My name is Kim Hammel and I live in the country near Carlyle, Illinois, which is home to Illinois largest man–made lake. I reside with my husband Bob and daughter Jessica age eight. I also have two step–children Angie age 23, and Kevin, age 26.
Since a young child I have always been interested in art and as a result after graduating from high school I decided to pursue a degree in fine art and eventually become an art teacher. While attending Rend Lake Community College near my hometown of West Frankfort, I started working part – time for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Rend Lake. The reason I got the job was that they were looking for someone with artistic and creative abilities to design brochures, maps, flyers and also present interpretive programs.
I continued working as a Park Ranger while I attended Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, in which I received a BA degree in fine arts. While in college and working toward a teaching degree I received exposure to numerous types of art mediums. After graduating, a rare opportunity for a full time position with the Corps of Engineers at Carlyle Lake became available. It was a tough decision to make, but I accepted the Park Ranger position and moved to Carlyle.
After our daughter was born, I found little time to devote to my artwork. The few pieces that I did complete during the time were in watercolor and graphite. After Jessie began school and I eventually had more time on my hands I decided it was time to give colored pencils the attention that I had always wanted to. Because of my interest in nature, my first attempt was a luna moth drawn on 300lb Arches watercolor paper. One of the benefits of using such a heavyweight paper was my ability to blend colors especially on the background tree bark, using an electric eraser. I thought this attempt was pretty successful, considering the limited resources I had on hand dealing with colored pencil techniques.
From there on, I was hooked on colored pencil and couldn’t get enough. I searched the internet looking for all books, websites and information I could find. I searched the internet looking for all books, websites and information I could find. It was there that I found Ann Kullberg’s book on Colored Pencil Portraits. After being fortunate enough to attend a few of Ann Kullberg’s workshops I have devoted most of my artwork to portraits. I never thought about doing portraits, but after completion of my first portrait, “Jessie”, I realized that I really enjoyed doing them. A lot of people ask me how I can be so patient in the process of building up and layering colors. But, I find it very relaxing and enjoyable.
Colored Pencils definitely will be my medium of choice for the future. And even though portraits will be a large percentage of my work, I would still like to experiment with other subject matter.
I am presently taking commissions for my work, but never want to accept more than I can handle and never want it to be more than a past time. Art has always been a part of my life and is a very enjoyable and satisfying hobby for me. And I hope to continue with my drawing for years to come.
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