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1. Did your childhood play a part in your decision to be an artist?
Oh yes! My father painted and made furniture and other woodworking projects. My mother quilted and did lots of crafts. They are both so creative and encouraged that in my brothers and me. I read a lot as a child, and I loved the worlds that books and their illustrations would create.
2. After reading your Bio, I see that you are a member of your local Artist Guild. Has this been beneficial to you as an artist? If so, how?
My guild organizes shows, workshops, demonstrations and children’s programs. It’s really nice to get to know other artists and work together to promote the arts in our community.
3. What factors helped direct you towards the style your art has taken; how did you find your own personal style of art?
When my daughter and son were little, my favorite books to read to them were by Beatrix Potter. Her stories and illustrations are simply wonderful! I also volunteered for a year at a public library as a children’s storyteller. While choosing books each week, I discovered illustrators like Kate Greenaway, Cicely Mary Barker and Arthur Rackham. I think my style has a very storybook feel.
4. What is the single most helpful thing you’ve discovered to promote yourself and your art?
Every year, I paint and print my own Christmas cards and Halloween party invitations. I love to share my paintings and these are a personal way to show people what I do and even promote my work. I’ve gotten several commissions from and through friends.
No doubt, the internet is an amazing way to share art. At any time, I can see work from the most talented professionals to the most charming amateurs. It’s exciting to know that people all over the world can see my work, too!
5.You incorporate nature into your art often. Do you enjoy any outdoor activities that inspire your artistically? What else inspires you?
I love camping and hiking and just being outdoors. There is a 35-acre forest right behind our house. It’s like a fairytale woods- twisted, old Ponderosa pines with owls, mule deer and a coyote den. There are wild roses, a honeybee hive in a hollow pine tree, and even an enormous fallen petrified log. I imagine many of my paintings happening in those woods.
I find endless inspiration in my children, in being a mother, and even in everyday domestic things like housework. I think music is the perfect partner for visual art, and I am very much inspired by my guitarist husband.
6.What mediums do you use and which is your medium of choice? Why?
I paint with acrylics and am very happy using the little craft-grade bottles. They’re so inexpensive and I love all the wonderful colors. I paint on illustration board for smaller pieces and plywood for larger ones and commissions. A pencil and eraser are still my most important tools.
7.Your Home Portraits are wonderful! Do you have any tips on using perspective that you can share with us?
I think they’re a sweet idea. I meet with the homeowner, photograph the house, and then draw it by grid. I’m really trying to improve my technical drawing skills!
8. Do you do anything in particular to prepare to paint? Is there a special way you get into the mood to paint?
I’m almost always in the mood to paint, but with a job (I work part-time in a flower shop) and kids and their activities, I have to set aside the time. Paintings always take a few (or several) sessions for me to complete, so I like to sit down first with a cup of tea and critically study the piece, planning what to do next. I also like to get inspired by other artists- by looking at books and on-line galleries and forums.
9. What is your favorite subject to paint? Why?
Elves! I love the thought of tiny people living perfectly with nature.
10. Is there any art reference book or website that has helped you a great deal? What was it and in what ways has it helped?
Field guides like those by the Audubon Society are great sources of reference and inspiration. The illustrations in old field guides are so beautiful. Rien Poortvliet’s Gnomes and The Living Forest and Froud and Lee’s Faeries are wonderful for the imagination.
www.artpassions.net and www.surlalunefairytales.com are fascinating sites about illustration. Elfwood, Epilogue and FAE have encouraged me to show my work and to constantly challenge myself. It’s great fun to get to know other artists whose work you admire.
11. Do you believe great artists are born or taught?
If someone is born with a love to create, I believe they can learn the needed skills. Except for a few classes in school, I taught myself to paint. I think good artists are continuously learning and trying new things.
12.Do you think artists are different from other people? If so, in what ways?
There are so many different kinds of artists- musicians, writers, designers, craftspeople, cooks, gardeners… anyone’s passion can be their art. I think visual artists might see things differently, though. I’m constantly looking at the colors of things and light and making up pictures in my head. I imagine that musicians would do the same with rhythms and melodies.
13. If you woke up one morning in a horrible mood, what would you do to change your mood?
Every morning, I watch the sun rise on the mountains. I just drink coffee and stare out the window for an hour and try to start my day slowly and pleasantly. If I were still in a bad mood, I would take my dog for a walk in the woods.
Name: Kristina Layton
Website: http://www.kristinalayton.com/
email: thelayton4 at comcast dot net
Epilogue: http://www.epilogue.net/cgi/database/art/list.pl?gallery=14736
Elfwood: http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/art/k/l/klayton/klayton.html
