We’re looking forward to introducing you to Kay Sarver. Check out our conversation below.
Good morning Kay, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? What makes you lose track of time—and find yourself again?
When I am in my studio creating art I would compare it to meditation. It’s a process that allows my inner child to come out and play, which feels deeply primal, a necessary connection that needs to be made in order to create something true to who I am.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My latest series of paintings is titled Sleepwalking, and will be on view at Archway Gallery in Houston, Texas in December of this year. Since the beginning of 2025, I have felt as if I am in a dream. It often feels more like a chaotic nightmare, while I am walking through it – sleepwalking. When I was a child and life was stressful, I would fall into an imaginary world seeing animals living in small villages, deep in the forest. I would draw upon these ideas for hours. I mention this because I feel this need, as an adult, to create paintings from my imagination rather than using photos to express what I see. Working this way has felt vulnerable, and oddly comforting in the same moment. The familiar safeness I felt while drawing as a child is coming alive in this process, helping me to see and feel the magic. We tend to forget that there is magic here, especially with so much troubling news coming at us at every moment.
Part of this new direction in my work was my interest in the use of Tarot cards, which fascinated me as I digested the meanings of each card, the characters with their stories, metaphors, archetypes and symbols. Learning Tarot has taught me to see more clearly the signs and messages that happen all around us, giving deeper meaning to my paintings in this body of work.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
There are many moments, but some that stand out are the Covid pandemic and more recently the political chaos we are experiencing. I would also clarify that it isn’t so much how I see our world as how I see life. It seems we are motivated to change when our world as we thought we knew it gets a shake up… more like a wake up call. I have also realized that there is so much beauty we don’t see or hear about as it doesn’t generally make news headlines. Humans are going through a rather fast evolution, but everything starts from within ourselves. If we want peace, we must become the peace. If we wish for a more loving humanity, then we must become more loving. In the end, we are coming together, finding that we have always been connected with one heart.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
It is so difficult to feel like a failure. But is it ever a failure when we come through a challenge to the other side, more empowered than we ever could have imagined? Rejection is one of the hardest lessons in life, and a common experience for artists. I am reminded of some famous writers, one being Stephen King who talked about the many rejections he had for some of his first books before he was finally published. He just kept going until someone saw his book as worthy. The difference between those who succeed and those who do not is persistence and not giving up. I still have to remind myself of this. I tend to see the glass half full most of the time, and this is simply because I have had many challenges and opportunities that allowed me to learn and grow in this direction.
So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. Is the public version of you the real you?
Without question.
Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I would hope they would see that I lived my life with intention and purpose, doing what I was uniquely put on this planet to create and to be. That I embraced love knowing full well that the price to pay is to risk losing it, and that I learned to never hold back from finding my joy, hoping that my light helped to shine the way for others to find their joy.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.kaysarverart.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaysarverart/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kay.sarver
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@houstonarttribe4814/videos
