A Practice Of Noticing - Artist Kim Kopp
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One of Kim Kopp’s many drawers of surprise. Photo by Carolyn Lewis. [/caption]
Arts reporting by Carolyn Lewis
Nestled amongst tall thickets of bamboo, Kim Kopp’s studio is overflowing with the beautiful work she has created over her many years as an artist. There are many pieces in progress, and drawers of well-organized treasures have been collected over time, which are an integral part of her creative journey. She personally gathers all her materials, venturing to art supply stores, hardware stores, and sometimes unexpected places.
Kopp says that curiosity drives her—encountering an unfamiliar material sparks a desire to experiment, to understand its possibilities. Her material choices are always project-specific, ensuring the content and idea complement the medium. Kopp said, "The material must always remain subservient to the artwork itself. I want the art to take center stage, rather than its technical construction."
When combining textures and forms within a composition, her approach is initially intuitive. The visual and formal elements come together organically before being refined through compositional adjustments that support the content. Each element is considered with care, ensuring harmony between texture, form, and message.
Kopp has never adhered to a strict artistic tradition. While she describes herself as a “painter,” her work often extends beyond conventional boundaries. Experimenting with different mediums energizes her creative process, she says, prompting her to push the limits of materials in new and surprising ways.
Tar and gold leaf, for example, might find their way into an oil painting to create striking textural contrasts. In her “Tangle and String Variations” series, she developed an atmospheric technique using powdered pigments and graphite, delicately dispersed with salt shakers. This method evolved further through layering translucent Japanese papers. "The joy of discovery fuels my work. I embrace experimentation, where failure becomes a valuable teacher, leading me toward my next creative breakthrough," Kopp said.
As a child, she found nature fascinating, and it's obvious that this influence remains deeply embedded in her artistic practice. Kopp said she has always appreciated time and place—elements that shape her work. "Time can reference memory, the passage of the day, or the shifting seasons, while a place might be a bustling cityscape, a serene forest, or a coastline. Each project reflects an awareness of time as I navigate through life."
Kopp often works in series, exploring themes and variations over extended periods. For example, her calendar project began as a simple studio exercise—one small painting per day for an entire year. Over time, recurring motifs emerged: seed pods, beetle shells, boat forms, and architectural notations. These themes gradually coalesced into seasonal inspirations and large-scale multi-panel works.
As a gatherer of materials, inspiration often comes from unexpected sources. Each project has a life of its own, evolving beyond its original concept.
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Photo by Carolyn Lewis [/caption]
Among the pieces influencing her present work is a 2004 Snow Globe series, which she created for Frolick Gallery in Portland, OR. Besides the globe that lives permanently in her studio, the other ten are now in private collections. In the series, she explored unconventional materials to craft diorama-like snow globes that depicted childhood memories. Using acetate text fragments, small objects, and glitter for the “snow,” and mineral oil for its clarity and viscosity, she constructed the pieces in food canisters, jars, and even fishbowls. Each globe rested on a base of scrub brushes to introduce a subtle wobble.
Though she produced fewer than a dozen of these works over 20 years ago, she said their experimentation continues to impact her artistic direction. In her current series, Kopp revisits these same techniques, and although she has shifted scale, she continues to pay attention to the proportions and her use of space.
Recently, she has been drawn to everyday structures encountered on her frequent walks—chairs in schoolyards, traffic cones on streets, suspended tarps. These objects, photographed in their natural environment, find their way into her drawings, stripped of recognizable context to form new visual narratives. The lack of context intrigues her, prompting her to experiment with scale, texture, and material to see what they might communicate.
Alongside this series, she is working on a separate collection of equine drawings, focusing on silent communication and spatial relationships.
Maintaining a dedicated studio practice is crucial to sustaining her career, she says. "Over more than thirty years, I’ve embraced natural shifts in content, material, and form. Some series span several years, while others emerge more quickly. Through each project, I uncover elements that lead to new work, sometimes circling back to past ideas, unearthing fresh inspiration..Art is an ongoing conversation—one that continuously evolves."
Kopp has an upcoming exhibition in September 2025 at the Ferguson Gallery at the Jefferson County Historical Society which will offer a retrospective view of her work spanning three decades in Port Townsend. Learn more about Kopp’s work at www.kimkopp.com
Carolyn Lewis is a serial entrepreneur, artist, and community builder happily living and volunteering in Port Townsend. Visit her social media group on Facebook at Port Townsend Life and follow her on Instagram @linalewisart
