 |
Zshanna Kristoff
I was born in Detroit, Michigan on Saint Patrick's Day in 1979. My grandmother named me Zshanna. The interest started very young, after school, helping my father with work, filling in giant letters and numbers, laying down vinyl and painting on buildings. I built my style from fonts and silhouettes, from art nouveau and a couple graffiti kids. In the books I learned the importance of simplicity and the story a clean, well-drawn line could tell. It was in the suburbs, bored and with a very short attention span that I retreated into art. It was hard for me to choose, to focus on one thing, so I drafted, began to write, to sculpt, to sew, knit, take photographs and was taught to draw and shade and paint. Senior year, I entered the Scholastic Art Awards and my portfolio was awarded one of best in the State competition and scholarship. I decided against the scholarship, chose love instead and moved to Denver, attending and graduating from the Art Institute of Colorado with a degree in Graphic Design in the year 2000. After graduation, I spent a year with The Onion, working in layout and ad design. In high school, I thought design was a safe choice, was close enough to being a real artist that i wouldn't actually ever have to take a risk. The thought of living off art alone terrified me until that year when my mother became pregnant with a little girl. That's when I began my sketchbooks. I started to draw women and what I thought my sister would grow into, what I thought her name would be and the inspiration from the idea of her has kept me going and drawing and painting on 'til now. When she was born, she was born sick and with all the love I would gain and the parts of my heart I was guaranteed to lose I drew and drew through it. The art on the wall is where I began as I painter. I paint my memories sometime, usually it's just a feeling that started somewhere in a sketchbook. More attached to drawing than anything, I realize how each medium I learn complements the next. The better I draw, the better I sculpt, paint. The design complements the art just that same. Now I work with both freelancing from home, specializing in identity, event posters and hand-made invitations. Also, I am available for commission... portraits or anything you can think of. Enjoy.
Z.
|
