We were lucky to catch up with Catherine Kirkland recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Catherine with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
My work ethic comes from the examples my family set. My grandparents and parents. My maternal and paternal grandfathers were the sole bread winners in their respective households, each supporting a wife, multiple children, as well as extended family members.
My maternal grandfather was a policeman who not only provided for his wife and three children, he also supported his aging parents. My paternal grandfather supported his wife, five children and two maiden aunts. Both struggled to keep food on the table during the Great Depression.
My father was the sole bread-winner for my mother and six children, of which I was the eldest. He worked as an electrician, and sometimes had to travel out of town to find work, as it was “gig” job, with job assignments picked up from the union hall. As the family grew, he knew he had to find a way to grow his income, so went to school in the evening to obtain an Electrical Engineer degree.
Seeing these examples of dedication to hard work, self-motivation and dedication to family has molded my work ethic.
This is not to ignore my mother and grandmothers’ contributions. Without their hard work in the home, taking care of aging adults and nurturing children, managing the household budget, being thrifty, resourceful and frugal, their spouses would not have been able to dedicate the time required to their jobs to meet the financial needs. These amazing women worked every bit as hard as their spouses. Maybe even harder.
When I was growing up, my parents held me and my siblings to the standard of: “Did you do your best?” This question would be asked when they reviewed our report cards from school, or asked about a project that may have fallen short of our expectations.
If our response to that question was “No” we were encouraged to do better. If the response was “Yes”, then we would be praised for the results or grades. This approach to parenting inspired me to always do things to the best of my ability, and to keep studying, practicing, working, in order to produce the best grades, best art or best outcome in any project I undertook.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
After retiring in 2017, I have devoted my creative energies to my life-long passion for creating art. All my life I have loved creating, and have been lucky enough to work primarily in creative industries as an advertising art director and and as a production coordinator/manager in publishing and content syndication.
Working in creative businesses and owning my own small freelance art business prior to retiring, gave me the skills to launch my fine art business. I am grateful for all of these lessons obtained throughout my professional career.
Working in businesses that created products from designs by other creators, I learned all the skills needed to do the same for my artwork. After I created a line of distinctive pointillist paintings, I began designing merchandise that features these paintings.
I have an online shop at Threadless that incorporates my artwork on a wide variety of products, from travel mugs and pillows to leggings and skateboards. One painting entitled “Interstitium” is featured on a luxury helmet from The House of Helmets, which is amazing!
My proudest claim, is that I have the “largest art in Lenexa”—the city in which I live—as my painting, “Space #4” is featured on 40-foot banners mounted over the entrance of a multi-purpose building called “The LoFTS” in the City Center. My artwork is also installed throughout this building, both originals and large prints.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The three most important quality and skills that have served me over the course of my career are:
- Be a life-long learner.
You can never know everything, but learning will always expand your horizons and opportunities. - Learn how to take feedback and constructive criticism.
That is the most difficult thing to do, especially as an artist, since creating art is such a personal undertaking. As an advertising art director, however, I learned quickly that the client is always right, and if they hate green, don’t use it in the design. - Accept failure as a win.
Learn from your flops and failures; these experiences are the best teachers. If you never fail, you will never learn resilience, humility and perseverance.
Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
The book and accompanying three day training workshop that I can honestly say had the biggest impact, not only on my professional life, but in every personal interaction, is Steven R. Covey’s “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.”
The lessons in this book are profound. I encourage readers to find it an read it.
Habit 1. Be Proactive
Habit 2. Begin with the end in mind.
Habit 3. Put first things first
Habit 4. Think Win-Win
Habit 5. Seek first to understand, then to be understood
Habit 6. Synergize
Habit 7. Sharpen the Saw
While all seven habits are fundamental to a successful life, Habit 5 is the one I took most to heart. This was life changing for me, from professional negotiations to interacting with my husband and children. I encourage everyone to put this habit into practice.
Habit 7 was the second-most impactful habit to me. Its focus is learning as a lifelong pursuit. Keep your mind and skills sharp.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kirklandcreativeart.com
- Instagram: @kirklandcreativeart
- Facebook: @ArtbyCatherine
- Other: https://linktr.ee/kirklandcreativeart
Image Credits
Photo of Catherine with book: ©2022 C.T. Thongklin Photography. With permission. Images Workshop photo, courtesy of Images Art Gallery, Overland Park, Ks. House of Helmet photo, courtesy of House of Helmet, New York All other photos by Catherine Kirkland
