Bio / Portfolio

5% of all proceeds for Hummingbird Studios go to support Ahlzeimer’s Association. 

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Artist’s Bio

Hi! I am Windy Kai, Artist / Teacher, owner of Hummingbird Studios…  My husband and I recently upended our lives, sold everything we owned and moved to Italy.  It may sound crazy but it is our dream…and we love it here…

I graduated with both an Associates and Bachelors degree in Art and Education. I have 21 years of teaching experience and have participated in various Art groups, swaps, trades, publishing endeavors and been featured on CBS 11 and in Artitude Zine. In the States I held various workshops at local art facilities including art journaling, collage, soul journals, altered books and mixed media techniques. Not to mention teaching Art during the day to 13 and 14 year olds!

I was born in Honolulu Hawaii during the tumultuous early 70’s. After the war I was raised in a small Texas town where the extent of my art exposure was framed bluebonnets painted by ladies 60 years my elder. While these kinds of works have their place in the hearts of many, I felt no connection to the work nor the artists, neither aesthetically nor generationally. It wasn’t until college when I moved out of the small country town that I was exposed to a plethora of art that finally spoke to me and I knew from the first installation I saw outside the building where my first college class awaited that my life had changed and that art would be a part of it.

I taught for 21 years and over the years have continued my own art, now in Italy. However, it was only after my grandmother’s passing, as a result of Alzheimer’s that Hummingbird Studios was born and I began to pursue my art on a more full time basis. What I had been perfectly content to do part time simply was not enough anymore. It consumed me and for the last 15 years Art, which has influenced my life even from those bluebonnets, which I’ve come to appreciate, Art no longer influenced my life, it became my life. It’s no longer a choice, no longer part time….I’m 47 years old and now closer to the age of those little ladies who painted those sweet bluebonnets all those years ago….and as the saying goes, Life begins at 40, well…in respect to my artistic life, I can vouch for that!

I am Hummingbird Studios and I have to acknowledge that beginning. My precious grandmother loved hummingbirds. She collected them to no end. She gave them as gifts and I never appreciated them until she was gone and now they surround me and follow me in my heart and my mind and often in reality. So I owe Hummingbird Studios to Jerry Mize. I miss her daily and dearly and my wish is for Hummingbird Studios to keep her memory alive and for her to see my art from wherever she might be, around and above us.

Now from Italy, I hope you enjoy this peek into my world through my art and my grandmother’s eyes….

Artist’s Statement

To ask an artist about their process is akin to asking someone how they breathe. It’s difficult for me to explain, it just happens.  I work in mixed-media and I’m very “ADD” in my styles of art.  I tend to do one series of complete representational styles and then the next month find myself doing a series of abstract work.  I go with what inspires me and that could be anything; a picture in a magazine, a phrase in a book, a walk outside, or something my husband said.  However I will say most of all what influences me the most is my grandmother. Hummingbird Studios was named after her her love of the little bird and you will see this little bird show up in my work often.

I start out with a substrate and place down any and everything that moves me.  Maps, letters, molding paste with stamps for texture, leaves or herbs ground up in paste or medium for texture all for a background and then it can either develop into a realistic piece or an abstract piece.  My abstract pieces are very cubist in nature, while my representational pieces are more folksy and whimsical.  I use everything from old letters and photos to wire and stones from an old piece of costume jewelry found at a flea market.

I don’t pretend to know what will come of any piece that I begin, I don’t think it’s my business to know.  It’s my job just to trust the universe, go with the flow of and the Universe….then see what happens

Gallery Shop: Fine Art America

Blog:  https://windykai.wordpress.com/

Gift Boutique:  Red Bubble

Facebook: Hummingbird Studios

Twitter: Windy Kai

Tumblr: Windy Kai

Linkdin: Windy Kai Hummingbird Studios

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