In the Studio with Kristen Powers, Wear For Art Thou

Hi. My name is Kristen Powers. I really wish that I were an oil painter. Because then it would be so easy for me to say, “I am an oil painter.” But I am not. I am a visual thinker. I am a craft scientist with a vivid imagination and a love of color, I am an art materials daredevil, always willing to try a new medium and not afraid of crafting failure! Whatever I am, I’m devoted to all things artistic, creative and handmade. Since I can remember, I received oodles of encouragement from my mom, who always said she “didn’t have an artistic bone” in her body (which was really not true at all). My whole life I was developing skills as an artist and didn’t even realize it! I never had any formal training*, I simply jumped in with both feet and read a lot of how-to books. I was d.i.y before d.i.y. was cool! * three years ago, during my pre-mid-life crisis, I returned to school and now I am this close to getting my BFA in Studio Art! So I guess now I’ve had some formal training!

I am constantly evolving, changing and growing (I like to say, “I am my art”). This is partly due to the fact that I want to make everything, and partly due to the fact that I have A.D. D. But I don’t see A.D.D. as a bad thing. I see it as an asset. It allows me to get a painting done in between scolding the dog, putting a band-aid on a boo-boo or finding nourishment for a hungry person!

I work out of my home and have appropriated our formal dining room AND living room to make a studio and office. It is a good thing we are not a very formal family and we don’t need any of that formal living space!  I spend as much time on my art as I can. I definitely work at least one or two hours a day on creative projects or the business side of my art. It is sometimes difficult to carve out set hours with school and kids and work (I do nails, in a salon, two days a week)! It’s a crazy life but I can’t imagine having it any other way.

As much as I’d like to listen to music or have peaceful solitude while I work, I mostly just end up listening to the dogs snore and my seven year old son and nine year old daughter argue. Every once in a while though, I will hear the kids playing nicely and giggling together and that is the best thing in the world to hear. I figure when the kids are off in college I will buy an iPod…

I sell my things online and in the spring and fall I attend of lot of local craft shows. This year I have so much I want to achieve. I plan on coming out with a line of clear stamps and a coloring/craft book. It’s been a few years, but I have had my designs on lines of quilt fabrics that have sold at JoAnn’s and Hancock’s Fabrics. I am hoping to illustrate a few new lines this year. But we’ll see what I am actually able to accomplish, my A.D.D. can only help to a point! Unfortunately, I still have to sleep!

Of course, I think people should definitely buy handmade. Handmade items are really personal and so much more special than any old schlock you can buy at W.M. or Targeau. The stuff from those big box stores or the malls, any-old-body can have. When people buy handmade, they are getting something that another human being actually put thought into and spent time on. When you buy handmade you are not only making a thoughtful purchase, but also really helping to support the arts and the idea of local, small business.

I have a lot of goals, some lofty, some not. I hope to get some subscribers on my blog, I want 137 people to favorite me on Etsy; I want to learn something new every day and inspire others to do the same. I want to make stuff that makes people say, “That is sooo cute.” Or “I love it”. And then I want to do it all again.