Blending Passions in Beautiful Ways

Known for her Astrology Birds and unique art style, Kyraith Wright from Healing Brown Bear is passionate, determined, and not afraid to speak up. Her passion for digital art, native species, and social issues drives the heart of her business, which is anchored by her wife Clover. Her three passions overlap and intertwine in her life in beautiful ways.

Kyraith is a digital artist who uses drawing programs to create her designs. While she has a deep appreciation for traditional forms of art, digital art works best for her.

When you meet Kyraith, you know instantly that she cares deeply for nature. Her designs feature local birds, plants, and flowers – some of which you’ll recognize, and others she will be happy to tell you about. 

Digital art is as old as modern technology meaning it’s a relatively new and emerging art form. 

Growing up, Kyraith wanted to go to art school but was encouraged by her family to pursue something else, something “safe”. She ended up studying Political Science but art always had a special place in her soul. Once the pandemic arrived, she did a bit of self discovery and decided to go for it.

“When I was looking for a creative outlet in 2020 – something to put my time and passion towards – I started learning how to draw on my iPad,” she explains.

Digital art has come a long way, with some traditional artists starting to experiment with it.

“What drew me to digital art was the accessibility of it. It’s expensive to make art the traditional way. It costs money to get your supplies, canvasses are expensive, paint is expensive. Painting wasn’t something that was feeble for my life at the time, especially during the pandemic,” she says.

What Digital Art Is, and What It Isn’t

Digital art isn’t AI and it isn’t applying a filter to existing images. It isn’t tracing, either.

“When you use a drawing program, it comes with tons of digital brushes that you can play around with. Not only can you experiment with watercolour, acrylic, or oil paint effects, you can also use brushes that other artists have created. For example, someone created a brush that applies a brick texture effect. And the number of colours you can choose from is endless,” Kyraith explains.

Because she’s not using physical paint, brushes, and canvasses, Kyraith says it’s been difficult to be accepted in the wider art community.

“There’s definitely still a lot of stigma about it,” she says.

She has been denied from markets because of the misconception of what digital art is and what it isn’t. With concerns about stolen designs and even the use of AI, Kyraith had a hard time introducing the world to her designs.

Even her wife Clover, who manages the sales and customer services at markets, feels the struggle.

“The way Clover responds to people who don’t understand digital art is like this: every single line, every drop of colour that you see in my art, I have put in myself. Every line is hand drawn by me. Every colour is hand selected by me to be the perfect shade. Even though it’s digitally assisted, it’s still created by me,” she says.

The Impact of AI on Artists

The biggest difference between digital art and AI generated images is the human touch.

“AI takes existing images, including art, and starts to recognize patterns amongst them. In simple terms, it amalgamates features from all the art it scans and creates a new image. This hurts a lot of local artists because the art they post on social media could be ripped off by AI,” Kyraith says.

We see the use of AI everywhere – in posters, logos, wall art, advertisements, and even book covers.

“There’s no humanity behind AI generated images. Artists are losing their jobs because companies are using AI instead of hiring artists, animators, or graphic designers. And the work that’s created feels soulless. Even event posters that are created with AI all look the same,” she says.

Astrology Birds

Despite these modern challenges, Kyraith remains passionate about what she does, especially when it comes to birds.

“My passion for birds started during the pandemic. We were living in Barrie at the time and had some unique bird experiences. One of my favourite bird occurrences was when we were at our back kitchen window and we saw a juvenile Bald Eagle catch a squirrel. We also witnessed a lone male Indigo Bunting singing in the trees. There was something about him that made me want to draw him immediately,” she says.

It was the next experience that would be her first design posted on the Healing Brown Bear Instagram account. She learned of a proposal by the provincial government to create an annual cormorant hunt which really struck a chord with her. The Double-Crested Cormorant was the first bird design she released.

Several years later, she released her favourite series of designs to date: Astrology Birds.

“The idea came from one of my friends who suggested Astrology Birds. It was perfect because I love both birds and astrology. I was excited to curate all of the different birds for the different signs. So for the fire signs, I knew right away they were going to be birds of prey. Fire signs are larger than life, so they have to be impactful birds,” Kyraith says.

She assigned shores birds and water fowl to the water signs, small woodland birds to the earth signs, and birds with incredible feats of flight to the air signs.

Kyraith curated the motifs and colours for each bird design, playing into the traits of the birds and the meanings of the traditional astrological signs.

For anyone wondering about the LUVLOCAL Team’s signs, Moréna is a Tundra Swan, James is a Golden Eagle, and Sharon is a Ruddy Duck.

The Astrology Birds deigns are available as prints, waterproof vinyl stickers, and keychains.

Beyond her Astrology Birds, Kyraith’s other designs feature native bird species along with a word or theme they represent. 

Kyraith describes her style as ‘“nature-inspired whimsy”. She believes that finding joy and personal connections with nature makes you more appreciative of these species but also makes you more aware of the environmental and political factors that affect them.

By her side at every event is Clover, who makes sure everyone knows about Kyraith’s passion for nature, art, and the community.

“I’m very lucky to have someone who believes in me as much as she does because Healing Brown Bear wouldn’t be possible without her. She is my biggest cheerleader and supporter. She’s able to put words to what I do and makes the social aspect of going to events much easier,” Kyraith says

Visit the Healing Brown Bear LUVLOCAL store here.