Art and Culture

Bay Area artist captures transformative process of weddings with live painting

Kim-Vi Tran of KVT Fine Art paints in real-time at wedding ceremonies to authentically capture her clients' "one big day."

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Kim-Vi Tran, an artist based in the Bay Area, shares how she left her job as a data analyst to became a full-time live wedding painter.

Kim-Vi Tran might not be filling weddings with the sound of hit songs or capturing family portraits in the day's twilight, yet her role on a couple's special day has proven essential enough that she no longer has to clock in and work 9 to 5.

The Bay Area artist provides a wedding service unlike her traditional entertainment contemporaries, after all, it would be almost impossible for a big brass band or a videographer to mimic what Tran does at ceremonies.

Live wedding painting.

But what exactly is ... live wedding painting?

"It's both kind of an experience, as well as an end product ... not something that's very common with other wedding vendors,” said Tran who runs her own business, KVT Fine Art. “It's really unique because it's definitely something a lot of people haven't seen before.”

Tran paints in real-time at a wedding ceremony, often in the background of the event.

She works based on the request of the bride and the groom, ranging from scenery details like the wedding cake to important guests they want to be featured like the person who married them.

Tran wasn't always a live wedding painter.

She worked remotely as a data analyst for a non-profit organization, initially juggling both jobs and netting the income from her side hustle.

As her business grew, she was able to quit her previous job and pursue live wedding painting full-time.

“I'm pretty much there painting like the whole event," she said. "So the guests can really enjoy that transformative process from start to finish.”

In many cases, the painting goes home with the bride and groom as a finished product by the end of the night. Sometimes though, Tran has to take the work back to her studio for finishing touches and varnishing. 

The other challenges include adjusting to the weather and getting a good reference image of the couple that ultimately serves as the centerpiece.

She finds it rewarding seeing the guests' reactions in real-time.

“Seeing the guest transition from being like, ‘What in the world is she doing?’... And it's not until later in the night when you know, things have progressed and the painting is more developed with the portraits and all of that. And the guests start saying things like, ‘My god, that it's crazy. That's, that's insane. How do you do that?’”

The highest honor though is having the couple witness the completed product, and hear about where they plan to hang it.

"These couple's put so much effort into planning their one big day, and being trusted to authentically document that in a real-time, one-of-a-kind painting that can be cherished and passed down to future generations," she said.

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