Meet Kim Lyon | Artist, Designer, Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kim Lyon and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kim, how do you think about risk?
Author Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. who is also an Indiana native, once said, “We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.”

And somehow I keep jumping off cliffs without always exactly knowing what awaits below. But whatever it is, at least it has to be different than my current experience, right? And that’s what drives me – always wanting to know what’s down below, no matter the outcome.

Anyway, all this risky cliff jumping has led me to say yes to a lot of transformative, curiosity-driven adventures throughout my lifetime. I said yes to being an exchange student to Japan and Germany in my teens. I said yes to moving abroad. I said yes to teaching English in Germany without any training. I said yes to teaching public school German without a license, then had to go back to school and earn one. I said yes to world travel. I said yes to earning an MFA in Visual Communication Design in my early forties. And I said yes to a cross country move to fulfill a life dream. And, most recently. I said yes to being my own boss and finally, finally being the Arizona-based artist and designer I’ve known I’d be since I was thirteen.

Each cliff dive, each risk, led to priceless change and growth. I learned new languages and am bilingual. I’ve taught five different subjects at the middle school and high school level. I translated and interpreted for the NCAA. I’ve made friends all over the world. I got to work in the health care sector as a design researcher during and after grad school. And each of those experiences has made me dig deep, open up, and connect with the people and world around me in new ways.

Turns out, I’ve decided, that change, growth, and opening up is the ideal outcome. And if that’s the case, is the cliff jumping really all that risky? Growing up, we learn to assess risk in gains and losses, success and failures, in order to chase pleasure or avoid pain, without realizing that both are necessary for a full life. Throughout the pleasure or pain, the real reward is our development, a world that just gets bigger, and new opportunities.

So I’ll keep jumping. And I’ll keep jumping as a creative entrepreneur to see how I change and grow as a person, an artist, and as a business woman.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
The last time I went to visit my 97 year old grandma before she passed, I introduced myself. “Hi, Grandma! It’s me, Kim!” I always told her who I was because both her eyesight and memory were fading.

“You’re my grandma?” she asked, her steel blue eyes questioning my identity.

“No, you’re my grandma. I’m Kim, your granddaughter.”

“Oh, Kim?” she started, still unable to recognize me, but remembering my name. “I know Kim real well. She goes places and paints things.”

“Yes, Grandma, that’s exactly right. I go places and paint things.”

I have always set off to discover new places and then documented each experience through my paints. But now I’ve made it official with a fresh take on the vintage travel poster. And I will continue to go places and paint things.

Each of my unique, one-of-a-kind, mixed-media prints starts as a watercolor and is then image traced in Adobe Illustrator with custom settings to create digital art. And every print is part of my ongoing love letter to the world and the people and places who have welcomed and changed me.

It is my hope that each and every print connects us to love and respect for the planet and everyone in it.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
When friends or family come to visit me in Arizona, I always recommend the Desert Botanical Garden, the Heard Museum, and the Churchill for fun things to do here in the Valley. A day trip from here to Sedona for red rocks, vortexes, and vegetarian fare at the Chocolatree is also a must, and, if weather allows, a dip in Oak Creek at Slide Rock or Crescent Moon Ranch. I also recommend a day trip to Tucson to see Saguaro National Park and Mission San Xavier del Bac.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I wouldn’t be where I am today without my Visual Communication Design professors at Indiana University Herron School of Art and Design. Youngbok Hong, Terri Wada, Emily Stump, Bryan Richards, Chris Corey, and Pamela Napier have all shaped me as a person and designer. And my business wouldn’t be where it is without the collaboration with designer Haley Francis-Halstead.

Website: www.kimlyondesign.com

Instagram: @kimlyondesign

Facebook: @kimlyondesign

Image Credits
Jared Murray