.Underneath that is a wider belief that everything is energy - that we are vibration, frequency, and connected to evertything that exists as we are comprised of energy and creators of our own realities. I’m fascinated by the idea that nothing exists in isolation: we affect one another, we echo each other, we ripple out.That’s why I often leave areas of background visible and allow the figure to merge into it. It’s a visual metaphor for the web of being - separate, but not separate the figure and background existing in symbiosis, one cannot exist without the other, symbolising our connection to each other, nature and everything that is. In my abstract work (including my Fragile Earth pieces), I explore nature’s processes: erosion, growth, fracturing, renewal and how the planet holds beauty, vulnerability and fragility at the same time.Inspiration comes from people, music, myth, and landscape — and from the quieter, inner places too: emotion, healing, the inner child, strength, inner truth, resilience, transformation.

4.      What practical advice can you give to fellow artists?

Always create from the heart, from your truth. Paint what you love, not what you think will sell, or what you think you should be making for the market. When you paint to follow a trend, the work can lose its vitality; it can end up feeling a bit flat, like it’s missing the soul. Finding your own path and your own voice is everything, and once you’ve found it, protect that inner voice fiercely.

Price with respect. Value yourself, your talent, and your work, and the time it’s taken to get here. Honing your skills and arriving at a unique style is a lifetime’s worth of practice, so don’t undervalue what you’ve built. When you paint, you’re being vulnerable, laying down your inner self, part of who you are, your energy onto the canvas, and that is what people connect with in the painting you produce, that feeling, that energy, and that is invaluable, so the pricing needs to reflect that. Your time, materials, experience and creative energy count, and you’re allowed to value them.

Be consistent. Treat it as a practice and try to do something every day, even if its only a bit of mindless doodling. This can loosen you up and lead to great ideas and techniques. (Some of the best designs that have stood the test of time were sketched in five minutes on the back of a beer mat in the pub on a Friday lunchtime)!

Document as you go, photograph the stages, keep the rough notes, save the process shots. It might feel boring in the moment, but it becomes invaluable. Try to build genuine relationships rather than chasing exposure. Connect with other artists, with galleries, with collectors, with the people who keep showing up for your work. Trends come and go, algorithms change weekly, but honesty always connects. Most importantly, keep creating, through the hard creatively dry spells, the abundant times and the not so abundant times. Step back to the bare bones of why you create, create for the pure joy of it, because it drives you, because its intrinsically part of you. The people who “make it” are very often the ones who stayed with it long enough for the work to find its audience.

Freyja

5.     Is the artist life lonely? Please share your thoughts and experiences.

It can be, yes. A lot of the work happens in solitude — and sometimes that solitude is nourishing. It’s where the real work happens.But loneliness creeps in when you feel unseen, or when you’re only talking to your own thoughts for too long. I paint from a home studio, and I love that I can disappear into the work… but I also know when I’ve been inside those same four walls for too long. That’s usually when I need to get out of the house and back into the world a bit — to feel the freedom nature gives me, the wind on my face, and take my dog for a walk. To look up and actually notice the sky, the trees, the changing light — and to feel close to what matters: nature around me and my loved ones, not just my to-do list. Studio visits, artist friends, exhibitions, online connections with real conversation — they help you remember you’re part of something bigger.For me, the antidote is connection in all forms: those simple moments outdoors, time with people who get it, and the quiet connection I feel when I’m painting and the work starts to form.

6.     What are you working on at the moment and are there any upcoming events you would like to talk about?

Right now I’m continuing to build my collections around the Divine Feminine and energetic connection, creating portraits that hold both power and vulnerability, alongside abstract work inspired by nature’s processes and the planet’s fragility.

I’m also working on a new series of animal portraits, keeping that same premise of connection and energy. These pieces are about presence, instinct, and the quiet intelligence of the natural world, and how animals carry a kind of grounded, living vibration that we recognise in ourselves. Alongside that, I’m developing new work that explores how everything is intertwined, creating pieces that sit together as one, but can also be seen independently.

In terms of what’s coming up, I’m continuing to share and exhibit pieces from my ongoing collections, and I’m building towards new shows and opportunities as the year unfolds.

Website: www.artatvixen.co.uk

IG: @artatvixen