Featured Artist Kristin Harvey

Painter Kristin Harvey brings the desert landscape to life with bold colors and abstract elements. See more from this artist by visiting her website.

 

 

My artistic journey started when I was five. My father built my sister and I each a wall-sized chalkboard and gave us every color of chalk under the sun.

 

 

I was very fortunate to grow up believing I was an artist, feeling the love and support of family in that identity. I was also lucky to have been taught and influenced by many talented teachers, both in public schools and in our local arts community in Fresno, California.

 

 

Armed with my portfolio, I applied and was accepted into the Academy of Art College in San Francisco, California. The school had a work study program back then. I was able to clean and paint the school during breaks to pay for most of my tuition. During my last semester, I responded to an opportunity to work in video games at Activision and began my digital art career.

 

 

In 1990, I graduated from the Academy with a BFA in Illustration. I then jumped into the corporate world of video game design and development. While at Sega, I was given the chance to design and build Sega of America’s first website. This led to a fulfilling career as a website and user experience designer.

 

 

Throughout my digital design career, I continued my illustration work as a traditional medium freelancer on the side. I created art for newspapers, magazines and books. In the early 2000’s I finally had the studio space to create large scale paintings on canvas. I soon knew that was what I wanted to do for my full-time career.

 

 

In 2015, my husband and I moved to Southern Arizona to be closer to family. I was immediately inspired by my surroundings in the Sonoran Desert. The color of the sunsets, intriguing cactus shapes and beautiful mountain vistas grabbed my attention. I was hooked.

 

 

I started selling my paintings at a small local Farmers Market and continued in my professional digital career. For the next eight years, I steadily grew my art practice. I sold cards and prints at local gift shops, participated in art shows and festivals and eventually showed my work in galleries. In September 2022, I left the corporate life to paint full-time.

 

 

My acrylic paintings today reflect my love of the desert. Appreciation of the Mexican folk art and celebration culture inspires my color choices. My work is moving towards abstraction while I still find my favorite desert elements to bring out in my otherwise intuitive process.

 

 

My hope is that my artwork will take the viewer on a journey through shape, movement and color. I want it to allow them to see all the beauty there is to behold in the American Southwest.

 

Kristin Harvey invites you to follow her on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.

 

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