About :: Kristen Stein Fine Art :: StudioArtworks.com

About:
Kristen Stein is a Contemporary Artist living in Suburban Philadelphia. Kristen's works are currently available at a number of galleries and retail locations throughout the US, and through her websites StudioArtworks.com and KristensCreations.com. Kristen's paintings have been purchased for public and private collections internationally and throughout much of the United States. Her art has appeared in numerous printed media including posters, book cover, CD Covers, calendars and program covers. She is the author of the children's books “The Vegetarian Lion” and "Oh Sweet Child of Mine" and the author of “Kristen Stein Contemporary Paintings”.

Kristen's art has been featured in a number of solo and group exhibitions. In addition, her artwork has been selected to appear in an upcoming film 'The Roommate" and a new FOX TV Show called "Past Life" both airing in 2010. Her collaborative work "Spirit of Autumn Fire" can be seen in several episodes of "Warehouse 13" on the Syfy Channel.


Inspiration:
As an artist, I am influenced by nearly everything that I read, see and hear. I paint from everyday experiences, images, conversations, etc. Even the most mundane can be converted into a beautiful painting with the swirl of a brush. Some of my works start with detailed sketches while others are created from a blank canvas layer by layer until the final painting is achieved. I like to work in a wide range of styles and materials as this allows me to keep my art fresh and new. My minimalist landscape paintings, for example, allow me to experiment with color and texture while capturing the beauty of a wide open meadow, field, ocean, etc. I've always been fascinated by trees...especially the tall skinny trees that line the highways, or the rotund trees that pop up in an otherwise bare landscape. As a passenger in a car on a long road trip, I often find myself dreaming about the landscapes and capturing a brief memory that eventually translates to a painting. Many of these pieces are influenced by time spent in Colorado, California and Spain. My enchanted garden series allows me to capture a world of my imagination where birds, snakes, plants, flowers, trees, butterflies, etc. can be expressed in a wild whimsical way. They are bold, bright and wonderfully fun to create. My whimsical pet portraits allow me to capture our furry friends at their best. Some of the paintings depict the fun in the simplest of behavior ... the dog or cat nap! Others depict how I believe our pets would like to act when their owners are not around. This is how the "When we are away, the dog will play" series came about. I also greatly enjoy dog agility and have captured many of the great obstacles on canvas. My art-deco cubist paintings are my story-telling paintings. This style allows me to capture a certain sentiment or tell a story in the painting. The cubist aspects are influenced by the works of Picasso and Gris while the art deco aspects are influenced by the advertising, design and travel posters of the 1930s. Paintings influenced by September 11th, Hurricane Katrina and the deaths of my grandmothers are among the works in the art deco cubist collection. Each of the collections are special in their own way and truly a joy to create. I hope to continue to be inspired on a daily basis by everyone and everything around me.