Meet Kit Mizeres | Artist & Drifter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kit Mizeres and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kit, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I would of course say it’s because of my passion for making art.. but really it’s because it allows me freedom, more than anything else. To me, freedom is the ability to be able to do whatever you’d like with the time that you have. Control over your time and how you get to spend it is the ultimate luxury in life, and having a career that allows for you to dictate how you spend your time each day has always been my little carrot hanging at the end of the stick that I chase. But hey, the art making process is what also gets me leaping out of bed each morning, too! So I’m thankful to be blessed with the best of both worlds here. I’ve been fortunate to reach the point to where I can make paintings and simply sell them once completed, and I try my best to keep it as simple as that. I’m an incredibly anxious person who’s life is painfully incapacitated by my tedious OCD and extreme desire for full control over everything at all times, so I’ve been doing what I can to always place myself in a situation where I don’t work under someone else, only take art commissions that allow me full control, and stick with projects that allow for my full artistic freedom. This is what I’ve always admired about creative careers, this ability that allows for full control and a more independent career path of your choosing, if you’re hungry enough for it.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I wouldn’t say my art is all that unique to other new contemporary artists in my genre. Stylistically, it falls a bit into the pop-surrealism realm and mostly consists of strange surrealistic flora and fauna motifs. Shortly after graduating from a small art college in Columbus, Ohio (I majored in illustration there), I realized I just wanted to sit around and paint all day. So that’s when I decided to jump into the gallery scene and reached out to a lot of galleries I admired with the hopes to display my art there some day. And from there, my opportunities and career expanded to where nowadays I generally just make art that I enjoy making and sell it online directly to any willing art lovers! Maybe the one thing that sets me apart from other artists is the fact that I haven’t really had a home these last several years. I’m sort of a long-term backpacker. This is partially because I want to see the world, but also because it’s more affordable than living in the States, ha! But because I live out of my backpack, I’m pretty limited in what I can create since I’m always on the move. This means I’ve had to stick with gouache and watercolor painting as opposed to oil painting, now. I also can’t paint very large works since I need to be able to carry them with me on my back at all times. It’s been a bit of a challenge and has a lot of downsides to it, but in the end it’s worth it to be able to enjoy what this world has to offer.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Hmm, I’m not sure how to answer this because I’m not based anywhere and haven’t been so for years. But when the war is over and we’re finally sick of our travels, my partner and I plan to move back to Kyiv because that’s where our hearts belong (it’s also my partner’s hometown and where we met each other). Spring time is my favorite in Ukraine, so I’d advise to come then. After spending the mornings eating some syrniki pancakes and drinking yummy coffee at one of the countless specialty coffee spots in the city, we would go see all the pretty touristy sites like the Golden Gate, landscape alley, and the countless cathedrals all in the center. We’d also spend most of our time fattening up in my favorite underground pho spot or snack on some khinkali at my favorite Georgian restaurant near Independence Square. We’d walk through the beautiful parks that stretch along the Dnipro river, across my favorite glass bridge and make our way towards Podil, one of the prettiest neighborhoods in Kyiv. We’d stock up on our favorite drinks and snacks at the Silpo supermarket and enjoy the drunken atmosphere of the young crowds sprawled out around the streets, playing music and dancing about. And if I’m feeling extra boujee, we’d visit some underground speakeasies in the evening (though I may need to re-seek the updated passwords to some of them, since it’s been some time since my last visit)!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Oh, my dad, of course! Even though I’m a little pissed at him right now for having just blown away $500 the other day on an hour-long telephone call with a “reputable psychic medium” he caught wind of.. I still look up to him (most of the time). He’s a pretty… eclectic guy. I grew up watching him transform himself and his career every step of the way, which in turn heavily shaped how I viewed my own career path. He’s one of those “self-made” kind of guys. He always knew he wanted to work for no-one else but himself, so some years ago he started his own home inspection business. I watched him over the years as he worked tirelessly to get his business off the ground and eventually even quit his day job to run it full-time. And now I can proudly say his business is one of the most successful in our region, with several people even working under his wing! It took him years to reach his goals, but I’m so proud of how far he’s come. And now, he has all the time in the world to himself, enough to walk the dog four hours a day and apparently blow his money on as many scams as his little heart desires. He’s always fully supported my brothers and I in whatever endeavors we chased after, which I recognize is an incredible privilege to grow up with. He never once judged us for our passions, and fully supported us emotionally and financially when he could to get us there.. Without him, I certainly wouldn’t be where I am today.

Website: https://linktr.ee/kitmizeresart

Instagram: @kitmizeresart

Twitter: @kitmizeresart

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