Kelly Larson

Bio

I am new to the art world, although the work I have created spans twenty years. My artwork is an exploration of my faith as I live, walk, and sometimes stumble in the world around me. Growing up in a Christian home and church, naturally, has had an influence on my beliefs, but growing in God's word and in my faith is like taking baby steps as I go through life. Sometimes you have these "aha" moments, whereas other times you fall and take a couple steps back. As a child I remember my mom reading the book to me, "3 in 1 (A Picture of God)" by Joanne and Benjamin Marxhausen. It may have been the simple images of this book that set-in motion the style of my artwork. Fast forward to college, attending the University of Wisconsin-Stout, I took my first screen printing class and discovered that I love taking a complex thought and breaking it down to its simplest form. After receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in Interior Design, I lived and worked in Minneapolis, MN. In 2000, I discovered a printmaking class at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and began incorporating scripture with the theme of the project that year. "What I Did on My Summer Vacation" led me to create my first piece titled, "Road Home", based on Matthew 7:13-14. Since then, most of my screen prints revolve around scripture. The main inspiration for my artwork is God's word. As I read my Bible, images come to mind that I jot down, journal about and eventually need to get out on paper. I have come upon objects, read words, been moved by a song and experienced moments in life that also bring me back to a verse to inspire these simple images and their colors. When I view my prints, they remind me of my faith and the words I lean on. My artwork has been influenced by graphic designer, Saul Bass, who took a minimalist approach to his work keeping with the Modern Art Movement of the 20th Century. Also, Minnesota artist, Charles Beck, whose landscapes and woodcarvings reflect the abstraction of an idea. The two mediums I prefer to work in are screen printing using the process of photo emulsion and light, mixing my own colors using water based acrylic inks, and pastels to quickly capture a moment of God's creation in nature. I have worked in the Interior Design profession since graduating from college in 1997. I am a wife and mom of three boys. As an artist, I feel the need to unwrap this gift that God has placed in my heart...To create art that would glorify Him, honor Him and to do it in such a way that evokes the words of my mother, "Keep It Simple".