Meet Kristin Harvey | Intuitive Painter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kristin Harvey and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kristin, Let’s talk about principles and values – what matters to you most?
Authenticity is what matters to me most when it comes to my art. I know when I am being authentic in the creation of my work and I know when I’m not. I believe my audience knows as well. If I am being authentic, the outcome brings a smile to my face, peace in my heart, and I know I have put my soul into its creation. If I am less than authentic in my process, the outcome brings discomfort in my body and mind. If the latter prevails I know I need to stand back to review my process honestly and see when the thoughts of “I should”, and “will this sell” and anything else that steals my authentic voice came into play. Those thoughts are usually expressed with a tightening up in my brushstrokes and the forcing of shapes into what I think they “should” be. Sometimes simply recognizing those thoughts will allow me to continue my intuitive painting in a smooth flow. Other times, I’ll paint over what I’ve done with white to bring back a clear surface on which to start again with new energy.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’m an intuitive painter creating colorful, bold, semi-abstract art inspired by my southwestern surroundings. I have been creating since I was a young child drawing on the wall-sized chalk board my father installed in my room. I studied illustration in school and had a successful design career in Tech for over 25 years. In my corporate positions I designed video games, websites, mobile apps and complex back-ends for software and apps. Along the way I was consistent in creating with varied traditional mediums, but painting has always been where my passion lies. I began showing my paintings in local farmers and crafts markets over 10 years ago and remain an independent artist. In 2022 I left the corporate world and now paint full time. Recently, I have ventured into the gallery world and have some great opportunities to see how that works for my art before any commitments are made. As an independent artist I sell my work through my website and through social media leads along with gallery consignments.

Finding my own voice as an artist has not been an easy road. Because I worked with licenses such as Disney, Scholastic and Jim Henson Studios, I often had to conform my art to an established style and method. I think this interfered with my growth as an artist outside of the corporate design world. I became very good at emulating other artist’s styles and lost my own unique voice in the process. After many years of tears and frustration, I finally began to listen to what other artists were telling me and simply began to create for myself again. I painted as often as possible with no thought of selling or showing that work and lo and behold they were right. Eventually my art began to have a consistent look across pieces. When I did start showing my work, it didn’t take long for people to recognize it as “my style”. My work is still evolving and my style will vary, I think that is natural and required for any artist to stay inspired. But, I hear many artists tell me they have no style of their own and their frustration with that. I don’t think that it’s possible to find as long as you take your cue from other artists work. The biggest lesson I’ve learned in my career is to “just paint”, and paint, and paint, and paint. There is no shortcut to finding your authentic voice, but there is still much joy to be found in the process.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Since my life revolves around art and the local arts scene my visiting guests are taken to Tubac, AZ first. Tubac has been named “Best small town arts scene” by USA Today for a couple years running. It’s best to take an entire day (or two) for historical Tubac and it’s plethora of galleries and Mexican imports shops. If you go, eat at Elvira’s because it’s an experience for the all of the senses unto itself.

For a day of nature and hiking, we’ll go to Madera Canyon in the Santa Rita Mountains and picnic at one of the many available spots. We’ll stop and take in the delightful architecture of the Kubo B&B and gift shop. On the way back down the canyon we’ll stop at Santa Rita Lodge for coffee and taking in the incredible hummingbirds on the lookout balcony. Photographers come from all over the world to capture these amazing birds at the lodge which maintains a small meadow full of feeders.

My shopping friends will be treated to the beautiful La Encantada outdoor mall in the Catalina Foothills of Tucson. The Southern Arizona Arts Guild operates a gallery there that shows over 90 local artist’s unique work in a wide variety of mediums. Lunch at Blancos Cocina and Cantina at the mall means the best tacos and tequila to be had in the area. Across the street are two of the best galleries Tucson has to offer. Wilde Meyer Gallery is where they’ll see my work hanging.

The best way to get the complete Tucson experience is to visit the various Barrios, each with their own architectural treasures and local flavors. Barrio Viejo is a favorite along with Downtown Centro which is home to more galleries full of local artist’s work and restaurants galore. El Charro for dinner is a must along with Art House Centro’s galleries. Next door is the Tucson Museum of Art with the amazing Cafe a la Carte for lunch. No downtown trip is complete without a walk or trolley ride along Congress Ave to 4th Ave. 4th Ave hosts one of the largest Art Festivals in the state. Be sure to listen to Tucson’s own Calexico as you walk or drive, for the full experience.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I think often of my High School Art teacher, Joseph Stiles. I realize now he wasn’t just teaching us to draw and paint, he was teaching us to see as artists. Through exercises like contour drawing and drawing negative space he was exposing us to the art of observation. I think this is so important to an artist’s process, to see the world around us as subject matter and be inspired to consider how we might interpret what we see with our chosen medium.

Bill Shields was an Illustration instructor at the Academy of Art College when I attended. He was the artist that taught me the most about tapping into my intuition. He would often start classes with a practice I use to this day and never fails me. With our paper in front of us, he would ask us to close our eyes and make marks. With our eyes still closed, he would call out a subject matter, “cat” for example. Then we’d open our eyes and “find” the subject matter using our closed-eye marks as guides. This would create some extremely expressive and funky cats that would never have come out of us had we sat down to draw a cat. I paint this way today, but I continue painting until I “find” intuitive subject matter in my brushstrokes and marks. This makes every painting a surprise.

Website: https://www.kristinharveyart.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristincre8s/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kharvey/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KristinHarveyArt

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uH9KRZ-DlA&t=245s