Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristin Lozoya.
Hi Kristin, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I am a talented painter, and I am really good with kids. I have joked with friends and family, “in my next life I will be good at something financially lucrative!” All jokes aside, my story is not a terribly unique one. If I was to write the headline for this write-up it would be “Art Teacher and Painter sidelines career to care for Autistic Teen Daughter Full-time.” Yes, my story involves three years as an arts program coordinator and instructor with the Raleigh Girls Club. And yes, I have participated in a number of art festivals over the years (i.e. Cary Spring Daze, Cary Lazy Daze, Wide-open Bluegrass Festival). And lastly, I have taught the popular “paint and sip” classes for a number of years to help make ends meet. And that is the crux of my story that I think will resonate with so many. “Making ends meet.” My daughter was diagnosed with Autism in November 2012. This diagnosis pushed my husband and I to reshape our vision for the future. When many stay-at-home parents are counting down the days to Kindergarten, I knew our daughter was going to need something different. January 2017, I filed with the state to homeschool our daughter. Since then, our lives have centered around community engagement, therapy appointments, encouraging hobbies, and yes, academics. And somewhere in there I squeezed outlets for my creativity and painting.
My artistic style is Expressionistic. I am heavily influence by the German Expressionists in the first half of the 20th century. I am inspired by their ability to encounter darkness and meet it with bold colors. And while I am capable of creating representational artwork (i.e. portraits, landscapes, cityscapes, etc), I am moving toward a more abstract style in my non-commissioned work. It is incredibly hard to gain traction professionally, when your time is monopolized by the incredibly important job of being a parent to a child with special needs. I am always looking for public spaces to display my art. Life as a special needs parent can be isolating. Continuing to paint helps me stay connected to the world outside. I am very grateful I can continue to nurture that connection.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I don’t think any artist has a smooth road professionally. One simple reason is subjectivity. Our career path has no absolute metric to measure success or failure. I have lamented that my creative sensibilities are not “commercial” and my natural impulses do not lend themselves to easy marketing. My inability to create a pleasing composition with pastels has definitely hurt me professionally. I am honestly only half-joking. I create loud, bold paintings and there isn’t always buyer for that, but it is what I have to offer. I find changing what I create to meet the market usually doesn’t prove fruitful. I feel the buyer can feel your dishonesty, and they will buy from the artist that truly cares about neutral palettes and not the artist merely pretending to. So, i continue to create and celebrate when I find that buyer that connects with what I am putting out into the world.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
The art market is getting invaded by AI. This is not a hot take. It’s reality. I feel artists like me have an opportunity to stand out in this cultural moment. I rarely sell prints of my work because people tell me that they love the visible texture and layers to my paintings. My work is intuitive and the brushstrokes tell the story of human working it out. I am making edits. I am making decisions about the composition. This isn’t a computer that is imitating that process, I’m living it. People see the evidence on the canvas. Buyers characterize my work as “joyful,” and “whimsical.” My bold color palettes work well in the popular neutral modern farmhouse aesthetic. A house filled with neutral grays needs a pop of color and I love providing that to the buyer. Some of my most popular work is pet portraits, people portraits, expressionist abstracts and cityscapes of locales (i.e. Durham and Cary, NC). And I take pride in my work being priced for the Middle Class Buyer. I believe in making art available to the community and I try to price my work to make good on that belief.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I have lived in the Raleigh-Durham area since 2006. This area of the country has so much to offer. At the risk of alienating Raleigh lovers, I will speak passionately about the region as a whole. I love the passion the RTP has for its sports teams. I love seeing the collective effervesce pour out of the breweries and bars on a game day. I feel Durham has more opportunities for local artists to share their artwork with the community. In my opinion, Raleigh and Cary have some big art festivals but not consistent small festivals throughout the year like Durham.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kristinlozoya.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kristinlozoyaart/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristin-lozoya-artist/
