Featured Artist: Anne Karin Selvik Kristensen

My name is Anne Karin Selvik Kristensen. I live with my husband in Egersund, we have 3 grown up children and 10 grandchildren. After finishing my degree in physiotherapy I specialised in paediatrics treatment and worked full time for 20 years. As far back as I can remember my main interest was drawing and I attended art courses and did self learning studies as often as time allowed.

Passing 40 years old I eventually became a full time student at art school and the years following I became a student at a graphic workshop for 3 years. Eventually I could afford to have my own studio with a press to do graphic artworks. During this time I had several exhibitions with my art friends in the district, all with graphic art.

With my close proximity to children both at work and to my 10 grandchildren, all born within a period within 12 years, it was natural that this gradually became my subject matter. Taking the little babies to work 3 days a week, I worked in my studio for the following days, often having my grandchildren asking to be a model or just being around. These years I have mainly been working with charcoal and graphic art in all sizes.

I have completed commissions of children and also many portraits of my own family. Recently I have painted all my grandchildren in oil on panels size 30/40 cm.

Of course my family and my young patients. I love their openness, innocence, spontaneity and trust and of course their funny facial expressions. They hide nothing behind a mask and are totally themselves all the time.

I also get inspired by all kinds of portrait artwork, both by visiting major galleries in Europe and and by studying art books. I love both classic figurative art and part of our modern art. I live in a small fishing town by the sea with nature close by and summertime we move out to live in a cottage only 10 minutes drive from our house. I get inspired when I’m out at sea and when I hike along the shore or in the mountains. During the summertime I try to spend time outdoors painting landscapes. I have attended several plain air workshops in Europe during the last 5 years.

I doodle in my sketch book as often I get a chance, mostly in the evenings half watching something on TV. Drawing with a fine liner or a ball pen. Never knowing what the result will look like, it is a relaxing and lovely way to draw.

It must be a painting I did years ago of my three children getting ready for bed. It is a typical situation motif and as they now have moved out and got their own children, it brings back lovely memories of a hectic but lovely time.

When I have completed a piece of art I am mostly done with it. When it is sold by a gallery I forget all about it. Apart from that I see things to correct all the time, if I have drawings and paintings in the studio. Having a blank canvas is a dream, everything is possible! But quite soon I’m dictated too by forms, lines and values to make a composition work.

I do learn from criticism of my work. Of course I received a lot of criticism at art school, all the students did. Our teachers mostly encouraged us to make modern non figurative art, something that was of little interest for me at that time.

My children and my husband love to make comments about my artwork, both in a positive and in a negative way. And thats ok. We all need an honest response from others.