Paintings With Soul

Omen

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Kelly Santini) — Fri, 23 Oct 2026 19:46:41 +0000

Omen, 12”x12”, acrylic and human emotion on panel, $800, available through my website (where you can view in situ and zoom into the painting’s surface).Painting will ship mid-November and require framing (no glass needed). S&H inside the contiguous US is on me. Hawaiian, Alaskan and Canadian shipping available at additional cost.

Until Blogger allows the blocking of Ai scraping/training, I am limiting information shared here to low res images and basic details. The full backstory of the painting accompanied by in process photos and live painting footage is over on Substack and Patreon, both platforms that respect creator content and intellectual property by blocking Ai.

Thank you for your interest in my art,

Warmly, Kimberly Santini

www.KimberlySantini.com

Fleeting

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Kelly Santini) — Tue, 20 Oct 2026 14:32:43 +0000

make her yours

see her progression

reel one - painting the fawn

reel two - painting the background

Fleeting, 20”x20”, acrylic and human emotion on cradled wood panel, $1900, available through my website (where you can view in situ and zoom into the painting’s surface). Painting will ship mid-November and arrive wired and ready to hang. S&H inside the contiguous US is on me. Hawaiian, Alaskan and Canadian shipping available at additional cost.

Thank you for your interest in my art,

Warmly, Kimberly Santini

www.KimberlySantini.com

Fly Away

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Kelly Santini) — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 13:33:30 +0000

Fly Away, 12”x12”, acrylic and human emotion on flat panel, $800, available through my website. S&H inside the contiguous US is on me. Hawaiian, Alaskan and Canadian shipping available at additional cost.

Until Blogger allow the blocking of Ai scraping/training, I will no longer be posting the back stories of my work here. You can, however, get the full story like in the past through Substack and Patreon, both platforms that respect creator content and intellectual property by blocking Ai.

Thank you for your interest in my art,

Warmly, Kimberly Santini

www.KimberlySantini.com

Fury

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Kelly Santini) — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 19:20:53 +0000

Fury, 24”x30”, acrylic and human emotion on flat panel, $1700, available through my website. S&H inside the contiguous US is on me. Hawaiian, Alaskan and Canadian shipping available at additional cost.

Also, because she’s very relatable at this moment in time and everyone deserves to have a bold reminder of what it means to stand up for ourselves. I’m not waiting until she sells - here’s affordable prints of Fury - they are just a few dollars over my cost. You’re welcome.

Thank you for your interest in my art,

Warmly, Kimberly Santini

www.KimberlySantini.com

Chicory

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Kelly Santini) — Fri, 02 Oct 2026 16:44:47 +0000

Chicory, 24”x24”x1”, acrylic, pure human creativity and a tenacious handful of roadside weeds on cradled wood panel, sides painted a variety of blues and browns to coordinate with the painting, $2400, available through my website.Chicory will arrive wired and ready to hang. S&H inside the contiguous US is on me. Hawaiian, Alaskan and Canadian shipping available at additional cost.

Until Blogger allow the blocking of Ai scraping/training, I will no longer be posting the back stories of my work here and share low res images. You can, however, get the full story like in the past through Substack and Patreon, both platforms that respect creator content and intellectual property by blocking Ai.

Thank you for your interest in my art,

Warmly, Kimberly Santini

www.KimberlySantini.com

Senescence

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Kelly Santini) — Tue, 29 Sep 2026 15:18:29 +0000

Due to Blogger allowing Ai scraping/training, I am not posting the back stories of my work here. This information is available through Substack and Patreon, both platforms that respect creator content and intellectual property by blocking Ai.

Thank you for your interest in my art,

Warmly, Kimberly Santini

www.KimberlySantini.com

Sweetheart

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Kelly Santini) — Wed, 23 Sep 2026 16:09:31 +0000

Due to Blogger allowing Ai scraping/training, I will no longer be posting the back stories of my work here. This information is available through Substack and Patreon, both platforms that respect creator content and intellectual property by blocking Ai.

Thank you for your interest in my art,

Warmly, Kimberly Santini

www.KimberlySantini.com

Kimberly Santini joins A Year of Wild Nature 2027 Online Course - and free Taster Sessions

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Kelly Santini) — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 15:07:27 +0000

Kimberly Santini joins A Year of Wild Nature 2027 Online Course - and free Taster Sessions

Kimberly Santini

Sep 22, 2026

View in app

My friend Tamara Laporte from Willowing Arts has invited me several times to be a part of her year long courses - and I was finally able to say yes!! I am so excited to share that I am an instructor in Tam’s 2027 course A Year of Wild Nature.

A Year of Wild Nature is a year-long, immersive mixed media art course designed to creatively explore nature and wildness in both literal and symbolic ways. Through paint, texture, colour, mark-making and imagination, students are invited to explore the natural world as well as their own inner wild nature.

This course is hosted by Tam and over 30 others (like me). We’ll explore forests, flowers, animals, seasons, skies, rivers, roots, wild gardens, earthy textures and the deeper themes of freedom, instinct, expression, belonging and creative liberation.

All lessons are themed around the concept of Wild Nature, ensuring a rich, varied and soulful learning experience. Through paint, texture, colour, mark-making and imagination, this course invites students to journey into nature, wildness, self-expression, freedom and creative connection.

To introduce you to the course and the artists teaching on it and to spend some wonderful time together making beautiful art works there is a Free Taster Event for A Year of Wild Nature happening next month.

The Taster Sessions are 9 days of FREE art sessions from the 30+ instructors centred. Make beautifully inspiring, nature-themed and expressive art pieces guided by an incredibly talented group of artists. Get a taste of what the year-long course would be like.

Inside The Taster Sessions there will also be opportunities to WIN a free seat in A Year of Wild Nature alongside other freebies and give aways.

It’s going to be an amazing 9 days of art making and inspiration around one of my favorite subjects, Mother Nature.

The Taster Sessions for A Year of Wild Nature includes:

Access to over 30+ free art sessions
Watch the sessions at your leisure in your own time (for the duration of the Taster Event - October 1-9th)
Join our Facebook Group with like-minded people from all over the world
Have the opportunity to enter into giveaways to win a spot on this brand new course
Receive free gifts from your art teachers
Enjoy free art & wellbeing activities

In my free lesson we’ll be painting sky. I’ll share my personal sky-centric color palette, walk you through swatching exercises, and demonstrate some unexpected, fresh and exciting ways to paint the essence of sky.

Join the free Taster Sessions by reserving your seat HERE

And if you enjoy the Tasters you can jump into a year’s worth of additional content. Spend 2027 with a wonderful creative community of like-minded souls, learning more about art inspired by nature, wildness, self-expression and freedom. And get two new, exclusive courses from yours truly.

Find out more and sign up for A Year of Wild Nature Here

Thanks everyone, I hope to see you there,

Big Wild Nature Love, Kim

Creativity documents our voices and builds community, something profoundly important right now. How can you help elevate and keep artists’ voices alive? It’s simple:

engage with your favorite artist via social media
share what they are creating with your friends
take a course and hone your own voice
purchase original art or reproductions (see below)
fill their tip jar (let’s be real, it’s all about Treats for Blue, the studio dog)

Your support keeps the arts alive, which means future generations will understand our perspectives long after we are gone. Thank you.

Garnet

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Kelly Santini) — Thu, 17 Sep 2026 19:32:28 +0000

Thank you for your interest in my art,

Warmly, Kimberly Santini

www.KimberlySantini.com

Come Paint with Me in Boston

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Kelly Santini) — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 15:36:36 +0000

Come Paint with me outside Boston

Kimberly Santini

Sep 15, 2026

View in app

Want to step away from reliance on reference photos and build compositions from instinct? Learn to let your subject lead the way toward a piece uniquely your own, leaning into improvisation and intuition while integrating line, shape and color?

Then join me at Slow River Studio (outside Boston) October 25-27, where I’ll be teaching my unique painting approach weaving representation with gesture, memory, imagination and color.

Three full days of instruction include live painting, a peek at my sketchbooks/journals, slideshows and prerecorded content (some of which to be watched outside the classroom - yup, there will be homework). The course will include group presentations, lots of personalized feedback and, of course, meeting/connecting with fellow painters. I’m also packing a small stack of original paintings as supplemental examples of brushwork, color usage, and line vs shape considerations.

It doesn’t end when the workshop’s over - a post course Zoom session will help integrate workshop concepts after we return home. And in the meanwhile, there is an opt in WhatsApp group for continued sharing and growth.

So what are you waiting for? up your painting game, learn to work intuitively and to set those references aside with confidence. Create the paintings you imagine!

There’s two spots left - bring a friend and get into trouble together!

Oh, and be sure to pad your trip with a day or two at either end to take in some of the glory of New England in the fall!!

Profusion 2.0

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Kelly Santini) — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 20:58:39 +0000

check her out, make her yours

Profusion 2.0 (the first Profusion got a glow up), 20x20, acrylic, pure imagination and Mother Nature on cradled panel, $1900, available through my website. Profusion 2.0 will arrive wired and ready to hang. S&H inside the contiguous US is on me. Hawaiian, Alaskan and Canadian shipping available at additional cost.

I’ve had the Bear+Mask paintings hanging together in the studio. This is a wonderful way to see passages with fresh eyes and allow the collection of work to inform other decisions. It’s also a great way to identify subtle shifts (or some not so subtle ones!) to consider as the pieces talk to each other.

After a little time, Profusion (the first one) felt a bit like two different paintings competing for attention. I began thinking about how to resolve this - which of the two different parts was the most exciting to me? and then how do I to bring the other passage in cohesively.....

This led to a demanding series of revisions - going slowly, lots of sitting and reviewing, then wiping out and trying again. (I have a series of worksheets and prompts outlining my approach inside my membership for the next 60 days)

Profusion 2.0 is available exclusively through my website.

As always, I am so grateful for your interest in my work.

Thank you so much for your support.

Big Profuse Love, Kim.

PS Payment plans on request for purchases greater than $500 - 30% non refundable deposit reserves the painting, with 6 months to pay off balance plus any s&h (my current pieces include s&h - paintings done prior to 2026 are at my old prices and s&h is a separate line item). Returning collectors - don’t forget to use “COLLECTOR10” discount at checkout for 10% off acquisitions. Questions can always come my way.

Creativity documents our voices and builds community, something profoundly important right now. How can you help elevate and keep artists’ voices alive? It’s simple:

engage with your favorite artist via social media
share what they are creating with your friends
take a course and hone your own voice
purchase original art or reproductions (see below)
fill their tip jar (let’s be real, it’s all about Treats for Blue, the studio dog)

Your support keeps the arts alive, which means future generations will understand our perspectives long after we are gone. Thank you.

Thunderclap

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Kelly Santini) — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 17:20:05 +0000

check her out, make her yours

Thunderclap, 30x24, acrylic, pure imagination and Mother Nature on panel, $1700, available through my website. S&H inside the contiguous US is on me. Hawaiian, Alaskan and Canadian shipping available at additional cost.

Southeastern Michigan was pummeled with violent storms last week. So of course, I had to paint them.

This fox was already on the easel, and I was trying to resolve her ho-hum background when the idea of threading it with storm clouds bubbled up as the studio lights flickered and tornado sirens sounded - how convenient that I have a basement studio! After placing those, I then decided she needed to be illuminated by that first shaft of sunlight that bursts through after the storm.

This painting turned into quite the metaphor.

And not to make light of the storms - as of Friday there were roughly 250,000 businesses and homes without power in the state right now. Many thanks to the crews working through the weekend to restore services.

Thunderclap is available exclusively through my website.

As always, I am so grateful for your interest in my work.

Special thanks to the two new collectors joining the family last week, too.

Thank you so much for your support.

Big Thunderstorm Love, Kim.

Creativity documents our voices and builds community, something profoundly important right now. How can you help elevate and keep artists’ voices alive? It’s simple:

engage with your favorite artist via social media
share what they are creating with your friends
take a course and hone your own voice
purchase original art or reproductions (see below)
fill their tip jar (let’s be real, it’s all about Treats for Blue, the studio dog)

Your support keeps the arts alive, which means future generations will understand our perspectives long after we are gone. Thank you.

Cirrus

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Kelly Santini) — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 15:38:49 +0000

check her out, make her yours

Cirrus, 24x20, acrylic and pure imagination on panel, $1500, available exclusively through my website. S&H inside the contiguous US is on me. Hawaiian, Alaskan and Canadian shipping available at additional cost.

Some pieces evolve and take shape fairly quickly, others take their darned sweet time. This one took about a year. When this happens, I think it has something to do with my ability to understand the concept and then apply the proper technique/sensibilities so as to do it justice. The idea behind paintings like Cirrus show up and get me all tingley to make them, and along the way I struggle with doing so because I haven’t yet learned what they require.

Cirrus required a tamping down of color (I changed my color choices in January to help me figure out how to do just this), a better understanding of basic value shapes (something the Bear+Mask pieces have been guiding me towards over the past 5 months) and reveling in the relationship between hard and soft edges (always a sensibility I am refining).

Her title refers to a particular type of cloud also known as “mare’s tails.” These are wispy filament type clouds - much like the subtlety in some of the marks here, and a reference to the delicate way this painting drifted in over time.

Cirrus is available exclusively through my website.

As always, I am so grateful for your interest in my work.

Thank you so much for your support.

Big Cloud-Like Love, Kim.

Creativity documents our voices and builds community, something profoundly important right now. How can you help elevate and keep artists’ voices alive? It’s simple:

engage with your favorite artist via social media
share what they are creating with your friends
take a course and hone your own voice
purchase original art or reproductions (see below)
fill their tip jar (let’s be real, it’s all about Treats for Blue, the studio dog)

Your support keeps the arts alive, which means future generations will understand our perspectives long after we are gone. Thank you.

Discerning

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Kelly Santini) — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 14:50:10 +0000

check her out

Discerning, 23-1/2x24, acrylic and pure imagination on panel, sold (thank you so much and a very warm welcome to my new collector).

I dreamed of Wolf a few weeks back, so invited her to the easel in a similar fashion to Bear - emerging from the darkness, encased in a shallow depth of field, with a direct gaze. This format brings the subject right into the viewer’s space, something that is important to me.

It helps me to understand and better respond to the paintings when I know who they are meant for. These recent paintings have been for Little Kim, who imagined she was friends with all the animals. She wove some pretty solid stories about deep connections to animal spirits, and it’s those narratives I dip into in the present day from the easel. They are still here inside me, fueling each painting.

As always, I am so grateful for your interest in my work.

Thank you so much for your support.

Big Judgement-Free Love, Kim.

Creativity documents our voices and builds community, something profoundly important right now. How can you help elevate and keep artists’ voices alive? It’s simple:

engage with your favorite artist via social media
share what they are creating with your friends
take a course and hone your own voice
purchase original art or reproductions (see below)
fill their tip jar (let’s be real, it’s all about Treats for Blue, the studio dog)

Your support keeps the arts alive, which means future generations will understand our perspectives long after we are gone. Thank you.

Possibilities

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Kelly Santini) — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 17:53:04 +0000

After last night’s lunar eclipse it seemed fitting to share a lunaresque (yes I’m making up words, but it totally fits!) painting. This is Possibilities (available for purchase), a 24” acrylic painting done with love and pure imagination on a cradled round panel.

I make art to talk about happenings. Last fall I was busy painting things like this one above (yes, she’s circular just like the moon), Selenite Moons, Moonstruck, Orbiting, Pleiades and others in response to that eclipse and a subsequent string of super moons.

In my mind, an artist’s job, my job, is to share my journey by making art reflecting what’s it’s like to be alive today. The things that pique my interest and tug at my heart. Sometimes the happenings are as basic as the first good snowfall of the season, sometimes they are a bit more complex like concern for children caught up in warzones. But when I find myself tangled in feels - whether they be joy or otherwise - I reach for my brushes. They give me a means to express what it feels like to be human in a complex world.

All of these paintings are made with love and my own imagination (no Ai), rooted in my dreams (starring the animal companions featured in the art), threaded with elements that carry symbolic meaning to me and intentionally chosen to build a narrative.

I don’t feel the need to transcribe each painting in great detail, rather, I get deep satisfaction in hearing the viewers’ narratives and connections with the piece. I welcome your thoughts upon experiencing my art - it’s the resulting conversations that also can fuel future pieces.

I am so very grateful for those who are able to collect it, take a course, engage on the various platforms and support my creative journey. It is because of you that I am able, 25 years in, to continue pushing paint and telling stories.

Next year holds a number of incredible opportunities to display, create and teach - I cannot wait to get out into the world and bring my slice of the human experience to you.

Thank you, deeply,

With great love, Kim

Creativity documents our voices and builds community, something profoundly important right now. How can you help elevate and keep artists’ voices alive? It’s simple:

engage with your favorite artist via social media
share what they are creating with your friends
take a course and hone your own voice
purchase original art or reproductions (see below)
fill their tip jar (let’s be real, it’s all about Treats for Blue, the studio dog)

Your support keeps the arts alive, which means future generations will understand our perspectives long after we are gone. Thank you.

Metanoia

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Kelly Santini) — Tue, 25 Aug 2026 13:34:27 +0000

check her out, make her yours

Metanoia, 12x12, acrylic on panel, $800, available exclusively through my website. S&H inside the contiguous US is on me. Hawaiian, Alaskan and Canadian shipping available at additional cost.

Metanoia is ancient Greek meaning profound transformation. Something I am really aching to see in our world.

This little one was borne from studying, extracting, and weaving together passages from past paintings and drawings. I am so enjoying the review of prior pieces, building little puzzles from their bits and filling my new sketchbook with possibilities.

Metanoia is available for purchase on my website where you can also view her in a room setting or get your nose right up into the marks.

In addition to the two new Bear paintings released in August, I completed a number of pet portrait commissions. I opened up six months of my calendar year to these and have one single spot remaining. Is it yours? message me for details and get started collecting your photos!

If you miss out on booking that last spot, maybe you want to get in on the raffle through the rescue group I adopted Birdie Fae (the new studio kitten) and Blue (silly border collie mix) from. I’ve donated an 8x10 single animal portrait to Best Buddy Pet Rescue - tickets are $10 each and can be purchased here. All the raffle details are here (if you don’t have a FB account, message me and I’ll get those to you) - the drawing is on September 3rd.

As always, I am so grateful for your interest in my work.

Thank you so much for your support.

Big Butterfly Love, Kim.

Creativity documents our voices and builds community, something profoundly important right now. How can you help elevate and keep artists’ voices alive? It’s simple:

engage with your favorite artist via social media
share what they are creating with your friends
take a course and hone your own voice
purchase original art or reproductions (see below)
fill their tip jar (around here it’s all about Treats for Blue, the studio dog)

Your support keeps the arts alive, which means future generations will understand our perspectives long after we are gone. Thank you.

Pet Portraits back for a Limited Time

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Kelly Santini) — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 18:54:18 +0000

It’s been 20 years since I began Painting a Dog a Day, the daily pet portrait project that went viral before virality was even an internet thing. It positioned my signature loose and personality packed style at the forefront of pet portraiture at a time when consumers were first purchasing online products. My unique-at-the-time model of partnering with animal centric non profits, helping tell their story while also raising much needed funds for operating expenses, was adapted by many other small business owners. And the practice of painting daily continues to serve me well 25 years into my journey as a professional artist.

Last month my online pet portrait workshop opened to great acclaim - we had a countdown to the first day and the students got immediately to work - I can’t stop beaming over what they are creating, it is amazing!

Shifting from independent work alongside gallery and teaching commitments to portraiture requires a serious mental shift (which is one of the reasons I moved on from portraiture, to focus on more complex pieces), but it was important to me to return to the portraiture this anniversary year. So I opened my 2026 calendar for a limited number of portraits like Guster’s (above). These are custom pieces done in acrylic with museum quality materials, worked from your photo references, distinctively and recognizably my own style.

Let me know if you are interested in adding an original painting featuring your loved family member to your home. It would be my honor to do so, and there are just a few spots left.

Extra special thanks to my returning collector for the privilege of painting Guster for his family.

Creativity documents our voices and builds community, something profoundly important right now. How can you help elevate and keep artists’ voices alive? It’s simple:

engage with your favorite artist via social media
share what they are creating with your friends
take a course and hone your own voice
purchase original art or reproductions (see below)
fill their tip jar (let’s be real, it’s all about Treats for Blue, the studio dog)

Your support keeps the arts alive, which means future generations will understand our perspectives long after we are gone. Thank you.

Wish

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Kelly Santini) — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 16:16:16 +0000

check her out, make her yours

Wish, 20x20, acrylic on cradled panel (no need to frame, painting will arrive wired and ready to hang), $1900, available exclusively through my website.S&H inside the contiguous US is on me. Hawaiian, Alaskan and Canadian shipping available at additional cost.

I voted Tuesday in the primaries here in Michigan (along with My Better Half - this was the second time he, as a new US citizen, was able to vote, and it is wonderful to share this together). I may be a glutton for punishment, but I felt a sense of hope after doing so - not just because his voice is now counted, but because we do have a say in what we want for our communities.

In a world that seems hell bent on all sorts of horrors, Hope is a powerful thing. That’s what this painting is all about - the fervor behind a wish, and the agency to manifest it.

Wish is available for purchase on my website where you can an also view her in a room setting or get your nose right up into the marks. Also, I have to mention, if she doesn’t find a home quickly, I may just pull her from the market for some exhibition opportunities.

As always, I am so grateful for your interest in my work.

Thank you so much for your support.

Big Wish Love, Kim.

Creativity documents our voices and builds community, something profoundly important right now. How can you help elevate and keep artists’ voices alive? It’s simple:

engage with your favorite artist via social media
share what they are creating with your friends
take a course and hone your own voice
purchase original art or reproductions (see below)
fill their tip jar (let’s be real, it’s all about Treats for Blue, the studio dog)

Your support keeps the arts alive, which means future generations will understand our perspectives long after we are gone. Thank you.

Flutter

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Kelly Santini) — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 14:46:52 +0000

check her out, make her yours

Flutter, 12x12, acrylic on cradled panel (no need to frame, painting will arrive wired and ready to hang), $950, available exclusively through my website.S&H inside the contiguous US is on me. Hawaiian, Alaskan and Canadian shipping available at additional cost. NOTE: I have a 20” similar (unfinished) painting, along with a 6” square piece. Neither of these are currently available.

I first painted Butterfly Masks on Bear this last spring. The results were intriguing to me, but I was particularly challenged by my treatment of Bear and Butterfly as two separate living beings. That prevented me from allowing the collision to become something new and evocative. I switched out Butterfly with florals and sky, knowing I could take artistic license with those forms and not have a mutilated life on my hands, and had multiple goes at various iterations.

I also was inspired by the varied life forms in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series of books (which I just finished last month and highly, highly recommend). Matt Dinneman gets 10/10 points for the utterly creative and vast collection of species he invented. One of the characters, Big Tina, a young bear who mutates into a dinosaur infected with vampirism, wears a tutu fused to her midriff, her ballerina tiara grown into her skin. She sparked a change in how I began to visualize mask - and clothing in general - they do not have to literally be something we wear or a separate layer/object. Thanks, Matt!

Now I’m onto the next problem - diaphonous form, veiled shapes, and heightened mystery. And also going larger with this one!

Flutter is available for purchase on my website where you can an also view her in a room setting or get your nose right up into the marks.

As always, I am so grateful for your interest in my work.

Thank you so much for your support.

Big Bear Love, Kim.

Creativity documents our voices and builds community, something profoundly important right now. How can you help elevate and keep artists’ voices alive? It’s simple:

engage with your favorite artist via social media
share what they are creating with your friends
take a course and hone your own voice
purchase original art or reproductions (see below)
fill their tip jar (let’s be real, it’s all about Treats for Blue, the studio dog)

Your support keeps the arts alive, which means future generations will understand our perspectives long after we are gone. Thank you.

Thistle

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Kelly Santini) — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 15:05:07 +0000

check her out, make her yours

Thistle, 16x16, acrylic on cradled panel (no need to frame, painting will arrive wired and ready to hang), $1450, available exclusively through my website.S&H inside the contiguous US is on me. Hawaiian, Alaskan and Canadian shipping available at additional cost.

This painting is an empath watching a loved one ache, knowing the best they can do is listen, sit with and love them through it. I think we’ve all been there at some point or other….

In lighter news, my online pet portrait workshop opened yesterday - students from all over the world are eagerly introducing themselves and setting intentions for the course. This evening is our zoom launch party (the 23rd) at 7pm eastern. I’ve opened this session up to students and the public - I’ll show over 100 of my portraits, talk about concepts and compositions, share some tips culled from the last 25 years of commission work, and get us situated to push some paint. You don’t have to be enrolled in the class - you can join the live event here. And if you decide to join in after attending the event, there’s a $49 coupon waiting for you.

As always, I am so grateful for your interest in my work.

Thank you so much for your support.

Big Bear Love, Kim.

Creativity documents our voices and builds community, something profoundly important right now. How can you help elevate and keep artists’ voices alive? It’s simple:

engage with your favorite artist via social media
share what they are creating with your friends
take a course and hone your own voice
purchase original art or reproductions (see below)
fill their tip jar (let’s be real, it’s all about Treats for Blue, the studio dog)

Your support keeps the arts alive, which means future generations will understand our perspectives long after we are gone. Thank you.

Phosphorescent

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Kelly Santini) — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 15:41:13 +0000

check her out, make her yours

Phosphorescent, 20x20, acrylic on cradled panel (no need to frame, painting will arrive wired and ready to hang), $1900, available exclusively through my website. S&H inside the contiguous US is on me. Hawaiian, Alaskan and Canadian shipping available at additional cost.

Originally Phosphorescent had a dahlia over each eye. It was interesting and oh so beautiful, but distracting. The flowers overpowered her face and she became secondary in the painting. It was not what she wanted at all - she pushed herself back to the surface of the painting, and in the process that second bloom dissolved.

I think this approach is still intriguing, but would be better suited to a full body Bear, with a stronger ratio of Bear to Flower.

Like I said, I learn new ways to approach this concept with each painting. I have another one in process now where Bear’s mask is veil like, drifting across her face with the lightness of cottonwood. There’s something interesting that happens when a moving screen is inserted between the viewer and the subject.

Other ones include opaque masks with eyes obscured altogether. And then there’s the commission I have with a cockapoo and peonies. They are all feeding each other, that’s for sure.

Ohh, also, my online pet portrait workshop opens next week! If you paint animals of any kind, you’ll find this course so valuable, as it covers reference photo usage, copyright considerations, designing with intention (ie editing those photos to make the painting stronger), client communication and the whole painting aspect. I have included projects leveled for beginner to advanced painters alongside modules on color usage and troubleshooting a likeness. This course is a comprehensive linear approach to portraiture and painting a likeness in my distinctive style, summarizing my 25 years of experience. Early Bird registration runs until the 21st (happy birthday to me!) and the course opens on the 22nd. Our launch party via zoom is on the 23rd - I’ll show over 100 of my portraits, talk about concepts and compositions, and get us all situated to push some paint. It’s all here. Hope to see you in class!

And as always, I am so grateful for your interest in my work.

Thank you so much for your support.

Big Phosphorescent Love, Kim.

Creativity documents our voices and builds community, something profoundly important right now. How can you help elevate and keep artists’ voices alive? It’s simple:

engage with your favorite artist via social media
share what they are creating with your friends
take a course and hone your own voice
purchase original art or reproductions (see below)
fill their tip jar (let’s be real, it’s all about Treats for Blue, the studio dog)

Your support keeps the arts alive, which means future generations will understand our perspectives long after we are gone. Thank you.

Profusion

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Kelly Santini) — Sun, 12 Jul 2026 19:34:05 +0000

Profusion

check her out, make her yours

Profusion, 20x20, acrylic on cradled panel (no need to frame, painting will arrive wired and ready to hang), $1900, available exclusively through my website. S&H inside the contiguous US is on me. Hawaiian, Alaskan and Canadian shipping available at additional cost.

This was a challenging painting week - as the complexity of these masked bears grows, so too does the difficulty level. I am literally learning on my feet as the pieces progress. Which frankly is one of my favorite ways to learn - by doing!

Profusion hit a point where I thought she had further to go, but my critique group (yesterday) declared her finished. I weighed the possibility of stopping,** but ultimately it felt like I was copping out. So this morning I deepened her value relationships, added a passage of smaller marks, pulled one of the flowers forward and allowed the barely suggested eye to disappear. I am so pleased to have taken these risks - the painting is all the stronger for them.

Profusion is on my website via a secure direct purchasing channel. You can also view her in a room setting or get your nose right up close to her.

**I have worked with this critique group for almost 10 years. I know and respect these women’s opinions, and likewise, they are well versed in my art and what I am trying to say. I take their feedback seriously, but that doesn’t mean I follow their suggestions. Ultimately it is my painting and I have to choose what best serves my work. Having conversations with other artists like this group who know one’s capabilities and history is invaluable, and one of the things I attribute my success to. Their insight gets me to see various perspectives, and ultimately that allows me to paint with greater clarity.

I am so grateful for your interest in my work.

Thank you so much for your support.

Big Abundant Love, Kim.

Room to Grow

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Kelly Santini) — Sun, 05 Jul 2026 13:42:02 +0000

check her out, bring her home

Room to Grow (Sun Bear), 18x24, acrylic on cradeled panel (no need to frame, painting will arrive wired and ready to hang), $1900, available exclusively through my website. S&H inside the contiguous US is on me. Hawaiian, Alaskan and Canadian shipping available at additional cost.

Originally Sun Bear was stacked with Butterfly and Moth. I loved the idea, but the execution felt predictable. I value unexpected elements in art, and wasn’t seeing any of them in her early beginnings but for one little exciting butterfly passage, which frankly wasn’t enough to support the entirety of the surface.

So she sat in the studio and watched me paint a number of Bears, complete with Masks of Butterflies and Florals, while waiting for ~~the concept to evolve~~ inspiration to hit.

And a couple days ago she asked for her own mask, one threaded with roses. “Yellow, please,” she said, “to match my collar.”

Meanwhile, Sun Bear introduced me to Moon Bear. I have a Spirit Bear in process right now. Also a Milkweed Bear (a species of my own making - just you wait and see how magical SHE is!). And a crate of new panels arriving today. With the inspiration of these masked faces all around me, I predict no shortage of ideas in the near future.

Room to Grow is on my website for your direct purchasing, along with viewing in a room or right up close.

I am so grateful for your interest in my work.

Thank you so much for your support.

Big Sun Bear Love, Kim.

Creativity documents our voices and builds community, something profoundly important right now. How can you help elevate and keep artists’ voices alive? It’s simple:

engage with your favorite artist via social media
share what they are creating with your friends
take a course and hone your own voice
purchase original art or reproductions (see below)
fill their tip jar (let’s be real, it’s all about Treats for Blue, the studio dog)

Your support keeps the arts alive, which means future generations will understand our perspectives long after we are gone. Thank you.

Summer Solstice

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Kelly Santini) — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 15:41:41 +0000

check her out, bring her home

Summer Solstice, 20x20, acrylic on cradeled panel (no need to frame, painting will arrive wired and ready to hang), $1900, available exclusively through my website. S&H inside the contiguous US is on me. Hawaiian, Alaskan and Canadian shipping available at additional cost.

This painting got her start last week at my friend’s house. She (my friend, not Solstice) invited a group of us to gather and paint in her garden (her roses killed me). It was a glorious day.

Then she (Solstice, not my friend) came home to the studio for more work, informed by photos I took that first day along with bits and pieces from my own garden.

I toyed with the concept of symmetry - in a square painting, a balanced design becomes critically important. Initially I was reaching for a mirrored take on that, but it was too easy to look at and move past - it didn’t grab the viewer and ask them to stick around. So I found a middle ground - some symmetry, some differences. Here’s a video short on how I used Procreate, a digital drawing program, to visualize some of the possibilities.

And while Solstice is Brown Bear born from the dregs of winter, last night in my dreams she introduced me to Spirit Bear. So guess who’s coming to my easel next?

Solstice is over on my website for your direct purchasing, along with viewing in a room or right up close.

I am so grateful for your interest in my work.

Thank you so much for your support.

Big Bear Love, Kim.

Rose

noreply@blogger.com (Kimberly Kelly Santini) — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 16:46:05 +0000

check her out, bring her home

Rose, 24x30, acrylic on cradeled panel (no need to frame, painting will arrive wired and ready to hang), $2800, available exclusively through my website. S&H inside the contiguous US is on me. Hawaiian, Alaskan and Canadian shipping available at additional cost.

If you’ve been following these Masked Bears, you’ll have noticed how the floral aspects are unique to each. It is great fun to dream up the next iteration, choose the appropriate Bear expression, and start to paint the magic. And it’s so rewarding, as the end results manifest with so much more strength than I could have imagined.

These are all pulled from my visual memory banks, laced together by proprietary means and techniques that do not involve Ai. They are 100% human conceived and executed - something I’m starting to value more and more lately.

Rose is now on my website for your direct purchasing, along with viewing in a room or right up close, until I offer her to the general public later tomorrow or Thursday.

Earlier today I demo-ed my ideation process and shared the digital tools I use to build a launching point for the paintings, and Rose is the example. If this is of any interest, the recording sits inside the Independent Study tier of my membership (on Patreon) The session will be streamable for the next 60 days (part of a library of other videos, including last month’s demo on how I intentionally recreate happy accidents as a mechanism to study and learn more about my tools/processes).

I am so grateful for your interest in my work.

Thank you so much for your support.

Big Red Rose Love, Kim.

Creativity documents our voices and builds community, something profoundly important right now. How can you help elevate and keep artists’ voices alive? It’s simple:

engage with your favorite artist via social media
share what they are creating with your friends
take a course and hone your own voice
purchase original art or reproductions (see below)
fill their tip jar (let’s be real, it’s all about Treats for Blue, the studio dog)

Your support keeps the arts alive, which means future generations will understand our perspectives long after we are gone. Thank you.