Meet Kevin Marion

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

Kevin, thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive person and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?

At an early age I learned the power of positive thinking. No matter what you are going through in life there is always something to be thankful for. I will often lean on nature when things get challenging. When I immerse myself in nature I am reminded how wonderfully made everything is, including myself. It is a great way to lift yourself out of a desperate situation. “It is always best to be good and happy” is something I tell my children on a regular basis.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

As an architect I have designed and managed building projects from pre-design/master planning phase through construction administration and closeout. Project types designed range from performing arts, university and primary education, civic, religious, hospitality, museums, commercial/corporate, custom residential and competition work. I have extensive experience with commercial kitchen layouts and adaptive reuse projects. I have also been involved in several master planning/town re-visioning projects providing clients with direction on town growth/redevelopment for 10-20 year development plans.
Specialties include all aspects of building design and construction administration services. I excel in pre-design layout, concept & schematic design, designing in 3 dimensions and 3D Modeling. Software proficiencies include ArchiCAD, SketchUp/Podium, Adobe Photoshop, AutoCad & all Microsoft office programs. I also enjoys incorporating my own artwork into my architectural designs. I always present excellent communication skills and good rapport with my co-workers, clients, consultants and contractors.

I find true beauty in the details. The method I’ve developed to creating my digital artwork is focusing in on a small detail of one work, and using it to create the next one. I enjoy sketching with pen and pencil, which is how my digital art journey began. I scanned drawings and colored them using Adobe Photoshop. I experimented using certain filters and affects, with impressionistic and abstract results. With my early abstract experiments I discovered that I could zoom into a particular area within a piece, crop it, enlarge it and then add detail to it to create a new piece. I did it again, and again. To date I have created hundreds of new pieces using this method of zooming, cropping and enlarging. Essentially I have large pieces that literally originated from less than a single pixel of an earlier piece. I tend to focus on dynamic compositions with asymmetry, vibrant colors and a high level of visual complexity. My hope is that the intricacy and the movement within my art momentarily captivate the viewer, that they can be temporarily relieved from the stresses of life. For my original work I use Vivid Metal Prints in Lexington, NC, who dye sublimates my images to Chromaluxe aluminum panels.

I live in Mocksville, North Carolina and I am married to Susan, my high school sweetheart. We have a beautiful daughter, Hazel, a handsome son, Silas, and adorable twin girls, Ruby and Iris.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Everyone has natural talents that tend to guide each of us toward our passions and our professions. I believe the things that help us achieve our goals are more general, things with which everyone needs excellence, things like perseverance, communication, generosity and grace. These characteristics are what help us succeed. Master these qualities and you will go far in life.

Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?

Becoming overwhelmed is inevitable if you are someone who is continually striving for success and perfection. First I like to try and minimize the occurrence of becoming overwhelmed. Creating a good life/work balance is essential in maintaining peace in your life. I practice yoga and high intensity training regularly which are amazing individual efforts to reduce stress. Having a wonderful support group of loving people is also a critical ingredient for joy in life. Family and church have been fantastic sources for me, as well as pets! A balanced diet is my final ingredient for keeping stress levels down. Eat healthy, but also enjoy eating. sometimes it is hard to believe, but you can do both. Even with all of this, I still get overwhelmed from time to time. When I do I simply step away from what is causing the problems and increase my anti-stress activities and that usually does the trick.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Image 1 & 2, photography by Sterling E. Stevens
Image 1 & 2, Kevin S. Marion, Design and Project Architect while employed by MMPA (now CPL Architects)
Image 3, Kevin S. Marion, Design and Project Architect while employed by Fuller Architecture

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