About the Artist

Artist Biography

Kristie Means was born in Concord, California and grew up in Clayton, California where she spent her formative years. Architecture school took her to Eugene, Oregon, where she obtained her undergraduate degree from the University of Oregon with a BA in History and minor in Architecture. The next decade she moved around a lot exploring the world and experiencing other cultures. Kristie has lived in several places including, Russia, Washington, Florida, Texas, and New York. She now resides with her husband and two children in Fort Worth, Texas. She is inspired by her creator God who has put in her a desire to dive into uncovering the good, true and beautiful. It is through acrylics that she has tapped into a way to communicate the message of love, brokenness, healing, and hope. Working in both quick and slow movements with her brush, it is a continual play of addition and subtraction. She has also worked in powdered graphite and water creating art with a lot of movement. She has taken some community college art classes, but is mostly self-taught. Kristie has studied under renowned artist, Makoto Fujimura, while living in New York, and has interned at the Dillion Gallery in Chelsea as well. Kristie had a studio for several years at Pump Project in East Austin where she exhibited her work. When her son was born 9 years ago, she stepped away from her art to be a full-time mother, and when her son was diagnosed with autism and she gave birth to a daughter, it became nearly impossible to find time to create. One year ago, with both children in school, she went back to the canvas, converted her garage into a studio, and began birthing a more mature work.

Artist Statement

I believe the work of the artist is to bring glory to God. As we are made in the image of God, we have been given a job of creating. For me, that is to create abstract work that bypasses the logical part of the brain and goes straight to the soul, the often-overlooked part of who we are, to tell a story-a story of hope and healing, a story of love and beauty. What makes art beautiful is the way it can communicate. Each person brings their own story and filter when they look at a piece of art. My desire is that my artwork would encourage, inspire, and speak to your heart.