Daily Inspiration: Meet Kristin Harvey

Today, we’d like to introduce you to Kristin Harvey.

Hi Kristin, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I’ve been into art since I was about 5. I will always attribute my “start” to my father and mother. Mom was creative with almost everything she did. Dad built a huge wall-sized chalkboard for my sister and me to draw on. I was at that board every day. Eventually, I did things like decorating chalkboards at school and illustrating school show programs. Opportunities that affirmed my love for art. I started my first illustration business in 6th grade and then holiday window painting in 8th.

I was very, very lucky. My interests in art were supported and nurtured by my parents and teachers. My teenage jobs always involved art in some way. In my senior year of high school, I took my portfolio of drawings and paintings to a local design firm, and that’s when a very kind art director told me I was an illustrator. Eventually, I was able to take advantage of a work-study scholarship program at the Academy of Art in San Francisco, where I studied many forms of art but majored in Illustration.

During college, I worked all kinds of jobs, from illustrating a children’s book to submitting my portfolio to a gaming company for digital art. After graduation, I ended up at Activision and was fortunate enough to learn all my computer design and illustration skills on the job. I stayed in SF after Activision moved to LA and eventually worked with Maxis and Sega of America. Console gaming gave way to online gaming, and I learned how to code in simple text for Sega of America’s first website. This led me down the website and user experience design path for the next 20 years.

I loved my work and will be eternally grateful for the digital knowledge that helps me today. Throughout my design career, I have taken side jobs for illustration and volunteered for children’s theatrical set design. I also painted for myself, and this was where my true passions were focused. I always imagined myself a fine artist one day, and in 2022, I left my UX job to paint as a full-time artist. I began by selling my paintings at local farmers’ markets, then at art festivals and craft shows. Then I applied and was accepted into a local arts guild co-op type gallery where 90 other artists showed their work as well. This was great training for submitting my work to higher-end galleries.

I also started making and selling cards with my art on them wholesale to local card, gift, and museum shops. The cards do very well, and they helped me to start a local following of collectors and art friends. Once again, I got lucky, and someone showed my work to a gallery owner in Tubac, AZ, and they called.

Tubac has been voted America’s Favorite Small Town Art Scene for multiple years, and I was very excited to show my work at a professional retail gallery there. I was still learning the gallery ropes, and that opportunity ended with important lessons learned. I’ve been able to move forward from the experience and now show my work in two beautiful galleries in Tucson and Scottsdale, AZ. I am still learning how to live and work as a full-time artist, but I am loving the journey I’m on.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I will always say I’m very lucky and very blessed. I’ve been in the right places at the right time with the right skill. However, I do believe that creative life is a struggle in itself. I think to create authentically, the artist has to inevitably go deep into their emotions and mental state. For me, this journey only compounded a diagnosis of depression and anxiety at a young age.

I think that artists pull from, and act on emotion in order to create. It can be a very frightening when you do not know yourself yet or how to regulate your feelings. Knowing yourself can take a lifetime so I say the creative struggle is real for anyone willing to take the challenge.

So, while my career path was for all purposes a smooth road, my creative journey was not. Most artists struggle with self-doubt when they first start, even if their art is rewarded with accolades. My journey to my authentic artist self was fraught with the drama of tears, running away, suicidal ideation, and self-harm. It has taken most of my life to accept myself and, with that, my creations. For what are an artist’s creations but a piece of themselves, heart and soul?

But, something I didn’t really see coming was the reward for the hard work of the self-actualization process. Inner peace. Joy. Celebration. If an artist grows creatively, there will always be some level of struggle. But I’m happy to say that today, joy, for me, outweighs the residual pain of introspection and growth. I celebrate the path that has brought me to create my most authentic, joyful art.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe you can tell us more about your work next?
My paintings have evolved stylistically over the last few years, but I’ve always been recognized for my bold use of color. My illustration background carried over into my fine art at first, and I found myself sketching out and planning every painting prior to starting. Then, the painting process became formulaic over time. While my use of color was very expressive, my compositions felt static. I wasn’t putting my heart into my work anymore, and I was an unhappy artist.

I needed a change, so I gave myself permission to attend a remote creative workshop in Austin. I intentionally went with an open mind and an open heart, but I was nervous about doing that. Ask any artist who has attended an intensive art workshop, and they’ll probably tell you, “Yes, I cried.” But I knew I was unhappy with my work and was ready to give it everything I had to find my authentic voice.

The facilitator created a magical, safe, fun environment in which she encouraged experimentation and intuitive painting. I let myself go and began painting abstractly for the first time since I was a child. My color and designs skills were supporting my brushstrokes and I was happy painting again. But, I was still “finding” things in my marks. I love to draw and pure abstract just wasn’t giving me the opportunity to play with line and form in quite the same way as my illustrative approach.

I came home from the workshop refreshed and inspired and continued my experimentation. What has emerged is a semi-abstract style where color is still heavily influenced by my love of fauvism. I still let myself be led into a level of representation to allow visual connections with the viewer, but I paint completely intuitively now, and I think that creates a much deeper level of emotional connection. I create a journey for the eyes and discovery for the soul using paint and canvas.

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
For potential societal and cultural impact, Ai scares the crap out of me.

But I have mixed feelings when it comes to AI art. If I understand it correctly, a human is still initiating the act of creation by inputting parameters for the system to follow. However, the whole concept of AI is that this will change, and the system will learn and eventually provide the initial creative spark needed.

AI systems learn from humans, but humans currently control the AI system. When that is no longer true, I fear human creativity will be overshadowed by machine capabilities. Those who are driven by perfection will be drawn to AI art. But because humans are imperfect and therefore create imperfect art, enough of us will remain to appreciate analog art’s uniqueness and eventual rarity to keep us creating.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kristinharveyart.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristincre8s/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KristinHarveyArt
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kharvey/

Image Credits
Kristin Harvey