Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristine Brookshire.
Kristine, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I knew I wanted to be an artist from the time I could hold a pencil. I was always fascinated by drawing people, and when I saw a courtroom sketch of my FBI agent father on the news – I decided that would be the perfect job for me. So I spent my childhood dreaming of being a courtroom sketch artist, thinking it would be so exciting. I went on to pursue art in college and earned my Bachelor’s degree in Fine Art from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, but thankfully, came to realize I didn’t want to be stuck in a courtroom all day.
I worked different jobs while my husband went to law school and we had our three babies, all the while keeping art as my hobby. Watercolor became my go-to medium while my kids were really young (I had a two-year-old and baby twins) because it worked well with my limitations of only being able to work for short periods of time and I could leave the mess out and let paint dry on my brushes without ruining them.
Once my twins started sleeping through the night I got a very strong creative drive. So I took the leap to start making art and selling it Etsy. I’m not a very techie person and Etsy seemed less intimidating than running my own website. The past couple of years I’ve had the pleasure of working on some projects with some big companies and I’ve finally launched my own website where I sell my paintings.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I’m a mixed media painter who loves the color and range of textures I can get with paint, but I’ll always include some drawing in my pieces. Recently, I’ve been combining geometric flat shapes of color with delicate, more realistic drawing on raw wood panel. I also love to balance the organic texture of watercolor on canvas with some areas of more realistic painting and drawing.
California’s vast beauty is a huge inspiration to me. My desert series was inspired by my time spent in Palm Desert and Joshua Tree, and my next series will be a beach series painted from all the photos I’ve taken while my family and I spent every weekend at the beach. The human figure will always be a big inspiration to me as well since it was my most prevalent subject matter in my art growing up.
When people view my art, they are seeing a bit of unexpected color, shapes, and texture brought to familiar scenes of California’s landscapes and the human figure. I hope it is an inspiration to them to notice the beauty that surrounds them as well the beauty in other people and themselves.
Artists rarely, if ever pursue art for the money. Nonetheless, we all have bills and responsibilities and many aspiring artists are discouraged from pursuing art due to financial reasons. Any advice or thoughts you’d like to share with prospective artists?
I think it depends on a person’s personality and their network of support. I supported my husband financially my working at the University doing non-art related things while he pursued his dream of going to law school, and now he supports me while I pursue my goals as an artist. I worked other jobs to pay the bills while doing art on the side and taking every commission that came my way.
It also helps to diversify your channels of income. I sell prints and tea towels with my art on it, as well as my originals on my website.
There are a couple of boutiques and other print shops that I have a few pieces with (https://www.minted.com/store/kristinebrookshire) and Juniper Print Shop (https://juniperprintshop.com/). Prints are a great way to have an almost “passive” income as an artist.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
My website is: www.kristinebrookshire.com. I still have some of my older work on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/KristineBrookshire.
My social media is: https://www.instagram.com/kristinebrookshire/ and https://www.facebook.com/KristineBrookshireArt/
Contact Info:
- Website: https://kristinebrookshire.com/
- Email: kristinebrookshire.art@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristinebrookshire/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KristineBrookshireArt/
Image Credit:
Photos taken by my family.
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