Today we’d like to introduce you to Kent.
Hi Kent, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
It all started with the cartoons I grew up watching on Saturday mornings (mostly Scooby Doo and my man Fat Albert!). Around that same time, I began to notice the stained-glass windows in the churches around Cartersville. With both the cartoons and the glass, the big shapes, bold colors, and heavy black outlines always grabbed my attention. I think it was the simplicity…few details, no distractions, and just enough information to get the point across. Add to that those gloriously colorful and mysterious skies in “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”, and several family members who exposed me to folk art when I was a kid and you have what I think are the biggest influences on my painting “style”.
I learned from Potter WJ Gordy (a friend of my grandfather’s) that you could actually have a career doing something you loved. What a revelation that was! And I discovered artists William H. Johnson and Gabriele Munter (both expressionist painters) when I was in my 20’s. I get lost in their work even today. And that’s the point of it all.
I’m now the Director of the Booth Art Academy at the Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville, GA. I love my job and I paint almost every night.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has definitely not been a smooth road. While I do have an art degree, my art career took a while to get going. I ‘accidentally’ got into a different field and spent over 20 years doing something that paid the bills but gave me no satisfaction whatsoever. I’m pretty sure I would have stayed in that field and been too afraid to leave it because it did provide a comfortable living. But I was and would have continued to be miserable. But in 2010 I got laid-off so the choice was kinda made for me. I thought well, if I don’t try now, I may never get another opportunity. So I started volunteering at the Booth Museum. I did that for several months until a part-time position came open in the cafe at the Museum! That turned into a part-time position at the front desk. And that turned into a part-time position at the Booth Art Academy and then that turned into the full-time position that I have now! So, no, not a smooth road but definitely a road worth taking!
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
As Director of the Booth Art Academy my team and I bring in artists from across the country to teach workshops. I get to meet and spend time with some of the most amazing people in the world. I get tons of inspiration from these folks. As an artist, I paint with acrylics in what I consider stylized representational art. My subjects are recognizable but I modify and exaggerate them to put more of the focus on emotion rather than trying to capture any realistic likenesses. I do my best to simplify and remove any unnecessary objects from the painting, only focusing on what i think is important.
What are your plans for the future?
I have no big plans to change anything at this point. I love going to work even though i don’t consider it work. And I love painting in the middle of the night. I’d of course love to sell more of my paintings, but that will happen if/when it’s supposed to. I love creating and i love the challenge of getting an idea from my head to the canvas. It’s not as easy as it sounds. It keeps me awake at times and I’ve taken the box cutters to dozens of paintings that didn’t turn out like what i see in my head. But that’s part of the process.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kentmullinax.com
- Instagram: kentmullinax
- Facebook: m.kent.mullinax
