Meet Kim Wilson

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

Kim, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.
I hope this answers some of your questions! I wasn’t sure which category it fits into.

Every morning starts out with an hour or two of painting and drawing and creating visual art.

My “paying” job is voice acting from my home studio, voicing commercials, corporate narrations, promos and eLearning.

My mom is my biggest inspiration! I used to watch her make people laugh and as a child came across her sketch book and knew I wanted to be like her.

I always loved story telling making people laugh and enjoyed creating art.

I graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with focus on the arts. I thought I wanted to a starving artist living in NYC, – But married young and realized that wouldn’t quite work economically.

Went into advertising world – first in NYC and then moved to Los Angeles and worked there until my husband and I moved back to the east coast and currently reside in Boston. (Where we raised 2 brilliant daughters).

But once in Boston with 2 small children and no longer in the creative business – I felt I was beginning to lose my artistic side: I was lonely in a new home, and missed making people laugh and telling stories. The only way I started to feel myself again was reading for my kids – creating characters from the pages of story books.

I began to take acting classes, then improv, then eventually voiceover took over

My storytelling journey began to take shape slowly. My friend circle grew and my children started to grow up.

I started taking more and more risks – the bigger the risk of embarrassment and failure – the bigger the payoff was for me in my growth as an artist. I started to act in indie films and eventually I began to zero-in on voice acting.

It was in voice acting where no one had to “see” my process of connecting deeply and emotionally, that I found a place where I could express my creativity on a deeper level.

Voice acting isn’t about just “reading” words on a piece of paper. It is the process of connecting with something deeply personal and allowing that emotion to flow over into the words on the script – Bringing a layer of personal connection to something quite ordinary.

I learned a lot from the Meisner Acting process: “Acting is the ability to behave absolutely truthfully under the imaginary circumstances.”
For me, storytelling is an emotional release.

Creativity can be found in the most of mundane scripts – but one needs to be open and vulnerable to the process.

This creative process in Voice Acting has led me back to the vulnerability of creating art through painting again.

I’ve started to explore the process of creating art “emotionally’ in my paintings.

Currently, I’m exploring the intersections of creative expression, being wholly human and my deep connection to the divine feminine and spirituality.

Rick Rubin speaks a lot about creative expression in his book “ The Creative Act: A Way of Being”.

“Creativity is a fundamental aspect of being human. It’s our birthright……..and The reason to make art is to innovate and self-express, show something new, share what’s inside, and communicate your singular perspective…”

For me, Its another way to “be”: creative and expressive.
It’s all about the process – rather than the outcome.

As human beings we are all experiencing life in different ways and if I am able to find the “extraordinary in the ordinary”, everyday, that is a life and journey I want.

To keep the creativity alive, for me, is to continually challenge myself by asking “what-if” And staying curious.

Taking chances with my painting:
“What if I throw black all over this paper? What if I use the pink? What if I wrap these plant roots all over the canvas? What if I work through the ugly today?”

It’s the same in my job as a storyteller:
“what if I connect to my childhood and remember this thing that moves me to tears…and then voice this script?
What if I expressed the opposite of what is expected?
What if I connect to this script to this hilarious disaster that happened last weekend?
What if I throw it all the rules out the window and approach this script in a way no one else has before…what would happen?”

I don’t always succeed – but it’s this process that keeps me going and staying curious!

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
The most exciting thing about being a Voice Artist is being able to “create” everyday. I have my own home studio – so I get to work from home. I voice Commercials, Promos, TV Narrations. But the real grit in the work comes from the stuff that doesn’t sound as sexy. Yes, hearing yourself on television or radio is exciting – but its also highly competitive and rare. Its in the corporate narrations, branding, medical and elearning where I find most of my work. There is so much of this type of work out there that needs someone to breathe real, engaging authentic life into. The real work is done when you are digging deep within – looking for ways connect to the ordinary and mundane. And the payoff is when you do! As for my fine art: Paining is a way to express visually. I don’t journal, so for me it’s a journey of release, healing, exploration and expression of my humanness and connection to the spiritual world. Im just starting to finally be able to share my work with world. I wasn’t ready yet to be visually seen. So that’s the next step for me….being vulnerable and sharing my visual art with the world.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Being Curious Taking Risks even small ones
Surrounding yourself with good people – creating community

What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?
Haha this is easy. I struggle with an anxiety disorder that likes to wreak havoc on my day. It brings along its friend self doubt. I am an empath and highly intuitive – so its easy for me to feel ALL the feels and not just the good ones. It’s daily, and its hard. and it can set me back – but I work at it.

“Painting it out” sometimes helps me move beyond. I think thats why I lean toward a profession that allows me to express emotions in a unique type of way as well.
Therapy helps too… and community. I’ve surrounded myself with my family and good people in my life that really “see” me and accept me.

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