Today we’d like to introduce you to Emmy Kline.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Emmy Kline [aka Miss Cakes] is an artist living and working in Raleigh, NC since 2015. She received her BFA from Ringling College of Art & Design and has held a variety of positions within the artistic community in Florida, New York, and North Carolina. This includes various gallery exhibitions throughout the years, a 4-week artist residency in 2022 at Chateau d’Orquevaux in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France, and her current job title of Resident Artist for Jerry’s Artarama. This is where she tests artist materials and teaches Live on their social media platforms promoting general knowledge of materials and techniques. This results in her daily work varying greatly in artistic style and media.
As of January 2025, Emmy has also taken on the role of Tattoo Apprentice! She is studying under Sam Castro [@scastrotattoo] at Gold Hand Gallery, in Chapel Hill, NC. She is extremely excited to see how her traditional fine art skills will translate into living artwork on the human form, but currently working on the basics! You can follow along with her progress through Instagram!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Artistic careers are never smooth, which is why making a consistent living with art is difficult! It’s been a similar experience to a frog being boiled – making a living has become increasingly more and more difficult. When COVID hit, everyone and their mother wanted to quit their day job and do something creative. That’s slowed down a bit now, but the market is just oversaturated. Now, the world is metaphorically (and sometimes literally) on fire with politics, arguments, AI taking over, and even a poop parasite… The cost of everything from food to housing has skyrocketed, so people just don’t have disposable income like we used to. Spending money on art is the last thing on people’s minds because a lot of us are in survival mode.
Please note that this is an overall generalization of my own personal observations – everyone’s situation is different and some are struggling more than others. I happen to be incredibly blessed to have a creative job that pays the bills consistently but I still see the struggle everywhere. To become an accomplished artist these days, you really have to be passionate about it – almost to the point of obsession.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I have what I’ve affectionately described as “artistic ADHD” – I like to know how things work and don’t like limiting myself to one or two mediums. This is a large reason why I got my job as the Resident Artist for Jerry’s Artarama – I know how to use almost every medium and what I don’t know, I’ll figure out! For this job, I do everything from testing products about to hit the market (there’s a joke in the office that I break everything….”EMMY SMASH!”) to creating the artwork on product packaging to teaching classes on how to use the products. Every day is something different and for someone who doesn’t like to stop moving – it’s fantastic! That’s where burn-out can sneak up on you though. You can’t wait for the creativity to hit. You have to be able to sit down and knock something out because I do work for a company and there are deadlines I must meet.
Then I have my second job as a Tattoo Artist (in training)! Yes, it’s partially because I want to know how it works but there’s something so terrifying and wonderful about having my artwork permanently placed onto a living, breathing, moving canvas! I am confident in my artistic skillset, but no other medium is like tattooing! Currently, I’m working on honing my skills and the basics of creating a good design by tattooing solid black and red flash on arms and legs only (those are the easiest areas to work with for a newbie). I’m also so, so lucky to have my mentor, Sam Castro, by my side. She’s been tattooing for over a decade and truly cares about not only how a tattoo looks fresh, but how it heals and lives on someone’s skin over time. Her dedication and care for the craft is contagious and I love that one day I get to do the same thing.
Beyond the jobs, I also have my personal projects. I take on commissioned pet portraits occasionally (LOVE painting fur babies!!) and am constantly painting the human form. IF I had to pick one medium and subject to paint for the rest of my life it would be oil portraiture!
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
Raleigh was never on my list of towns to visit or live in. I’m originally from the Orlando, FL area, and then moved to Manhattan, where my career with Jerry’s Artarama started (I was working as a manager in the NYC store when it opened). After a while I did realize that while I loved city life, NYC is just not for me. I ended up landing in Raleigh because the corporate office was here and my brother was stationed not too far away in Fayetteville, NC.
I really do love Raleigh. It has the big city feel if you go downtown, but the people are still warm and inviting. Once you get out of the city you can enjoy the quiet suburban lifestyle, and even further means some good ol’ country vibes with a bonfire party! I love the variety!
Favorite Coffee Shop: NoRa Cafe
Favorite Restaurant: Gonza Tacos Y Tequila (or Morgan St. Food Hall for variety!)
Favorite Dessert Stop: Two Roosters Ice Cream
Favorite Random Shop: Munjo Munjo
Favorite Art Stop: Artspace
Favorite Bar/Music Spot: Slim’s Dive Bar
Favorite Walk: Around Lake Lynn!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.misscakesart.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/misscakes.art
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/goldhandgallery
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JerrysArtarama
- Other: https://linktr.ee/MissCakesArt?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=4b2ac765-f0eb-4247-9280-16b883025ecd
