ARTIST PROFILE:
ALICE KUO SHIPPEE
FAST FAVES RIGHT NOW:
City: Seattle, Washington
Smell: Rumchata
Music: Khruangbin
Dessert: anything mocha
Podcast: And She Rises (the f*ck up) by Amanda Frances
Weather: Cool enough for sweater & boots
Souvenir: ground coffee from Costa Rica
Item of Clothing: pleather maxi skirt
BODY OF WORK
-
TEXT & IMAGE
My favorite combo. Enjoy some words accompanied with photography. I like to tell stories with both.
-
AKS DESIGN
Photography, graphic design, websites, & branding
-
EDUCATION
With over 40 years of experience in multiple educational settings, Alice is a seasoned teacher & curriculum designer who is known for her connection with students & her creative ways of bringing all types of subjects to life.
-
THE PV POLARIS
Supporting diversity, equity, & inclusion & student perspectives & self-expression in the Palos Verdes Peninsula School District.
ALICE IN THIS MOMENT
How would you describe this moment in your life right now?
Open! My new mantra is, “Let’s try it!”
Somehow in the last year, everything I’ve ever done in my life has starting coming together. Creatively, all the pieces of the puzzle are finally finding each other: visual arts, graphic design, photography, writing, editing, teaching, mentoring, travel, talking to people. Some funny experiences I’ve had (more on that later) have been catalysts to thinking differently, showing up in new ways for people, approaching problems with more a sense of “Let’s see what happens if…”
I’ve been reading two books simultaneously that both shift my mentality in really subtle but powerful ways: The Creative Act by Rick Rubin and Rich as F*ck by Amanda Frances. What both writers have in common is that they both really understand energy—how everything is energy. Art is energy. Money is energy. Everything we do is an expression of life force, and our job is to lean into a frequency and then hold that vibration for whatever we want, whether it’s to channel creativity or help people.
What phase of life are you in, & how do you think your age affects your thoughts, your feelings, your decisions?
I’m in the Creative Director phase of my life now! Since September, I’ve been the official Creative Director of Anjalé Fine Art + Jewelry, my friend’s company. We have been soul sisters & mom friends & creative collaborators for 18 years. I was elated to be asked to take this position in her life & business, & it felt like the absolute natural next step in our relationship. She is a muse & an inspiration to me in incredible ways.
I turned 54 in November, & now I feel like I won’t live long enough to create everything I can imagine. I understand my dad now who is 81. He’s always been a vision guy. I also understand why people say, “middle age is the youth of old age.” I realize now how empowering it is to know that I might have 30 or more years on earth—& to actually appreciate all that time, versus when you’re 20 and you think 50 is old.
What’s the last thing you thought of before you went to bed last night?
To sleep on the couch, so my cough doesn’t wake anyone up.
The first thing you thought of upon waking this morning?
What time is it? (It’s Sunday.)
If you were to use only three words to describe your current creations, what would they be?
Brave, unapologetic, organic
What have you been working on / playing with / scheming this last week?
This week has been overlapping with creative work. For the past two years, my husband Max has been writing a book, a YA coming-of-age fantasy novel, & I have been the editor. It’s been a really fun experience & very intense work. I’m so proud of him. The book will be released this Saturday 12/21/24, so this week has been the true home stretch. We met with the cover artist, Tim Byrne, to go over revision ideas. We’ve been pushing out to social media, which is a full-time job that neither of us has time for. But it’s been a lot of planning & doing!
Also, Anjalé Fine Jewelry had it’s first trunk show this week! Anjalé had just gotten back from Miami Art Week, which we still have as yet to fully debrief, but it was an amazing milestone. So for that work, I’ve been doing everything from thinking ahead to the next calendar year to reflecting on her recent experience at Aqua Miami, to shopping for props, to meeting the awesome local shoppers at Alandrea Boutique.
And I still have a slate of students I work with for college applications, which is starting to wind down now. I love the teens I work with—they are really hard-working, ambitious, innovative, passionate people. And helping them reach their goals and reflect on their dreams is some of the most meaningful work I do.
What early experience or influence on you is still very much alive for you today in your way of living or in your work?
My parents both worked with the schools that my grandparents founded in Taipei, Taiwan. I grew up watching both of them connect with the community, give speeches, & think about the students, their parents, & the teachers day & night. Work was never really done. They would be talking about problems & solutions every night at the dinner table with my grandparents. There weren’t a lot of boundaries around their time & energy, but I really got to witness how they did things. I think that’s the powerful influence of family business. I think I have that a lot now as a mother with a family myself. Max & I both work from home, & our kids get to see so much of what we do behind-the-scenes. I think I also need to be careful about not working a million hours a week (especially with the easy use of technology now, which my parents didn’t have), so I have to remind myself not to be burning the candle at both ends every night. The truth is, I really do love what I’m doing right now!
What is something you’re trying to let go of right now, & how is that going?
That I want to travel & spend more time with the people I love, but it just seems really challenging to coordinate schedules.
What is something people would be surprised to learn about you?
I really love having multiple jobs. I think it perfectly suits my attention span. It keeps me fresh with different perspectives. I don’t get burnt out as easily if I have many projects happening simultaneously. Every project is a pallet cleanser for the others. I can take a minute to walk away from one project to do another & come back renewed with new ideas all the time.