Meet Katie Grugin | Artist and Graduate Student

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

Hi Katie, other than deciding to work for yourself, what else do you think played a pivotal role in your story?
The single most important decision I have made for my art and myself that was to say yes to a close friend when she reached and asked if I would illustrate the cover of a book of poetry. I was getting out of the military after an injury, I was devastated and dealing with major life transitions, and it would have been so easy to say no and that I had too much going on. Instead I said yes, and suddenly I had something new to take the place of what I was losing, and I discovered an outlet I did not know I had available to me. Saying yes and then finishing the project and having someone whose opinion I cared about so much love what I did, it was amazing for me in that moment. That first project was an opportunity to bring myself out of my comfort zone in a way that felt safe for me, and it allowed me to explore who I wanted to be as an artist. I won’t say that it gave me something to hold on to while I was struggling with change, but it definitely gave me something to do. That first yes for anything is so hard, but it leads to so much.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I tell people all of the time that if I could do any other (and by other i mean faster) style of art than the black and white ink drawings I do than I would, but that is what I have, and so I take the hours and hours and hours to complete a piece. I am a self-taught artist, which I feel like is clear to a lot of people, but I hope that people get something out of what I do. It has been a slow learning process, and a lot of feeling that I am working way harder than I had to if I only knew the shortcuts, but I think it has given me a respect for what I do. I have learned that art is not about instagram. It can be and is for a lot of people, but I learned quickly that nothing makes me hate my own art more than thinking about what I should post. My brand is quieter. It can make me publicly successful or it can be there to keep me company at night while I drink some tea and try to show on paper what I see when i see the world. When I finish a piece I can look at it and think wow, I made that. I made something that I think is beautiful. I want the world to know that I sat down and found something I could do for the rest of my life, and there is nothing to me that is more comforting than that.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would take them to a Braves game all day every day. We would just live at Truist Park. I would also throw in a trip to the High Museum of Art just for a different type of culture.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d like to give a shoutout to my fiance for handing me a sketchbook and a pen while I was stuck on a couch for three months after surgery. I would have lost my mind and instead I found something I loved. Thanks for taking care of me

Email: kgrugin@gmail.com

Instagram: @katiegruginart