Meet Kim Ahonoukoun | Contemporary Impressionist Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kim Ahonoukoun and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kim, what is the most important factor behind your success?
I would say that the most important factor behind the success of my brand is how I can connect with people either in-person or with my followers on social media.

Yes, of course, there is thousand of hours of work put into “THE” product itself which is in my case paintings. However, you can have the best product in the world but at the end, if you don’t do what it takes to put it out there, no one is ever going to noticed it.

One of my biggest passions is truly to engage into great conversations about life, art, empowerment,etc.

I am lucky enough to have great relationships not only with fellow artists, art dealers, gallerists, art lovers & collectors but most importantly business people who have been doing business for way longer than me.

Having a mentor is also an important part of a successful business.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Well… what I think might interest people is the fact that I only started to paint 20 months ago. I woke up one morning and I had only one thing in my mind : I had to learn how to oil paint!

Don’t get me wrong, I have always been an artist since I am a little girl but yet, I never tried to oil paint.

I am going to be completely honest with you by saying that the only thing I wanted to paint was Monet”s type of paintings.

Claude Monet is the only painter who has of today, makes me cry every single time I see one of is painting up close.

I have such a “spiritual” connection with him that when I paint, I also feel his presence.

I am a highly spiritual human beings and for one year straight, during my daily meditation sessions, I asked my “guardian angel” to give me just a small percentage of Monet’s talent…
I know it sounds completely crazy… but in a way.. it kind of happened…

Also, when I started to paint, I put myself into the idea that I will follow Malcolm Gladwell’s 10 000 hours rules. Again, it kind of worked for me. I can say that almost every day since the past 20 months, if I don’t paint, I meditate, write or read books. I have never read that many books in my life since Law school…. All subjects.. Art, business, self-empowerment, marketing, stock markets, NFTs,etc…

When I say “reading” it includes a lot of hours of Audible. Since I have dyslexia, it takes a lot of effort for me to read a book but I pushed through it just like I did through Law School.

Resilience is the stronger strengths that I have.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
My best friend Nadine came to help me few weeks ago for Miami art week show. There was some ultimate spots I wanted to show her :

FAENA Hotel !!! I mean, Alan Faena is a total Genius. What he created is not just an hotel, it is a LIFE Experience !!!

The Everglades because it is my main source of inspirations for my paintings.

Design district for the shopping!!

Swan restaurant for the atmosphere and quality of the food!!

The Standard hotel for the best vibe!!

PAMM museum for their incredible collections and exhibitions

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My family and my closest friends( you know who you are) who always believed in me and were behind me when I did a totally 360 20 months ago, at 34 years old, and I decided not only to learn from scratch how to oil paint but to live from my Art.

I want to thank my first Art teacher Tom De Vita for showing me some amazing art techniques.

I want to thank the incredible NYC artist Ken Goshen to have taught me so much in such a little amount of time. The way I understand colors today is mainly because of him.

I want to thank the artist Pavel Sokov for referring me the best possible book for a business person :
“Atomic Habits” by the brilliant James Clear.

I want to thank Mikheal Ricks, ex NFL player, who has been my personal trainer for more than 3 years. He also was my first friend when I moved from NYC to Weston, FL. We always have the best conversations about life goals, work, spirituality, etc.

I ant to also thank Brandon Ward who is a nutritionist and personal trainer. He is one of the smartest people I have met.

To all the gallerists who gave me a chance the past year to be part of their Art shows, thank you.

To my art dealer in NYC Gene Siedman, thank you for believing in me. You are a very “I”ntuitive man. 😉
I think that you and I, we will create something pretty special.

Finally, to my 4 year old daughter Luna Solana, she is such a gem to be around. She is even more an artist that I am so I thank her for her patience because I brought her to so many concerts, museums, painting sessions, etc… A lot for a toddler… but she truly loves it so I am happy on how it turned out for her.

Website: www.kimahonoukounart.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kim.ahonoukoun/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kim-ahonoukoun-b78a9222/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KAhonoukoun

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAmi3R_zVYd7ppjtoOz1Weg