Abstract painter Kim Manfredi ran one of Baltimore's most beloved yoga studios for 15 years. Before that, a decorative painting company for 15 years. She was just waiting for the moment to say yes to painting again.

This one's for anyone who's walked away from an opportunity because something else needed them more — and wondered for years whether that was the right call.

Today, Piper and David sit down with Kim Manfredi — abstract painter, founder of Charm City Yoga, and one of Piper's former teachers. Kim earned her MFA from MICA studying under Grace Hartigan and Joyce Kozloff, and her painting Sillmangreen was acquired by the Palm Springs Art Museum for its permanent collection. She has an upcoming solo exhibition and outdoor public commission at the Laguna Art Museum in 2026.

Kim was represented by C. Grimaldis Gallery in Baltimore and walked away from it to stay committed to the yoga community that had grown out of the carriage house where her decorative painting company worked. She went back to graduate school twenty years after her undergraduate degree. When the art path presented itself again, she recognized it. This conversation is about what it takes to keep choosing the same thing across a life that keeps changing shape around it.

• Walking away from a promising opportunity with the Grimaldis Gallery in her early career to run a business
• The "old lady role models" she found when she needed proof that being found later was still possible
• How she structures each body of work so she can find freedom
• What it actually looks like to sell enough to support a practice

Kim Manfredi: https://www.kimmanfredi.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kimmanfredi/

If you liked this episode, our conversation with Melanie Mishler — on walking away from a successful creative business to follow what you were actually called to do — covers similar territory. And Amy Toensing's episode gets into what it looks like to keep a creative practice alive when the conditions keep changing around it.

Connect with Absolutely Sure, No Idea:

Podcast Instagram: http://instagram.com/absolutelysurenoidea

Co-Host David Richardson: https://www.davomakes.com/

Co-Host Piper Watson: https://www.piperwatson.com/

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