Hi, I'm Kendyl
A proper introduction and show-and-tell.
Hey 👋🏽 My name is Kendyl.
At first, I struggled to start this introduction, not knowing what I should say to describe myself or what I do. What do I start with? What's important?
This is me.
I currently work and live by myself in Philadelphia, where I also attended college and received my BFA in Art Education. I'm an educator by trade, but I don't currently work as a teacher. Right now, my day job involves illuminating pathways to creative careers for young people and facilitating access to art education. On paper, I'm an art school admissions counselor. My favorite part of this job is when I'm traveling and on the road getting to meet really talented and passionate young people in their classrooms, counseling and helping them to get prepared for the next step of their art education. It's fulfilling.
As an artist I have worked primarily in text and image. I periodically share new work on Instagram, and you can see and learn a bit more about my work as an artist at kendylboyd.com.
〰
I'm a kitchen herbalist. I'm attaching a video of my kitchen from my last apartment to show you a bit of what I mean. I really miss the tall ceilings and spacious cabinets that I had in that space. My kitchen isn't the typical kitchen and I always forget about that whenever someone new comes over to my place and sees my rack of amber glass ball mason jars filled with herbs. You can see these at the very end of the clip.
I'm self-taught, accumulating knowledge for the past six years and learning from many other herbalists, nutritionists, and practitioners who share their practical wisdom here online. I love to cook good food, and I love welding my knowledge of nutrition and herbalism with flavor in the kitchen. Nourishment for me is a love language—a way in which I practice self-love—and sharing my knowledge and wealth of health is how I demonstrate my care for those around me. There's something both grounding and liberating about being able to turn to my kitchen and wisdom when I'm unwell or rundown—physically, emotionally, or spiritually—to heal myself with a meal or some other concoction or brew. It's something that I'll always have because it's within me, and I think that's really special. You can see more of my meals and kitchen concoctions over on my Instagram page, @garlicanddyl. Watch this space—I’ll be sharing more garlic and dyl here, too!
〰
Let's see what else is there... I do like to write and share content but I don’t know that I am able to keep up with the present-day social media influencer and creator model. I live too slowly and in the present for that, I value my privacy, and I also struggle with being on camera and dysmorphia with my image―it’s something I’m still working on. Still, I’m passionate about sharing things that have really added positively to my lifestyle with others. I do love working on timely projects with businesses whose values align with mine. For example, I’ve consulted on natural beauty, written recipes, and shot content for Bare Hands, a natural nail care brand. See some examples of my work below.
〰
I love dogs but I don't have one of my own (yet). For now, I love to walk and puppysit O.P.P.—other people’s pups. Here’s a cute clip of my puppy neighbor, Mira, chez moi back in April.
I have a philodendron named Phyllis and a monstera named Mona Lisa. Every palm that I've ever had dies; their names are always Cher'l. I have an unnamed asparagus fern and a jade succulent named Neroli (after my favorite floral scent and candle from one of my favorite LA boutiques).
〰
My favorite color right now is burgundy (I've been calling it "Kendyl red"). I collect records and tapes and my favorite possession is my dad's dual cassette deck with auto-reverse. I don't keep up with today's pop culture, and really, I couldn't give a damn about it either. You'll find me mostly listening to old school R&B, funk, Hip-Hop, and smooth/contemporary “C” jazz. I've been obsessed with the '80s and early '90s since I was a pre-teen. I watch old movies and TV shows on my projector at nights. Last year I watched all hundred sumn episodes of Miami Vice before they took it off Tubi; I like old crime shows for some reason. It may be because my parents have always watched a lot of Law & Order since before I was born.
I also have been watching a lot of old Jeff Goldblum movies lately. (That's my man fr)
〰
Other hobbies? Well, I like to play video games sometimes. Students are always surprised when I recognize a character or reference in the work that they're showing me because I’ve seen a video or two about it on YouTube. I loved Sims as a teenager, which is where I first got to live out my dreams of decking out my home with vintage furniture and decor. These days I pull out my Switch to play the GTA Trilogy from time to time. Naturally, I love playing San Andreas and Vice City (IYKYK). At the beginning of the year I learned how to emulate PlayStation 2 games on my MacBook and mirror it to my projector through my Apple TV. I played Rugrats and the classic Bratz games for a short while after I finished Paper Mario 64 on the Switch this past winter.
I want to learn to roller skate. Last year, I bought myself a set of quad skates and brought them over to the Schuylkill River trail here in Philly, put them on, only to realize I don’t have an ounce of balance or grace with those things. It’s on the top of my to do list to get some lessons. In the meantime, I’ve started rebounding on my mini trampoline at home for a fun way to exercise.
〰
Despite my initial hesitation, I now realize that I could go on and on with my show-and-tell, but I don’t want to give everything away all at once! You’ll just have to follow along here―through this platform I’ll be posting more about many of the bits I’ve mentioned here. If you read all the way through, I’d love to hear from you! Let me know if there’s any subject in particular you’d love to read more about from me―or if there’s something I mentioned that you relate to, so that we can geek out about it together.
I do hope you stay tuned!
🥰