Kristle Parchman, of Kristle Studio, is from northern Texas, but relocated to Charlotte after visiting her mother who had just moved to the area. She applied for a job in the Charlotte area and, luckily, was offered the position.
“It was a time of transition for me, both professionally and personally,” she recalls. “And, it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.”
She worked there for five years before deciding to pursue art full-time. She studied digital marketing at Texas Tech University and also took courses in studio art. After graduating she worked in Digital Marketing until 2018 where she began her art business. She paints for between eight to ten hours on a given day, including weekends if she is working on an upcoming series. Because of her dedication and practice to art, she has been able to develop and define her craft, which allows her to precisely express her visions.
How did you get into art?
I have been an artist for as long as I can remember. In elementary school, I would color all over everything, like walls and lockers… thank goodness I never got in real trouble. In high school, my art teacher asked me to submit a painting to a national art competition. I ended up winning the grand prize for a painting of a little boy looking up at a yellow ribbon. That painting was hung in the Congress Building.
How has your style changed over the years?
My artwork today is a lot like my early work, but I changed my style in-between. I did a lot of figure studies over 10 years ago, and six to eight years ago I got into abstracts and started doing commissions. I am much more comfortable in my figure paintings, and I have gotten a lot looser in my style over the last couple of years. I still use vibrant, bold colors and some of the same pouring techniques as I did in my abstracts, but I am more intentional, disciplined, and strategic with my use of color now.
What have you learned since beginning your abstract and portraiture pieces?
Portraiture has re-taught me a lot about color, whereas a lot of abstract work is connected and configured by way of nature and natural light. It tends to work when artists use those same layering principles to build an amazing piece.
Your work alludes to a life of travel and various cultural influences. Between familiar and foreign subjects, which do you prefer to paint?
I believe there’s an excited anticipation that comes with planning a trip or an event, and it musters up all kinds of feelings and emotions. I portray this feeling in my painting; it’s a feeling that can’t be described with words. They are dramatically positioned to communicate the memory of a vacation journey mixed with dreamlike images that go beyond memory of a “happy place.”
