Featured Artist Kristina Closs

Artist Kristina Closs paints images of nature and home. Enjoy her lovely portfolio and find out more about her by visiting her website.

 

 

I am a self taught artist, working in watercolor and oil. My work is centered around nature as well as scenes of everyday life. Most of my inspiration is drawn either from gardens, both my own and those of friends, or the natural landscapes that surround me. Living in the lush countryside of Pennsylvania has provided me with bountiful subjects.

 

 

I love to communicate the feel of a place or season, especially when I do my plein air pieces. Sometimes I will sacrifice realism to relay the sense of being in a foggy field or a blossom-filled meadow.

 

 

Vivid color and translucent light fill my landscapes, botanicals, and studies. It is my intention to show the world in a new and exciting way to my audience. Highlighting the beauty of simple things that are often overlooked or taken for granted is something that gives me a thrill. People have come up to me sometimes months after a show and said “You know, I never thought a cabbage could be so beautiful.” Those moments really drive me to keep not only painting but also showing my work.

 

 

I realized fairly quickly that art is meant to be shared. It is always exciting to see my work in public or hear that a painting has found a happy owner. While I love to paint large pieces, I find having a range of sizes to be ultimately the most satisfying. With a large variation in size my art becomes more accessible to a bigger audience. Painting small also keeps me in practice. I paint every day and finish a painting every day. The more I work, the more I enjoy painting and gain more confidence in my ability to express what is in my mind.

 

 

Right now I mostly sell my art online and at local shows. In the near future, I hope to branch out to more galleries. One of my goals is to start arranging shows with other artists in the area in unexpected locations like green houses, gardens, libraries, or just in each other’s homes.

 

 

I think making a night out of going and seeing art is something that is rare outside of major cities. One of the major reasons I paint is to share the beauty I find in the world with my audience. The more people I can influence to maybe take a second look at a bird or a flower, the more successful I feel.

Kristina Closs invites you to read her blog, and follow her on Facebook and Twitter.