Sold!

Dear Friends,

This year is already taking off in ways I probably won’t be able to articulate here, at least for a while. However one thing I really want to share is some of the stories behind a few of the pieces o have been selling lately. As I worked through my September project and into RAW I really became aware how much my work is autobiographical. As an intuitive painter I often don’t even know where a painting is truly going until it’s almost done. As I have developed as an artist the meanings of my paintings also have developed into a full track of my own memories.

I5
Acrylic, ink on canvas
2014

I5 was the first painting I completed as part of my September painting project, Home : A Discovery. I had the canvas working for quite a bit and was taking the bus home from my hometown in Eugene. Since moving to Portland I have taken that stretch of I5 often. I have seen that landscape in all types of weather. This trip though sticks in my brain as the fog rolled through masking the mountainscape and covering the trees.

Sick Day
Acrylic, Ink, String, on Wood Panel
2014

Sick Day was also part of Home: A Discovery. I was having gut pain at work that made it impossible to even think. When I got home I laid on the couch and watched movies. Slowly working through this piece I was reminded of the summer I was laid up on the couch with pneumonia while simultaneously my younger sibling had bronchitis. There is nothing more torturous than being sick when it’s beautiful outside. What is particularly special about this piece is that it is one of the few that I added some extra mixed media elements. There is something special about the string addition. Especially since the string itself was acquired while living in Eugene, my one true home, and volunteering at a recycled art supplies store.

Jefferson
Acrylic, Ink, on Canvas
2014

The thing about going back and re experiencing all the various manifestations of home is that ultimately I spent the month of September processing all those memories. Jefferson was an especially hard piece to finish as it is a tribute to my grandmother Alice who passed a couple years ago. She had a home that we would visit in Jefferson, Oregon. The home originally belonged to her parents and still had the Rose bushes that my great grandmother cared so diligently for. This piece also wraps another memory of my grandmother in it with the small green circles. As a child and even still as an adult the most beautiful photograph of my grandmother is on her wedding day to her second husband, the only grandfather I know. She hand made her emerald green silk dress. With her bright red hair she was in fact stunning.

Marcia’s Garden
Acrylic, ink on Canvas

During the project my ex mother in law passed. My ex wife struggled through the loss and I was thinking often of sweet Marcia. I took a moment to put the memories I had of her on canvas. The hardest one to complete as it was the second death in a two month period for me it became the most beloved of the collection.

There a few other pieces I would like to spend some time sharing with you but I think I will save those for another post.

With love,
Kirista

The New Year!

Dear Friends!

This new year started off with a bang over here at Kirista’s Portland. I was invited to showcase with RAW:Portland. The show was on January 8th at Holocene. I was lucky to be supported by twenty of my best friends and family. My mom even drove up!

The thing about a show like this is that it becomes the determining factor in whether you want to make this really happen for yourself. I have always known that I wanted to do this “for real”. This show though gave me the tools, and the confidence to get OUT there. The feedback from the audience was overwhelming and incredible. I feel so blessed to be able to share my work with you all.

Over the next couple of weeks I will be working on getting a shop set up with all the work I have left. A lot of you asked for that at the show and it is time I made my work accessible. Also look for an upcoming post on the pieces I have sold over the past couple of weeks. As each piece is autobiographical I want to honor the stories of my life.

Thanks again for stopping by. For fresh and updated photos of my work find my on Instagram @kiristatrask.

With Love,
Kirista

A Letter to Myself

Dear friends,
I recently sat down and wrote myself a letter. It’s been a hard and trying year and I wanted to put into words a little self love for 2015. Normally I do an extensive list of New Years resolutions. Instead I did this.

Dear You,

2014 was a hard year. A sad, lonely, and scary 365 days, but you made it through. For that alone you should be proud. There were moments you couldn’t understand why you were still standing, or how your body kept moving forward even though your brain and heart were shattered on the floor. The cracks and holes remain but your heart keeps beating.
If nothing else you are brave. You show up day after day when you want nothing more than to curl up in a ball and hide. I am proud of your resilience and growth through this hard time. But what I am most proud of is that when you needed help you finally asked for it.

This next year is the year of you. Let 2015 be the year that light shines through the cracks and broken pieces of your heart like a kaleidoscope. Take more vacations. Even alone they have proven to be inspiring. Get a new bike. Ride it. Love it. Find new ways to love this city and what it has to offer. Find ways to love the good parts of the last year without holding on to them so tightly. Love again. Even if just new friendships love is a gift. Re visit some of the goals you had last new year. These little whispers of your heart are still speaking to you. Go to more women’s soccer games. Let yourself make new friends. Look at yourself with the same compassion and love you give others. You are no more broken, intolerable, or unlovable than anyone else. Get more tattoos. Go to art retreats. And most of all make more art. Keep making art. Keep moving. Keep growing. Keep loving.

With Love,
Kirista

A Sketchbook Preview

 

Dear Friends,

I just sent off my beautiful book to it’s new home.  The Femina Criatura sketchbook exchange has finished it’s first round and now we are on to the second round.  I took a couple of pages for you to take a look at and I encourage you to please take a look at our Instagram hashtag #fcxchange and #feminacriatura.

It was strange. I felt a certain need to make some of the pages ugly. Ugly you say? Well it is a very brave thing to mark on top of another artists work. I didn’t want the next artist to feel that she couldn’t modify the pages. I wanted to encourage the covering up of the work. This project after all is about layering. Not only our work but ourselves.

I do not think you ever know where a project is going until you are in it. I never expected the constant flow of inspiration that this project would bring. Not only inspiration but a reconnection to my work. It has fueled my other paintings, introduced new color palettes and new techniques. In the end it has made me a better artist.

With love
Kirista
            

RAW: natural born artists. Portland. January

Dear Friends!

As many of you know, I have been invited to participate as a featured artist for Januarys RAW: natural born artists. I have spoken individually with many of you about this show and now that we have a venue booked I would like to pass on the invitation. Below is a history of RAW: natural born artists. In short it is an artist’s organization aimed at helping new artists (like me!!) build an audience and get their career off the ground. Each participating artist gets to keep one hundred percent of our individual commission from any sales that occur during the event under the premise that we agree to sell twenty tickets to the event. Tickets can be purchase through our individual RAW pages, as mine is listed above.

A little history of RAW: natural born artists.

RAW :natural born artists is an independent arts organization, for artists, by artists. We’re an international community made up of creative individuals across the globe. Our mission is to provide independent artists within the first 10 years of their career with the tools, resources and exposure needed to inspire and cultivate creativity.. RAW spotlights local artistic talent in film, fashion, music, visual art, hair & makeup artistry, and performance art. With artists from all genres in each showcase, RAW events come together to form an amazing one-night circus of creativity.

In the past I have gone to RAW events not as a participant but as an audience member. The showcase is an amazing multi media event. There is live music, fashion, and many other forms of artistry to engage your senses. I personally will be doing an audience participatory (hopefully you!) live painting if you have any interest in how you might participate.

Hope to see you
Kirista

Palm Springs

Dear Friends,

When I got the invitation in the mail from my friend Amanda for her wedding in Palm Springs I laughed a little. Never had I considered Palm Springs as a viable vacation choice for me. I mean, I am from Portland. I like dark hot coffee, thick dark beer, rain, and really good food. But my friend is important to me. Her journey to this day is important to me and I wanted to be there more than I was afraid of Palm Springs.

Traveling alone, especially for a female, can be intimidating. I wanted to have a great time and do a couple of things in between wedding events but knew very little about Palm Springs.  After some internet research I decided that I would pack extremely light, get into Palm Springs early and get breakfast. I had only one other thing on my agenda which was the Palm Springs Museum of Art.

I found downtown Palm Springs to be incredibly beautiful. The dessert landscape spoke to me in ways I had not previously anticipated.  I never expected that I would love cacti or how much I would love Palm Springs.  What really surprised me was how much I enjoyed traveling alone. I expected I would feel somewhat lonely but really I found a certain ease in making decisions.  I explored food I would never have in Portland, and I slowed down the pace at which I have been living my life.

The wedding was exceptionally beautiful. It was a perfect venue, a great couple, and a spectacular dance list. I met so many amazing new people. We shared stories of our lives and listened to each other’s own histories. We connected so intimately that it was as if I was with my own family.

There was a lot that I did not expect to happen when I chose to go on vacation. I never thought that in a physical and cultural environment so different than my own that I would find myself. But I did. Whether that was through the connections I made with the people at the wedding events or the people I met in the city I do not know. But something in myself was reflected back at me in ways I deeply and desperately needed. I felt my confidence, something that has been lacking, come back to me. I finally after a year felt my feet grounded in my shoes. This life that I have been living, at times feeling so alone and lost made sense. Palm Springs in a sense reconnected me with myself.

Friends I leave you with this parting thought. The universe presents with opportunities of healing that are often in disguise. We often do not even realize what is being offered until we are in the moment. So next time something is offered that seems uncharacteristic, take the opportunity. Try it. You may be surprised at the results.

With Love,
Kirista

Giveaway!

I have been so supported through my lovely 30 Paintings in 30 Days project that I am giving away one of my pieces! Just find me on Instagram @fiercefemme and on facebook.com/kiristatraskart for more details.

Fleet Week: Listed!

New listing in the etsy shop! Stop on by!

Femina Criatura: Sketchbook Exchange Delivered!

Cover: Book Five

Dear Friends,

I got mad, as I described in my previous posts When I read the MOMA stat about the number of female artists in MOMA. I was infuriated that my naked body would be good enough for the walls of the MOMA but the my art, primarily based on my gender was not likely to be. As I thought more about it I came to the conclusion that anger wasn’t my best laid plan.

Instead I have turned to creativity and Femina Criatura’s sketchbook exchange is off and running! Most of my handmade books, as seen in the photos in this blog, have been delivered. We are in our first round where we are just focusing on backgrounds that we will send to the next artist. December will be the round we start to add imagery and January we complete the books. Each artist gets to work in three books allowing us to collaborate with six other artists.

We have photos coming in using our Instagram hashtag #fcxchange. If you want to follow us you can find a gallery of the progress there! Or even better find Femina Criatura as a facebook group and join in the fun. We are doing a postcard exchange next for Valentine’s Day!

Here are a couple shots from the making of the books. Something I hadn’t done since college and of course I included the cover I made for the first book I got!

Bare Pages

For more update information find me on facebook at Kirista Trask Art.

You can also find me personally on Instagram.

With Love,
Kirista

Home: A Discovery. 30 Paintings in 30 Days.

Hello Friends,

Title: Internal Workings
Size: 10 x 8
Medium: Acrylic, Ink on Wood

I have had requests for all thirty paintings to be posted so this post is long. I hope you enjoy. Before I will include the write up I posted with the paintings.

I struggle with the ability to explain my feelings on art. That is really what got me into this love affair in the first place. I tend to over explain and find that words are not always my strongest pursuit. In turning to art I felt I could finally speak my most native language. Expressing what for so long I felt lodged inside.

Kurt Vonnegut Jr once said, “Where is home? I’ve wondered where home is, and realized, it’s not Mars or someplace like that, it’s Indianapolis when I was nine years old. I had a brother and a sister, a cat and a dog, and a mother and a father and uncles and aunts. And there’s no way I can get there again.”

As an artist I cannot say I agree with Kurt. I spent the days in September painting, working towards a goal of thirty paintings in thirty days. Each painting is an exploration of my own ponderings of home. What is home? Where do I consider my home to be? And most importantly can you return there? What happend is that I realized for me home can be serveral places over my lifetime. I cannot go back to my previous homes but I can through memory and art celebrate or explore them.

These thirty paintings are an abstract exploration of the feelings associated with my various homes. Some of them are layered and busy explorations of childhood memories and some of them complex color stories expressing other homes I have lived in.

 

Here is the Full Gallery.

 

With Love,

Kirista