BUSINESS FEATURE Kim Ortiz Portrait Art Photographer uses her craft to create legacies K im Ortiz, a photographer and mixed-media artist in the Hill Country Galleria, said she hopes to inspire everyone to do what they love to do.
BY TAYLOR CRIPE
Mixed-media paintings are a three- to four-month process that involve taking the photos, painting the photo in a special software on the computer and then printing the photo and placing it on canvas to paint the photo by hand, she said. Because the process involved in mixed-media art is so time-consum- ing, Ortiz only sees around 30-50 clients a year. “What I do is a luxury,” she said. “But it’s also important because of the story I’m creating.” Ortiz, who owns six rescue dogs, said she had this revelation when one of her dogs, Leilani, died in 2017. “Dogs are like family, and they don’t live forever, but if you have a portrait done of your dog, they live forever,” she said. She said everything she does is about creating a legacy. “Portraits are all we have of our family when someone dies,” she said. Ortiz also said she hopes to create lasting legacies through her work and donations to nonpro t organizations. In the last 10 years, she has raised $30,000 for various organizations, and she is working on raising money through her business for the Ameri- can Heart Association and the Austin Humane Society. “I’m very fortunate to be here at the Hill Country Galleria because I live here,” she said. “I’m very active in the community, and anyone who asks for a donation, whatever nonpro t it is, I will donate.”
Ortiz was a certi ed public accoun- tant before being laid o in 2012; she had been taking photography courses on the side since 2008 and saw it as an opportunity to start a new career. “It was like a turning point, and I said, ‘I’m going to do what I love,’” she said. Ortiz then built a new photography studio in Dallas in 2014 and ran a suc- cessful business for ve years before deciding to move to Austin in 2019; she eventually opened a new studio at the Galleria in January 2020. At the beginning of February, Ortiz relocated her studio to a new spot in the Galleria that she said is “more central.” “I’ve already noticed more people stopping to look through my win- dows since I changed locations,” Ortiz said. Her photography and gallery mostly features dogs; however, she said this is only part of her business as she also photographs families, families with their dogs, headshots for executives and high school seniors. While she does do traditional photography, Ortiz said her specialty is as a mixed-media artist and photographer. “Mixed-media paintings are my signature product, and I’m the only one in Lake Travis who does them,” she said.
Kim Ortiz provides luxury photo sessions at her studio. PHOTOS BY TAYLOR CRIPE COMMUNITY IMPACT
Ortiz opened her portrait studio in the Hill Country Galleria in 2020.
One of Ortiz’s specialties is dog and pet photography.
MIXING IT UP
Kim Ortiz’s specialty is in mixed-media art, or using software and paint to turn a traditional photograph into a painted portrait. This is the process involved in creating a mixed-media portrait:
STEP 2: After being uploaded to a special software, the photo is painted inside the program.
STEP 3: The photo is printed, placed on canvas and then hand painted using oil and acrylic paint.
STEP 1: A photoshoot is done with the clients using an array of backdrops, costumes and lighting.
Kim Ortiz Portrait Art 12700 Hill Country Blvd., Ste. S-120, Bee Cave 512-817-4996 www.kimortiz.com Hours: Tue.-Fri. 1-5 p.m., Sat. by appointment only, closed Sun.-Mon.
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LAKE TRAVIS WESTLAKE EDITION • MARCH 2023
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