Many people find themselves at the beginning of a new year assessing what happened during the previous 12-months and wanting to make changes for a different, better end. Some are motivated to embrace a healthier lifestyle, and begin a diet or exercise regimes to achieve this goal. Others may decide that in order to create the life they want, a career change is necessary, but may feel the chasm between where they currently are and where they want to be is insurmountable. If this is your story, you may find inspiration in the story of Cleveland-area artist Kim Dettmer.
“We all have a choice,” Dettmer explained. “We can either see the world as a terrible, awful, scary place, or as a wondrous, magical, happy one.” It’s easy to see, both in her vibrant demeanor and in her body of work that Dettmer chose to embrace happiness. And she’s made it her goal to spread as much happiness as she can.
But her journey to becoming an artist has an unlikely beginning. “Growing up, no one would have thought that I would have ended up as an artist — not even me!” she quipped. While she explained that she always enjoyed art classes, she never really stood out. So she followed the safe path, and went to college and then on to graduate school, and then embarked on a career in higher education. She continued to create on the side, drawing, painting, writing, and creating jewelry, as she worked at her day job. Eventually, she married, had children, and became a stay-at-home-mom. She found as many moms do that being a mother two active, curious little boys is both a wonderful vocation, and one of the hardest jobs she’d had. “Creativity became my escape and my stress relief,” she explained. “I started blogging and writing and eventually wrote a children’s book.”
“The idea of me being an author felt crazy. I thought, ‘Who am I to write a book!?’ Writing was not what I went to school for. So, needless to say, I did a ton of second-guessing and had bouts of wanting to give giving up and let go of the dream,” she admitted. During one of her low times, she took an online class called ‘The 30-Day Doodle Challenge’. “I began to like my drawings,” she admitted, “So I kept doodling. Then the idea popped into my head – ‘Maybe I could illustrate my book’ – which I immediately dismissed as crazy-talk,” she added. But she stuck with it, and the end result, a book called “Moments Meant to Savor,” which began as a journey to write and illustrate a book, started her journey as a mixed media collage artist.
She uses everyday items like magazines, newspapers, and tissue paper, and adds touches of colored pencils, paints, and glue, to create playful, colorful pieces of art. “I hope that my art brings smiles to faces and adds a little bit of joy to the world!” she marvels. See for yourself at kimdettmer.com.
Having the courage to try something new — in her case, writing a book, was the first step. Taking that step bolstered her confidence to take the next step — the urge to create the visuals to accompany her story. And that next step set her on a path exploring mixed media collages — worlds away from the college residence halls and student programming where she began. Well, not exactly.
You see, the New Year brings this self-described happy-maker a brand-new opportunity, teaching a class entitled, “Painting with Paper” at the Institute for Learning in Retirement at Baldwin Wallace University, where she once worked at her day job. Today, as an instructor, she’ll give senior citizens permission to explore the arts and find some happiness as they create mixed media collages. But the class, the shows in which her work is exhibited, or any other artistic endeavor would not have been possible unless she had taken that first step toward creating the life she wanted. Maybe in 2020, at the beginning of a new decade, you’ll have the courage to take the first step in creating the life you want.
