Kimberly Reed-Deemer grew up in Woodstock, Illinois, a small town northwest of Chicago. She attended the prestigious American Academy of Art in Chicago, eventually continuing her education at Northern Illinois University. After leaving NIU, she worked mostly in portraiture and landscapes, focusing on charcoal, pen and ink drawings, and watercolors.
In 1993 Kimberly’s travels to the Mexican Yucatan not only generated a series of ink and watercolor compositions of Maya ruins, but also motivated her to return to school to pursue a degree program in anthropology. While earning her degrees she worked in scientific illustration and was hired by world-class paleontologists to produce illustrations of major fossil human and non-human primate discoveries, including illustrations published in The New York Times, Newsweek, Popular Science, scholarly publications, and featured on network television news.
Upon moving to New Mexico in 2004, and freshly inspired by the cultural and natural landscape of the area, Kimberly returned to fine art full time. Her current body of work includes distinctive interpretations of Southwestern subjects such as Baile Folklorico, Flamenco and Native American dancers, as well as evocative landscapes in oil or watercolor with ink.
Her work has garnered numerous awards and has been exhibited at many venues throughout the region. Kimberly was featured artist twice on American Artist magazine’s Artist Daily web site, and is gaining national recognition for her figurative work. In October of 2013 Fine Art Views newsletter, Informed Collector, identified Kimberly as a Canvoo Focal Point artist-to-collect, describing her ongoing series of figurative paintings of the metal sculptors of New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas as:
“An intimate portrayal of iron workers at a foundry. An intensity of purpose and action is evident in these engaging and well-drawn oils.”
Kim’s oil painting, ‘Eagle Dance,’ was juried into the 2014 Gala silent auction at The Taos Art Museum. Kimberly was invited to show two of her paintings in New Mexico Highlands University’s first Invitational Exhibit at the Bell Gallery in Kennedy Hall, which opened August 17, 2014, and the 2015 Iron Tribe Conference exhibit. Her originals are featured at the historic La Posada de Santa Fe, the art hotel of New Mexico.
We are thrilled to feature the original oil paintings of this brilliant painter. For more information please contact Sara Eyestone, La Posada’s art curator. 505-577-4991 or saraeyestone@yahoo.com.
