Interior artist?

KRISTINE, KRIS, KRISTY, KRISSY
My name, what I or others call me has evolved along with my journey in art and design.
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​Part 1
I have always been an artist. That’s a very broad description though. I grew up constantly creating. Always attending art and craft classes. I had some amazing instructors and graduated high school with a small art scholarship award. I then went to an art college to get a piece of paper that would say I was an artist. That’s what my parents told me I needed in order to be a “real” artist and to make a living at it. As it turned out, half way through the program I was offered a position with an actual “real” title at a Fortune 500 company. I promptly quit school and went to work there in that high rise building for 4 years in downtown Houston, Texas. I was a Graphic Artist.

After my son was born in 1990, I started a business painting children’s wall murals. I was a Mural Artist.

In 1995 I was introduced to a talented artist that taught and then encouraged me to draw people. Setting up a space at West Edmonton Mall and taking orders there, I was then a Portrait Artist.

Drawing and painting were always something I did while working at other jobs for the most part. It wasn’t until 2005 that I made the decision to pursue my art full time. I was then a Fine Artist.

Part 2
What I didn’t appreciate was that all that time, I was also learning to design spaces. Without really knowing it, I was also becoming a decorator. I now understand that decorating is art and rooms are canvases.

My first paid decorating job was in 1988 as a stager, before staging was a thing. Skipping ahead to 1996, I was working for a new home builder in Canada. Together with my talented husband, Rick, I have been able to build, renovate and update just about any type of home imaginable over the past 20 years. They include but not limited to, a 1910 farmhouse, a new build that we designed from scratch, a small cabin on skids, a tiny home, a 1936 church, a 1970’s condo and 4 bungalows from various decades to date. We’ve also had the pleasure of consulting for countless friends and family on their projects all along the way. 

So, life is a journey of learning. Some great mentors and instructors have lead us to where we are today. I am excited to say, that after some encouragement this past year, Rick and I have started our consulting business. We are taking what we have learned through doing and offering advice and creative solutions for their homes to others.
I am a decorator. No, I don’t have a piece of paper to tell you that so perhaps I’ll just go with Interior Artist?