Meet Christine Kuebler

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Christine Kuebler a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Christine, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?
About 8 years ago this wild idea to climb Mount Rainier in Washington State completely took over my thoughts and I became obsessed with accomplishing this goal. I was not the type of person anyone would think of as a mountain climber and I certainly didn’t think of myself like that either. I had just come out of a traumatizing divorce a year prior and for whatever reason I just wanted to escape to the mountains. I took an alpine climbing course and my life and self esteem changed forever more. I climbed Rainier as well as over 200 other peaks and counting. It taught me that I am so much more than I had ever seen myself, that I could overcome my fears and timidness and I could do this on my own, as a single lady, no man in tow. Climbing is what brought me back into my art. I sat down one day and thought, why am I not doing this? Why am I not drawing? This is who I truly am. I’ve been drawing ever since and mountaineering has given me the the strength to put myself out there as an artist. I truly believe there is no limit to what I can achieve.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I am an artist focusing specifically on drawing using graphite and colored pencils. I love the precise, technical aspect of drawing and I’m chasing answers to three questions:

1. How good can I get at this? How far can I push my technical skill and how far do I want to push my skill?
2. How far can I push my creative level? What can I do with this medium that is unique, different?
3. Can I share it with the others?

Currently I am creating works that combine geometry, nature, birds, insects, fish, and ornamentation while addressing themes such as creativity, structure, function, order, awareness, conectedness, cycles, knowledge and learning, and more. I combine graphite and colored pencil because I like how they look together. Some areas are graphite gray and others pop with a carefully selected color pallet.

Overall, I am on a creative journey, adventuring down an unknown path and making discoveries as I go.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
When I look back on my life I’ve always gravitated toward drawing, even as a kid and I’m good at it. I am patient and tenacious. Even more so the older I get. It is those two things that have helped me to work at my drawing board every day over a long period of time which has produced the result I am getting currently and that too will improve over time. For me, art and creativity is a never ending process of development and learning.

My advice for folks who are early in their journey would be to keep showing up every day, do the work and follow your heart. Ignore the noise and do what you intuitively feel is right and think long term. If you feel you are gravitating toward a specific medium or subject, follow that feeling. Be willing to experiment and try things. Sometimes you discover things you never thought you’d be good at or interested in. Results might not be immediate, it could take years to find your groove and the way forward is so worth it!

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
My number one challenge I am currently facing is in getting my foot in the door of the art world to show and sell my work. It really seems like you have to be connected (personally I think the work should simply speak for itself, but this is how the world works). I’ve tried in vain to make connections and haven’t come up with much. Recently, we moved to the Boulder, Colorado area and I’ve discovered a huge network of artists here and have joined some local artists groups and have been getting out, meeting new people. It also helps having a new neighbor who is deeply connected with the arts here locally and she has also introduced me to people. What a gem of a person! I am truly hoping to build good relationships with fellow creatives here and galleries with hopes of more opportunities to show and sell my work. I’m also looking to find deeper creative inspiration through collaboration or simply being immersed in a creative environment surrounded by creatives.

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