Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Katie Iverson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Katie, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
I have to admit, mine was not a straight-line, no-nonsense road to life goals. I had no idea about any direction. I enrolled as a home ec major my first year of college at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, thinking I might want to be an interior designer. That major lasted two weeks! I found myself painting eight hours a day and delightfully wallowing in a short story writing major. After two years, I quit college to marry a childhood sweetheart and traveled, taking classes at community colleges wherever we landed. A semester of a dental technology major in southern California made me realize I wanted to aim for dental school, and I enrolled at Cal State University Fullerton for “pre-dent.” My instructors in biology all had a marine biology focus and they lured me into their classes with the promise of time in shoreline studies and on research vessels. My first husband died in my first semester of getting my masters degree, but I pulled through (my major prof said “with brute force”) and I ultimately got both bachelors and masters degrees from CSUF. That schooling did not feel like enough, so I started in the Ph.D. program at the University of Arizona. Moving to Tucson–away from the ocean–was not as much of a challenge as one would think. We brought students to Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, Mexico for field studies. I think I always loved the idea of teaching at the community college level and I abandoned the Ph.D. program to teach biology and develop a marine biology class at Pima Community College. Teaching challenged me to be organized, to learn to tell stories, to put together slide shows, and to develop speaking skills. I taught biology for 33 years! And I fell in love with the Sonoran Desert!
I met my current husband when I was almost forty years old. We’ve traveled and have since given many a slide show! My goal for myself now is to combine art and photography and biology and to educate and entertain and to inspire in people a fascination for and love of wildlife.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
On my medical forms, they want me to say I’m retired. That’s a shallow description of who anyone is! During my time teaching biology, I spent ten years being director/owner of a tiny gallery, though I don’t know how I had so much energy! Also during that time, I met (through a local SCUBA shop) and married my husband, who is now a “retired” physical therapist and writer. We kayaked. We studied dolphins for ten years in the Gulf of California. (Our boat was an inflatable boat I named “Collapso,” since Jacque Cousteau had already named his ship the Calypso!) We traveled to British Columbia, South and Central America, Australia, and Africa, diving where possible and photographing animals on land and in the sea. We spent the ten years before The Pandemic taking clients through our company, Wild Spirit Journeys, to Baja California Sur to see marine mammals–from sea lions to dolphins to blue and gray whales. I’ve continued to paint and sculpt through the years, even learning to pour bronzes. From time to time, I show my works in galleries and sell cards in stores.
It has all been thrilling, but I’m especially proud of a couple aspects of our lives. Husband John R. Gentile writes eco-thrillers. I edit his books and illustrate his book covers. (People frequently say they cannot put his books down!) And I am now giving myself permission to be all the artist I can be, occasionally teaching art classes, but spending time creating with clay and paint. Once a year we continue a tradition of Open Studio Tours, opening our backyard up to the public in Tucson, Arizona. At this event, we sell cards and prints from our photography and from my paintings (selling some 1,500 cards in the last two years!). We also sell my paintings and sculptures and John’s books. Our friend Melissa Miller joins us to sell her beautiful bowls and whimsical clay animals. And this next year, we will add a neighbor who will sell his wood cutting boards. (They are lovely!)
We sometimes help friends with fundraisers where we both donate and sell our wares. We work all year readying ourselves for our “Casa Tortuga” Open Studio Tour. We advertise via FaceBook and through emailings and posters. We have the most enthusiastic and interesting guests attending this annual backyard event!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I used to think of myself as a late bloomer, but you know what? I think that my curiosity led me early on to take many classes in a variety of subjects. Being bold enough to join art groups, as unformed as I was, earned me friends who became both classmates and mentors. Persistence and practice help me improve my craft–whether in painting or sculpture or photography. I relish trying new things. My latest passion is the creation of “bas reliefs,” low profile slab sculptures. I plan to learn how to make molds from these so that I can produce them with different treatments, some with paint and some with underglazes. There is a mild terror about ruining one piece of artwork to learn this skill, but if I can find ways to do this through searching the web and quizzing the experts, it will be worth my while. These pieces combine both sculpture and painting!
I know, for myself, I crave feedback. If you’re new to learning a skill, I recommend you find mentors and instructors who will gently and fairly critique you. Try new things and feel free to make mistakes. Feel blessed with any compliments you receive and learn from both positive comments and solid critiques. A good instructor, I think, is one who lets you know what it is that you are doing right as well as providing solutions for any design problems. Watercolor and acrylic painting and clay work are all surprisingly forgiving media.
The learning and the creating should be enjoyable! Make a date with yourself! Remember that you are not “doing nothing” at this time! Once you are “in the zone,” you will be pleased with yourself. (I listen to audiotape books while I’m working–and get a lot of reading done while being creative!)
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
First and foremost, my mother believed in me and encouraged me, enrolling me in art classes when I was young and visiting art galleries and shows with me over the years. She never wavered and generously even purchased some of my early paintings and cards. Very early on, I had a teacher, Mrs. Nelson, who taught both my third and fourth grade classes; when I drew birds and dinosaurs, she recognized a potential skill. Over the years, I’ve had some really great, enthusiastic, and positive teachers (and I’ve had a few who were not so encouraging). I’m very thankful to Phil Melton (acrylics) and to Jim Jones and Marilyn Cleavinger (both clay instructors) who all were excellent and patient instructors. I’m also grateful to my friend Melissa Miller. She tried to teach me to throw on a wheel, but the results seem to fall under the heading of “Katie’s Fat-bottomed Bowls.” For the most part, I’ll stick with sculptures and bas reliefs. Melissa is great at repeating that clay is not an exact art! Three of us who are friends (Melissa, Mary, and I) get together one day a week to work on clay projects. My “framily” members (friends who have become like family) are continually affirming. I am very lucky!
Most of all, I’m thankful for my husband, John R. Gentile, because, though we love spending time together and especially in nature photographing wildlife, we both are also “project people.” He writes at one end of the house while, at the other end, I work in my studio–or at the dining room table–on my art. He’s consistently supportive, encouraging, and an inspiration!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.katieiverson.com
- Facebook: Katie Iverson
- Other: Travel, books, and art company: Wild Spirit Journeys https://www.wildspiritjourneys.com
Image Credits
Katie Iverson
