Meet Kirby Cline

We recently connected with Kirby Cline and have shared our conversation below.

Kirby, thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?
It took me a long time to even realize that I was a creative and artistic person. Even after being a pastry chef and owning a fairly successful bakery that provided desserts and weddings cakes throughout Los Angeles. It wasn’t really until the pandemic that I realized that there was something inside of me that needed to get out.

Like all of us, I was looking for some sort of outlet to express myself and just get out of my own head. I launched a food blog in October 2019, but it wasn’t until March 2020 that I really started to throw myself into my creative endeavors as a food and beverage photographer. My initial photos weren’t great, but I was determined to keep practicing and experimenting with composition and editing. I chatted with every photographer that would entertain a conversation and I took quite a few online courses.

After a few years, I hit a wall with my creativity. My photos were not coming out the way I wanted and I was feeling stagnant in my work. I don’t remember who offered me this advice, but it really hit home. I was told to experiment with a different subject and/or medium. So, I got out of my studio and started taking photos of wildlife and nature. Taking photos on my weekly hikes really helped me with my perspective and ideas with my studio photography.

I have also learned that my creativity dies down when I take in more content than produce. It’s easy to get stuck scrolling through inspiration photos and creating endless mood boards. It’s much harder to go into your space and actually create. So, I try my hardest to limit my scrolling and try to take a few photos per week, even if they don’t make the cut. I like to create for myself, not for social media. Sometimes my photos are great, other times they aren’t. I’m ok with both.

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?
I suppose I went into that a little bit before, but I’ll go into more detail here. I was a classically trained chef in Los Angeles and had a successful wholesale bakery and also offered wedding cakes. In 2013 I got really sick and I learned that I had developed an allergy to wheat (amongst other things) and I shuttered by business within a year.

I went to school to get a degree in something completely unrelated but always felt that something was missing. In 2019 I launched my food blog and picked up a camera for the first time. This is where my creative journey really started and where I learned that I LOVE photography.

I shared my recipes and photos on Instagram and grew a small but highly engaged audience. Because my style always leaned moody, I caught the attention of a few spirit brands and was hired to create social media content for them. This is where I really found my stride and love for beverage photography.

Throughout my schooling I continued to work with various brands, and just this summer I got my MS! My work has slowed down by choice this summer, but I am excited to pick my camera back up and create some kick ass recipes again soon.

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 think the most impactful quality in my journey as a creative has been my tenacity. There are a lot of “no”s and a lot of people who do not want to see you succeed. It’s important to stick to your true self and vision for your future.

Some other valuable skills I have picked up along the way are self discipline and interpersonal communication. It is very hard to be self motivated when we have so many distractions in our busy lives these days. I have found that creating schedules and time blocking have been detrimental to my success. Also, while being a creative can sometimes be lonely, interpersonal communication comes in real handy when you are working with a brand and their creative team.

The best piece of advice I can offer to someone who is early in their journey is to practice, practice, practice, and to know that not everything you create is going to be perfect. Creating for the sake of creating and play is absolutely vital.

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
The biggest challenge I am currently facing is creative burnout. Throughout my entire creative journey, I was also a full time grad student. I definitely burned the candle at both ends and decided to step back this summer and take a break.

I find that forcing myself to be creative results in less than stellar work. It becomes a vicious cycle because I find myself hating my work when I force it, then I don’t want to create, and so on.

I have only worked on a few small projects since May of this year and it has been so refreshing to just explore other interests and hobbies. My batteries have been getting charged and I have a long shot list of things I want to experiment and I’m almost ready to get back to it!

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