We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kurt Giehl a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Kurt, first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
I started painting full time seven years ago after 25 years in Investment Banking. As you can imagine, the path from Investment Banking to artist isn’t exactly the normal career path. I also have no formal degrees or training in art. So, my imposter syndrome was very real and ever present when I began my creative journey. The way I overcame imposter syndrome was through hard work, commitment, and engaging with the local Hampton’s art scene. I painted every day; experimenting and trying to find my inspiration and creative voice. As I began exhibiting my art more and selling paintings, the imposter syndrome has faded away. I learned that there is no one way to achieving your goals or career aspirations. If you have the drive, focus, and commitment to hard work, those goals can be achieved regardless of your background.
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 I mentioned, I spent the bulk of my career working for a major financial institution in Investment Banking. While I loved my career and found it very rewarding in many ways, I never felt like I was doing what I should be doing. When I turned 50, and naturally assessed my life and career, my assessment came up short of what I wanted to contribute to this world.
It was at that point I decided to leave the financial services world behind, and begin my art career in earnest. Early on, I received excellent advice from very well established artists. If you want to be successful, you must treat your creative journey as a job. That meant painting every day, exploring new techniques, educating myself on paint and mediums, and setting goals.
After putting in the effort, I’ve now exhibited my artwork across the United States, and have sold hundreds of paintings. Modus, a gallery in Paris, France is also exhibiting a number of my paintings from my Block Series.
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?
In both my career in Investment Banking and as an artist, I think my communication skills greatly impacted my success. As an artist, a significant amount of my business is through commissions. My ability to listen to what interests and inspires a collector, and then communicate my interpretation of their goals, has been invaluable to ensuring a successful piece of art that meets their requirements, but remains true to my artistic vision.
Hard work! No goals, or success, happens without putting in the time and effort. It was important for me to visualize where I wanted to go with my art, and then develop a plan to work towards those goals.
Because I don’t have a formal education in art, it has always been important for me to have valued and qualified mentors who could honestly critique my work and help me improve. My ability to grow as an artist has benefited immensely from the advice and guidance of others.
My advice for anyone early in their journey to improve on these qualities is simple. Identify people who excel in these qualities and learn from them. How did they acquire the qualities or skills? Ask them to be your mentor.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
I love working with individuals on commissions. The collaboration of my collector’s ideas and their inspiration with my creative voice and vision is incredibly rewarding.
Going forward, I would like to collaborate with individuals on larger scale projects. Whether that be art for public spaces, hotels, or other institutional spaces. The idea of collaborating with individuals to meet their specific needs, while also placing my art in spaces that could be seen by more people, really intrigues me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kurtgiehl.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kurtgiehl
Image Credits
Photo of Kurt Giehl is by Jaime Lopez. I’ve made the credit directly in the image.
