Kendall Coyer is a Painter and Singer living in Long Beach California, who pours her heart out onto her canvas and music. She wears her heart on her sleeve as an artist and is an open book when it comes to her life struggles with dark concepts for her paintings. Kendall turns her troubles into art as her version of therapy but she noticed people seemed to like what she did so she decided to pursue art as a career. Lately, there has been more color and happiness in her life so her art is ever-changing and the possibilities are endless. We are so excited to include some of her beautiful work in our 4/20 Merch Launch Collection!
Kendall began exploring art as an escape from boredom when she was younger. “My parents were Mormon so they took me to church every Sunday and each Sunday it was three hours long. As a kid you just get so bored you look for anything to do. I saw my brother drawing to kill time so I decided I might try that when I was old enough to draw, around 3 years old, then I just never stopped. When life got hard as I got older, I felt like the only thing that would shut off my mind was painting. So then it became more therapy than anything.”
There was another inspiration when it comes to art, from Kendall’s childhood.
“I had an art class and met my favorite art teacher, Mr. Black, and he changed my life and really showed me most of what I know. He inspired and challenged me, and also provided a place for me to hang out during lunchtime. I was bullied a lot in high school so I would always go to the art room for lunch and just finish projects I was working on; I felt safe in there. Then one day he got the opportunity to teach an after-school program at the Pomona Fairplex and so I joined of course. Then a donation was made by an amazing artist that wanted to use her money to send young artists around the world to get inspired. So she definitely inspired me, her name was Ruth and she was a beautiful positive woman who wanted to share her happiness and inspiration with other artists and give others an opportunity that they might not have been able to afford normally. I remember, I painted a portrait of her to thank her for the Italy trip she paid for, for other students and I to go to, and I remember her telling me ‘you are my favorite.’ I feel like I owe it to her to pursue life as an artist, just to make sure I make her proud and also to find happiness and the opportunity to help others as she did.”
She draws inspiration from her own personal life experiences or emotions. I went through a red phase when I was going through a really hard time. The painting ‘Lost in love’ is inspired by the fact that when you are truly in love with someone, they have your heart in the palm of their hand and they can do whatever they want with it. They can choose to take care of it till the day you die or they can crush your heart and make you want to die. That’s just my personal inspiration for that particular piece but I love hearing people’s ideas on the inspiration for a piece before I tell them the correct answer, because it’s super interesting to see what other people get from my artistic ideas or concepts. I have heard so many different takes on one piece from different people.”
Her artistic style of art depends on her mood or what she is going through in life at that moment. “I’ll use colors to express emotions and paint different concepts to tell a story. So my style is ever-changing just like my life and my story.”
Kendall was introduced to cannabis by some friends in middle school at 13 years old. “A little young I guess, but hey, who wasn’t trying to rebel and do things you weren’t supposed to at that age?” These days, she consumes daily for mental and physical health benefits. “I smoke for mental clarity and also for my back pain, I’m always in pain but cannabis helps take the pain away mentally and physically. I believe this is a better solution than traditional pharmaceuticals, plus it just makes me forget about everything else and just be happy. Creatively, it (cannabis) helps tremendously, Usually, my painting process includes a bowl from my bong, maybe a Radiohead live show playing in the background for some inspiration, then I’ll paint until I can’t paint anymore.”
While she loves a bong, Kendall is also always down for a toke on the go. “l smoke out of whatever on the go. Joints are always a treat too. But how I usually pick things out when I’m getting new glass is making sure it’s a fun color like pink, and I learned that I don’t like percs because they break easily and I’m too clumsy for that.”
Kendall says that most of the people in her circle consume cannabis so it is normal and stigma-free for the most part. With that said, she does believe there are misconceptions when it comes to the cannabis industry that need to change. “It makes me sad to think of all the people who have been charged criminal charges and who are locked up because of possession of weed when now it’s commercialized and the government profits off of the same thing that people are still in jail for. Times are changing and the laws are still in the process of changing but I choose to go straight to the grower and I’m lucky enough to have found an affordable organic grower. That way what I’m consuming is safe and not supporting an unjust system.”
Kendall believes that anyone can make art. “It’s all perspective and emotional release...I say everyone should try putting a pause on life for a second, forget everything else and just smoke a bowl of your favorite weed and try to create anything… music, art, poetry. If you just try, you never know the possibilities of what you will discover you are capable of.”
When she isn’t working on canvas, you can find Kendall creating music with her group The Intuitions. “Our debut 45 is being pressed as we speak and I’m super excited to see my art on a vinyl cover. I can’t wait to discover the possibilities of combining art and music in this way which I haven’t done before.”
We are so excited about the beautiful design that Kendall put together for the 4/20 Merch Launch Collection! “The painting for this launch is called “Damaged but not Defeated.” It’s basically about staying strong after life tries to knock you down over and over again. I also wanted to tie in a feminine energy to show the strength and beauty of a woman and what we all go through. More personally for me, this concept was tied into sexual assault and other unfortunate events that have happened to me throughout my life. This painting is also special to me because it’s where I looked for comfort and clarity when I just found out my mom’s cancer came back. (Don’t worry she’s healthy now.) This painting was an emotional release for me during a troubled time in my life.” So emotional and beautiful.
When it comes to what’s next Kendall is looking forward to in-person art shows. “ I am entering this bright color phase and I’m using as many bright colors as I possibly can on my canvas. At the end of the pandemic, I hope to put together my art shows again. In the past, I threw an art show that was successful but then the pandemic hit before I could put together more art shows, although the pandemic does allow me more time to paint and get inspired. I have decided I also want to experiment with textures and sculpting, so who knows what I’ll show at my next art show, the possibilities are endless!”
She believes that the world can learn to be more unified and connected through the cannabis community. “I think if everyone used cannabis maybe we all would get along more and be more united. Who knows the possibilities, maybe there would be a little less hate and more happiness in the world and also more understanding for each other. If it can help with your mood, with pain, illnesses, cancer, why the hell wouldn’t you use it? I just feel like cannabis was put here for a reason and it’s for us to use to help us through the struggles of life and make things a little easier to handle. Almost like a shield helping me fight off negativity. But hey that’s just me. It’s looked down upon by so many people, but I’m not too sure why when the positive possibilities are endless.
Stay tuned to see Kendall designs in the StoStonedCo 4/20 Merch Launch! To learn more about Kendall and Blood Red Bloom please follow her on Instagram @thatvegangurrrl and check out her Etsy Shop here!