Meet Kim Minichiello, a watercolor artist from Windermere, FL (and a friend...more about that later!)
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| "Hong Kong Happy Hour" by Kim Minichiello Watercolor on paper, 12"h x 18"w |
Me: You paint in oils and in watercolors. Which is your favorite and why.
Kim: I painted more in oils than
watercolor a few years ago. Then when I
knew we were going to move to Hong Kong, and we would be doing a lot of
traveling, I had the desire to keep a watercolor sketchbook travel journal. So essentially, I used the skills I had for
oil painting, drawing, composition, color mixing, value and edges, and just
adapted it to the new medium. Plein air
sketching is really how I got started painting in watercolor. At one point, I
wanted to challenge myself to work on larger paintings after working in
sketchbooks. Once I did that, I really
fell in love with watercolor and it has become my primary medium.
I love the portability of it for plein air
painting and sketching, as well as the feeling of water and pigment flowing on
the paper, sometimes in unpredictable ways, and the challenge of learning how
to control it to get the effects that I want. I feel a lot more planning goes
into a watercolor painting to figure out
the best way the painting is to be painted. For example foreground first or
last, each section at a time or work on the painting as a whole. The design and
that planning are just as enjoyable for me as the actual painting process. I also just love paper, and enjoy painting on
it. For oils, I like the thicker viscosity of the paint and enjoy moving the
paint around with loose brush work like putting icing on a cake!
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| "Star Struck" by Kim Minichiello Watercolor mounted on board, 12" x 12" x 2" |
Me: What’s
the largest sized watercolor you’ve ever painted? What subject did you choose? Why did you paint it that big? Was it a commission or were you painting to
enter a show?
Kim: The largest watercolor I have
ever painted is a 36” square piece titled "Lion Dance". It was inspired by the Lion Dance
performances my family and I saw during the Chinese New Year celebration right
after we moved to Hong Kong.
We were at
the Cultural Heritage Museum in the area of the museum that celebrates the
various festivals that take place at different times of the year in Hong Kong. It was an intimate setting and the
performance was loud, kinetic, colorful and full of life. I got a lot of great pictures and wanted to
do a painting that was bold, colorful and “in your face” if you will. Painting the main mask of the dance costume
large just seemed appropriate to the feeling I wanted to convey, reflecting a
memory of a unique time in a city that was always mesmerizing to me and made me
feel happy to be there.
I painted "Lion
Dance" for no other purpose than for myself, to reflect on my time in Hong Kong
and enjoy the process of painting big! However, it has had the opportunity to
have appeared in a few shows, with pretty steep shipping costs!
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| "Lion Dance" by Kim Minichiello Watercolor 36" x 36" |
Me: Were
the challenges different when painting that large versus painting small? How so, and how did you overcome them?
Kim: When I work on a composition, I guess I have an intuitive feeling on the size I would like the subject matter
to be. I only limit myself to the width
of a roll of paper. I have not taken
advantage of the 45” width but plan to someday, as well as trying some elephant
sheets!
The challenge to painting large
is having the space to accommodate a large painting while you are working on
it. I feel fortunate to have a very
large drafting table I use as my painting table, as well as a padded layout
table built from 2 x 4’s and plywood I used to do textile work on. When working large, it’s a bit trickier in
watercolor than any other media. You will have areas that require larger
washes. I make sure I use large brushes
that hold more water, as well as mix up larger puddles or cups of paint to have
at the ready when I start to paint that area.
There is nothing worse than running out of paint when you are in the
middle of painting a wash in a large area!
I feel working wet in wet helps for large washes as well. As far as painting small, I have painted
pieces as small as 6 x 6 and 5 x 7 and even smaller in a sketchbook. My biggest challenge for me now are my
eyes! I’m far sighted and wear reading
glasses to paint. Just the last 2 paintings I have worked on, I have had to
introduce a new pair of stronger reading glasses to paint details. Right now, I’m doing the “glasses dance”
between the two pairs while I’m painting!
I still try to use the biggest brush possible when I’m painting small,
it helps me not to get too nit-picky.
For me, the key to painting big is to use BIG brushes and mix up lots of
paint. The key to painting small is I try to not get too detailed. I try to break things into simple shapes and
suggest rather than render every little detail.
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| "La Fille de Lavirotte" by Kim Minichiello Watercolor 15"h x 11"w |
Me: Which associations have you "lettered" in and how many times did you try? (Note: It takes 3 accepted entries to qualify you to show the Society's letters behind your signature. No small feat!)
Kim: I’m a signature member of the Georgia Watercolor
Society(GWS) which has a national show,
the Louisiana Watercolor Society (LWS) and the Pennsylvania Watercolor
Society (PWS) which both have international shows. I feel I must have had really good judge
karma for those shows, because I got in each show the first time I entered and
then the two years after, so it only took me three years.
I’m also one year away from getting signature
in the Florida Watercolor Society(FWS). This one has taken a bit longer. I got in the first time I entered but have
had a dry spell with that one for a few years.
I have had lots of acceptances into various
shows, but have also had my share of rejections. What one judge rejects one
time, another one will like it and want it in a show. A fellow FWS artist and friend entered the
FWS show one year and got rejected. The
next year she entered the same painting, different judge, and received the top,
best in show award! You just never know!
Recently, I've been accepted into the
American Watercolor Society 151st Exhibition, won one of the top
awards, and my painting was selected for the 2018 AWS Traveling Exhibition.
The same painting also won third place in two
categories in the International American Art Awards competition. However it has also been rejected from a few
shows. I feel the moral of the story is, if you believe in the work, keep entering!
Don’t let a few rejections dissuade you from entering other shows or any
show at all.
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| "Chanoyu Maiko" by Kim Minichiello Watercolor, 32"h x 20"w |
Me: You came to Montreal
with me last July. What expectations did you have, and what observations
did you make after the trip was over?
Kim: I was so excited to explore your
home town, and spend time with all of our WAM Members. I find traveling with you all is so inspiring
in so many ways! I feel we really give clarity to and inspire
each other, especially when we are all together. Every trip we take, I look
forward to a good dose of that as well as enjoying each other's company. I love exploring and learning the history and
story of a place. For me, it can be very
random. What I see might inspire me to take an idea further and create a
painting or series of paintings. I also
like to get my museum fix when I travel.
I’m a museum junkie!
I don’t know if I had any
expectations other than I thought maybe the older more historic area of town
might be smaller and more quaint like a European village. Even so, it felt very historic yet meshed with the vibe of the metropolitan feeling of the
city in a good way! I really enjoyed my
time there and would definitely go back!
One bonus for me is that I could practice my French since everyone is
pretty fluent in both French and English.
That way, if you get stuck you can always revert to English.
Overall it can’t be
beat! You have a great city experience
that feels a bit foreign from the U.S. so you sort of get a European fix without
going too far.
Culturally it was
wonderful, loved spending time in the museums as well as exploring some
residential areas. Didn’t have a bad
meal...the food was great! I highly recommend the Botanical Gardens there,
which include a Planetarium and Insectorium near the Olympic Park Stadium. Since my husband and I are Formula One Racing
Fans, we may go to the Canadian Grand Prix there some day too!
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| Award winning artist, Kim Minichiello |
I hope you enjoyed meeting Kim. I'm proud to call her my friend. She is currently VP on the Board of the Florida Watercolor Society and will be President in 2019. She and I are both members of WAM: Women. Artists. Mentors (follow our Facebook page HERE). Other members are Carrie Waller, Debra Keirce and Maria Bennett Hock.
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