I want to tell you a little story about Kristen Ferrell. I was in love with a dog named Sailor who literally ruled my life with her tiny stares and donkey kicks for almost sixteen years, when she suddenly died a piece of my heart died with her. Anyone who knew Sailor and I witnessed our epic love for each other and Kristen was on of these people.
After Sailor left the world a mysterious parcel arrived at my studio. Inside of that parcel was a beautiful fantastical painting of my little spirit dog in a pink heaven.
So she’s the type of friend that sends you a beautiful thoughtful gift when your beloved dog dies.
She’s also the type of person that when you see her and hear her voice your day instantaneously gets better because she’s pure magic.
I was very lucky to meet her through my very smart friend Bradley. He fell in love with her after meeting her for like two minutes was so stricken by her epic brains and sass he eventually was allowed to be her friend. Later on he Convinced her to be his wife. Side note:together they are one of my favorite couples.
I love you Kristen & Brad people like you make the world a more interesting better place to exist.
Do you have anything upcoming you would like to talk about?
Covid has put a huge damper on exhibits, so I decided in 2020 to lean into long term projects that have been simmering on the back burner for years. I’m creating an oracle deck; am in the process of illustrating the book of Revelation; have started to repurpose our garage into a printmaking studio so I can FINALLY use the printmaking press my dad and I built; creating cross stitch patterns of my artwork; adding more designs to the Occult Dog & Cat accessory line that Brad and I started; making videos and tutorials for my Patreon… there’s a lot of things going on in every direction.
What or who inspired you to become an artist?
A few years back I found this little book of mine from when I was 7 years old. It was called, “All about me!”, and was one of those books where you write about everything you like / draw pictures / etc. On the page where it asked what you wanted to be when you grew up, I had written that I wanted to be an artist and own a clothing store. I grew up in a family that was very dedicated to music (primarily classical), and my brothers and I all played many musical instruments (all of which I was terrible at and they were great at)- but all I ever wanted to do was draw and paint and make things. Outside of school trips to museums, I didn’t have any visual art influence until high school art classes, and then art school- so there was no specific person or thing that inspired me to take this path. Art was just something that I needed to do, and I knew that I would be creating things all my life (whether anyone liked what I made or not). There was no other option for me, and I didn’t care much about doing anything else with my time.
What do you think the next evolution in your style with be?
I want to work bigger- and I’m trying to figure out how to do that. All my pieces are tiny (the largest ones being approx 9in x 11in), and when you work large you go about it in a totally different way than you do when you work super tiny. But I’d love to make huge pieces. I have a painting that is 3ft x 5ft that I started about 10 years ago, and it’s size intimidates me so much that I’ll work on it for a few nights, and then just put it away for months. I know I’m really limiting myself with working so small- so when I am finally able to break through and get over my intimidation of big pieces, it’s going to change the look of my pieces. I’m pretty excited about that.
Do you have any classic training in your creative field or are you self taught?
I got a BA in Fine Arts with my major being Intaglio Printmaking (the reason why my dad and I built a printing press). I don’t think that I would have worked professionally as an artist at all had I not had classical training. Coming from a family that had zero interest in visual arts, art school is where I was exposed to everything. My high school had a massive arts program (metalsmithing, jewelry making, ceramics, photography, etc), and when I went to college it was to make sculptural jewelry… but being forced to take drawing, painting, printmaking, etc showed me where I really wanted to be. I fell in love with printmaking, and was actually a pretty bad painter until after I graduated from college and was pushed into painting because I didn’t have access to a print studio anymore. I wouldn’t have learned how to do ANY of that to any of that if it wasn’t for a formal education and the exposure it gave me and techniques it taught me. I’m so in awe of self-taught artists b/c they figured it all out on their own.
Do you have any personal projects you work on just for your own happiness? Art or non art related.
The only thing that I like about living in California is the gardening. I’m from Kansas, and you only have a couple months there to make things grow- but here it’s gardening weather all year long. I’ve somehow stumbled into being pretty decent at it.
But anything I enjoy doing, I turn it into something that I can use for exhibitable work or to sell. I love cross stitching, so now I’m making cross stitch patterns (those should be available within the next couple months). I draw when I’m decompressing. I’m obsessed with my pets so I started a clothing line for them. I’m not very good at doing things just for my own pleasure. Having lived in poverty when I was a single mom, my knee-jerk mentality is “how do I turn this into money so I can be safe”. I don’t allow myself much “down time”. If I’m sitting still, I’m working. I know it’s not healthy… and I’m trying to find a way to get better at that.
Do you have a routine before you sit down and start working on a new piece or body of work? And If you do could you describe your process?
This was the one thing that art school really helped me with- working no matter what. I set deadlines for myself, and I meet them. It doesn’t matter what is going on with me personally, or where I am- I create. If I’m traveling? I’ve got a sketchbook. If things are terrible in my life? Use it as inspiration. If things are great in my life? Awesome- get the fuck to work. I’m really good at putting distractions and stresses into a box and escaping into creating- so I can do it anywhere, any time, and for as long as I need to. Granted, there are periods where what I’m creating is pure garbage… but I keep working through it and just make garbage. And I always have multiple projects and pieces going on at once so if I get stuck on one, I just shift gears and focus on a different one. But I obsessively have to be moving forward on some front or I freak out.
What makes you counter productive?
These past few years it’s been harder and harder to stay focused. I had always been amazing at shutting out the world and working- until the Trump administration. The the magnitude of our culture’s issues showed itself in full force- and for the first time in my life I had a hard time shutting it out. That’s only gotten worse since 2020. I’m still able to work through it- but I’ve found I get worn out more easily. So I guess paying attention to what’s going on in the world is counter productive for me… but I also don’t feel like I have the right to stop paying attention when so much horrible shit is going on. If I have the luxury of “tuning it out”, I don’t have the right to “tune it out”. So I try to stay present, and find ways to help… and I am able to work hard. But my motivation and new ideas are slower to come to the surface.
Do you have any favorite muses?
All the misunderstood monsters. I want to do so many series dedicated to so many “monsters”. The real ones, like the women who were murdered for being “witches”. But also the ones from fairy tales- like Medusa and Baba Yaga and Sirens and Lilith all the ladies who got a bad rap just by existing. I love all those ladies with my whole heart.
I just finished a painting of the Devil babysitting a bunch of baby chicken-legged houses of Baba Yaga’s. I decided that she raised her chicken-legged house from a baby, and I like the idea of her having a bunch of baby ones running around (and of course the Devil would watch her kiddos for her, b/c they’re besties… right?).
Do you have a favorite podcast or playlist you listen to while working?
I either listen to true crime podcasts, or have some tv series I’ve watched 20 times playing on my computer next to me.
Podcasts: there are the tried and true My Favorite Murder, Last Podcast on the Left, Murder Squad, Dr Death, etc… (I’ve got about 20 different ones in my rotation). But there’s a couple I just discovered that I can’t stop listening to: Let’s Not Meet and This Is Actually Happening.
For nonstop repeat on tv, it’s all my nerd stuff: Battlestar Galactica, Buffy, Supernatural, the Marvel TV shows (Jessica Jones, Daredevil, etc), Star Trek (OG), etc.
I just need someone to tell me stories while I work.
Anything else you would like to share?
I can’t think of anything else, except that Jessica Louise is the best.
Visit Kristen’s website! https://www.kristenferrell.com/
