Join me four days a week for live painting streams.
I’ll be up on Twitch, streaming from my painting studio, every Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
I’m excited to announce that we’ve worked through most of the technical issues and that I’ll be live streaming from my painting studio four days a week on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/kim_testone_artist . Please feel free to tune in and join me Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. I’ll be painting and chatting about my work and my life as an artist, or whatever quirky stories might pop in my head.
Still in “Beta” Testing Mode
Even though all seems to be working well, I’m still considering this a bit of a “beta” testing mode. We’ll be gradually improving some of the camera angles (right now there’s one on my painting and one on me) and adding some subtle background music, and of course, I’ll be trying to up my speaking skills. Now the tech side of things, that’s all my husband, who is graciously lending his time and effort to get things going and make improvements for me. The talking stuff? Well, let’s just say I think I’m getting better.
“Am I funny?”
There’s been an oft debate in my life: Am I funny like a clown or am I funny “ha ha”? It’s not a necessity for live streaming in any format, of course, but the occasional funny story helps to keep things moving.
My husband thinks I’m funny. I don’t know how that translates to Twitch, but hey, I’ll just try to be me. I can tell you about the baby groundhog that visits me every day (and is currently taking a nap on my deck), I can tell you a bit about my time as an art magazine editor and the handful of years I worked at Disney World. I might even share some of my husband’s stories (he worked at Disney World for almost 20 years and has the most amazing and funny stories!). Or maybe I’ll just tell you how I accidentally set a paper towel on fire the other night or how I’m growing hydroponic tomatoes for the first time. All of it will be set against the background of me painting the realistic food paintings I do as my actual job.
Oh my gosh, did that baby groundhog just stretch out his little toes and yawn? He is so enjoying the sun…
Ahem, back to business…
Most of the time when it comes to my work, I’d say I’m actually quite serious. When it comes to walking you through my painting process and explaining it, yeah, I can do that pretty easily and (I think) make it interesting, whether you are a painter, an art appreciator or just someone who used to enjoy watching Bob Ross painting sessions. Now, my paintings take a lot longer than Bob Ross’s did, so I’ll probably never be able to finish one in a single Twitch session. But I always feel that walking through the process for something is good for the brain — yours and mine. It’s calming to see something move systematically from one stage of production to another.
Why do I paint?
Ah, that’s the big question, right? The burning question behind everyone’s curiosity: Why do you paint, instead of doing something else? So that is something I think I’ll continually answer indirectly throughout the streams, just by sharing my insights and perspectives and the things that interest or excite me and what exactly I’m trying to accomplish by dedicating so much of my life to making art.
What I want for you, the viewer
Here’s the deal: The world is filled with a lot of noise, perhaps now more than ever. A lot of noise, a lot of overproduced, over-the-top content competing for your attention. Everyone is making “crazy faces” for video and article thumbnails to try to draw you in. Many people, including many artists, want to be stars. I see so many artists pushed in social media who aren’t nearly as gifted as some of those I know or follow. It’s tiresome, competing with the algorithms of particular social media platforms. So while I am still going to be on social media, I am looking for something better. Something that will give people who enjoy my work, or maybe those who have never seen it, a few hours of respite now and again, just hanging out with me in my studio, chatting or just lurking.
I paint a lot each week, so I’m going to be painting anyway. Why not live stream it? If stopping in now and then, or watching the full streams, helps you feel a little bit of peace in your life, it’s worth it to me.
Earlier this week, I wrote a short post as we entered the initial testing days of the stream. In it, I shared my love of the book Walden (1854) by Henry David Thoreau, and in particular the chapter titled Solitude. I’d encourage you to check it out and see if you feel that Thoreau is a bit of a kindred spirit, as I do. The noise of society always existed, those pressures that we feel to curtail who we are or how we think, they were always there, even back in the mid 1800s. When I paint, I’m at peace; I’m in a little world all to myself. I’m inviting you to be a part of that world.
So please, feel free to stop in, say hello, just watch and enjoy, work on your own creative or relaxing projects, ask questions, share sentiments, just get a little bit of escape from “real” life or the overproduced social media space. This is just me, in my cozy little corner of the world, painting and talking. I hope you’ll join me.
Leave a Reply