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Visual Arts Kale Sheppard 22 Creating Art and Self-Compassion: Kale Sheppard's Lifelong Path to Professional Artistry "I've actually been doing art my whole life like ever since I was very, very little. That's something I always wanted to do," Kale Sheppard explains. They live and create art in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where they got their big break. Their home community is Postville, Labrador and they grew up in a small town in southern Manitoba. Now a full time visual artist, Sheppard works in murals and digital illustration, and is looking to do more bone and stone carving. there I guess murals really jump-started my career. I worked in murals and then I got jobs in digital illustration. I've had more and more opportunities pop up as I've advanced in my career and it's been really awesome," they smile. They've also been learning about carving from a local artist who connected with them through the gallery. They credit the vocational school they attended with their initial growth as an artist, a place which gave them the chance to work with many different materials, solidifying Sheppard's desire to have a multi-disciplinary art practice. They took any available arts course, from jewelry arts, hairstyling, to drama in school and as many free programs after school as possible. From printing to collage, through free workshops and researching online, Sheppard deepened their practice at a time when tuition and going to school just wasn't in the budget. Growing up in a lower middle-class home, Sheppard knows financial struggle. "I've had times living paycheck to paycheck and can't always meet my bills so I don't have the funds for art supplies necessarily, or things like that. But when I have been in those situations, I never let it stop me," they relay. Sheppard has relied on programs that provide free art supplies in the city, or purchasing through thrift stores and dollar stores to keep creating. I've always found ways to work around it so that I never have to stop doing what I love. Sheppard was also bullied in childhood, their family moved often and Sheppard also struggled with their mental health, making completing commissions and meeting deadlines difficult. Good support systems and self-compassion have been crucial. Over time, they've found the lack of structure in artist life can be a blessing and challenge. "It's not like a typical nine to five job, there's no set milestones for telling you that you're doing things correctly. It's free flowing, and you make your own schedules, routines and standards for yourself. It's very easy to get caught up in your head with that," Sheppard offers. If they could give advice to their younger self it would be to take advantage of more opportunities. "For as many classes and things as I did do, there's probably 10 other ones that I didn't do that would have really been helpful," they remember. They could have received a jewelry metalsmithing degree through the free courses offered by their vocational school and they regret not doing so. I was given an opportunity by the Winnipeg Art Gallery to create my first mural then it became another mural and from

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