By Yolanda Garfield
Special to the Review
Lake Orion resident and award winning fine artist Kimberly Santini specializes in painting animals, because she loves them.
‘I’d have had the most glorious childhood, had I grown up on a farm,? she said. ‘But because I didn’t, as a small kid I created a farm around myself with my art, living in the imaginary world I wanted to create.?
This type of passion has never diminished in Kimberly’s approach to art. Her paintings of animals are complex in their balance between excellent form, rich color, and an uncanny connection with the spirit of the animal she is painting. Her paintings elicit an emotional response from anyone who has ever had, or has ever wished for an animal to be a member of the family.
Although she was born to be an artist, as a young woman Kimberly thought she ought to take on adulta responsibilities and get a ‘real? job. Armed with a BFA in Painting and a BA in Art History from Michigan State, Kimberly entered the work force as a technical writer, putting together owners? manuals for the Geo line of cars while moonlighting at a fine art auction house. When the Geo model year was over, she took a full time job with the auction house while painting and exhibiting her work in the Detroit and Flint area.
She married Rick Santini and moved to California, hired in at the Getty Museum, then moved on to open stores for a major children’s retailer before finally working at a software company. ‘But none of these things I was doing were feeding my soul,? she says. ‘So when we had our third child, and we could see