Meet Kayla Koslow | Art Educator, Professional Photographer, Small business owner and artist.

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

Hi Kayla, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Art is everything. It’s the clothes we put on in the morning to the door we walk out of to the car we drive… etc. We live in a world that is full of creative and artistic people who control even the smallest things in our lives. Being a creator has been a part of me since I can remember. It’s what brings me happiness and joy. Art allows me to push boundaries or stay in my zone. It allows me to try new things and push for more. If I were in a job where I wasn’t allowed to be creative I would find a way because it’s a part of my soul. Loving what I do on a daily basis is so important to overall mental health and happiness. I think the biggest reason why I do what I do is to see how much art can help them, in ways they might not have expected or imagines. Art is what makes me happy and to bring happiness into a child’s life or a persons water bottle with one of my designs is enough for me to fill my bucket daily.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
If you were to ask anyone about my work they would probably tell you the first thing they notice is the bright and vibrant colors. Color is my absolute obsession. I love anything bright and loud. I believe color has a huge affect on our emotions and feelings and when people come to my page or find my artwork I want them to have a sense of happiness. I am also extremely passionate about teaching so I feel like when I started to show my passion for the arts people wanted to be there with me for the ride. There are so many challenges when it comes to being creative. I feel like my biggest obstacle is finding all the time I need to tap into my creative side. I am always putting pressure on myself to make more, create more and do more but sometimes we just need to allow the creative process happen rather than force it. I feel like people can really lose themselves when they put too much pressure on their creativity and then it doesn’t seem authentic anymore. I think the biggest thing is to always check in with yourself. I started painting just to paint, not for any other outcome than therapy for myself. Some days I hate when I made and other days I loved it. The creative process is so important but at the times we are struggling to push through we need to remember to give ourselves grace in the process. I think the most important thing I want people to talk away from my work is colorful happiness. That when they see my work, or scroll through a feed and happen upon my work, they smile because it brings them happiness for a moment in time.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
This is a fun question for me because I just moved to Austin, Texas! I’ve been visiting Austin for about ten years and finally made the jump. The number one thing I would do would be mural hopping with lots of tex Mex on the way. I helped create, design and paint a mural downtown right across from an iconic “Welcome to Austin” mural so that would be first on my list with a lunch at Frescas! Then we would head to congress street and then downtown for a walk around town lake and more food at Maudies Tex Mex or a slice of pizza at HomeSlice! The late night scene would be finding music and thats an easy thing to do downtown in Austin!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have too many people to thank in this world! I am constantly surrounding myself with people who pump me up and believe in every little dream I have. I will be forever grateful to the people who have pushed me outside of my comfort zones and made me believe my work was worth it. I love that I have so many people to thank that I am having trouble to name them. I honestly could thank every teacher, mentor, friend and family member for my success because they all played such a huge part in my success.

Website: https://kayla-koslow-art.myshopify.com

Instagram: mskoslowsartroom

Facebook: Kayla Koslow Art