Meet Kristen Margiotta | Fine Artist, Oil Painter, Art Instructor, and Illustrator.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kristen Margiotta and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kristen, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I was born and raised in Delaware, the tiny little state nestled in between other bustling states in the Mid Atlantic. It’s a short drive to NYC, Baltimore, Philly, and the Jersey Shore and the Delaware beaches. My father immigrated from a small town in Italy to the USA at age 17, and my mom was born and raised here in Delaware. They were very supportive of my interest in art from a young age. I don’t think they were necessarily thinking I could pursue it later as a career looking back on that, which is quite healthy. So many parents today only want their kids doing activities that they could potentially turn into a career. Or, they only want their kids to focus on school work, which is life draining and unfulfilling. Life is challenging and messy, so we need to find the parts of it we enjoy and embrace them. Hobbies and interests are necessary for our overall state of well being. I just happened to turn my love of art into a career.

I understood the value of hard work and a good work ethic from a young age. Both of my parents worked. My father owned a liquor store, and was pulling 90 hours a week most of the time, and my mom was a nurse for over 35 years. But still, we had family dinners together, family get togethers on the weekend, and both my brother and I had one or two activities we also did weekly. My friends loved visiting my home, and were always welcome. This was before the age of the internet and digital devices so there were no distractions from activities and in person interactions, as well as finding things to do at home to keep ourselves busy and/or entertained. I was always drawing and painting. My parents even let me oil paint in the kitchen.

I was also raised in what would be considered a traditional household. School work and family were important, we were not spoiled by any means, and as I stated, my parents provided me with art supplies and allowed me to do art and explore my creativity. I was also listening to hard rock and metal at a young age, which was permitted. The artwork on the album covers intrigued me. I saw Durer’s artwork for the first time in a Type O Negative album. I was also raised Catholic, so exposed to the drama, and tragedy of devotional artwork from a very young age. I grew up going to St. Anthony’s Church in Wilmington, which was a Romanesque style church that was modeled after another cathedral in Italy. It was dark, and ominous, and very old. I would stare at the stained glass windows, the artwork, and the patterns on the ceiling often during mass.

I think I get my risk taking from my father, who was self employed up until he retired. After he sold the liquor store, he owned a building and became a landlord for small business offices. My father is one of those men who just knows how to fix most things, and if he doesn’t, he’ll figure it out. He helped me over the years with simple tasks like finding hardware for my paintings and using a hammer etc…My mom is incredibly organized. A clean household and keeping the bills and paperwork organized was her department. As an artist, it’s very easy to lack professional and business skills, but I do believe I have both. I do my best to be on time for deadlines for exhibitions, drop offs, and setting up for events. It’s helpful for the people I”m working with for sure and I know they appreciate it.

Please tell us more about your work. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? How did you overcome challenges?

My primary medium of choice is oil paint, but I also make mixed media drawings with gold leaf. My paintings are narrative, often focussing on the human figure, and themes as love, loss, and transformation. One of my recurring motifs are pearl tears. I love working from still life and figure out different ways to include that in my work. My work is a blend of light and dark, because I do believe in life we need both.

My early career started right out of college where I was focussing on my fine art paintings which I was exhibiting in galleries, and simultaneously I illustrated my first children’s books along with other projects. My fine art and illustration styles overlapped, which featured my “big eyed” characters, and what I would describe as cute and creepy. I worked in this style for over 15 years, and was the illustrator of the 6 book chapter book series, Gustav Gloom, written by Adam-Troy Castro and published with Penguin Random House. I was also selling my work at various events and hosted a local monthly art event for 8 years called the Oddball Art Hall, which had vendors and artists, a DJ, and live art. I would also do commission work, and I was teaching art at various locations, all over. I was a busy lady.

Around 2011/12, I can’t remember exactly, I started to get the urge to jump back into realistic painting. I had always continued teaching realism with my students, but my artwork was more narrative, illustrative, and focussed on my big eyed characters and the imaginary settings I had created.

I then began painting portraits again while still working in my previous style, and at some point, the old style was abandoned. I still sell my older work to this day, as it’s part of who I am and my past. I also think it’s important for people to see personal transformation, and that it’s ok to move on, or change your mind. That doesn’t mean you failed. It just means letting go of the old to make room for the new, and some things are meant at certain times in our lives. People enjoy seeing both styles, and I think they get it.

Being an artist is not easy. Well…life isn’t easy. You’re just picking what set of stresses and circumstances you want for yourself. In my case, I chose being an artist and being self employed, which is unstable and not steady. I chose this over working for someone, which would be problematic for me. The challenge is work / life balance. I know what my needs are personally for my mental and emotional well being, so I build my lifestyle around that. It’s not perfect, but I try my best. Eating well, exercising, and recharging after seeing people is a priority. I juggle my teaching schedule, which currently consists of teaching privately at home. I have close to 15 students I see weekly. I also decided to participate in 2-3 events, monthly, and capped my portrait sessions each month. The rest of work time is for my art making, but that’s necessary. I also know that I could never just teach art, or just make art. I need to do both as they provide different kinds of nourishment. My biggest piece of advice for anyone is to follow your instincts. I’ve found personally in my career that when I followed my curiosity in something, a door opened, And then another. Sometimes, things didn’t work out, and that happens too, and to be expected. And when that happens, you move on to something else.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I love small historic towns! We have one here in Delaware, called Old New Castle, founded in the mid 1600’s. It’s a colonial town and you do feel like you’re stepping back in time when you’re here. It’s one of my favorite places! Old buildings, cobblestone sidewalks, and two of my favorite places for food. The movie, Dead Poets Society, featured parts of Old New Castle in the background. We’d stop at Mercury Cafe first, for fancy coffee and treats. You could spend all day here over multiple courses (which I have done before with friends!) A stroll on the walking path, next to the Delaware River, is a must, beautiful view of the Delaware Memorial Bridge (I love seeing bridges-always amazed that humans built those!) We would swing by the Court House for a tour to learn about the history of the area, and then land at Jessop’s Tavern, the oldest bar in Delaware. If it was during October, we would attend an evening ghost tour of the town.

Doylestown is another great old town in PA. We’d grab breakfast at the historic Doylestown Inn, which has an interesting history as it was the site of various businesses over the years from a hattery, cigar shop, and a speakeasy during Prohibition and more-great spot! Then we’d head to the Mercer Castle and Museum, for the day, which is mind blowing. Henry Mercer collected antiques and artifacts from all over the world, numbered, and cataloged them, and they are featured throughout his home and the museum. The museum makes you feel like you’re stepping into something like a Harry Potter Movie, with thousands of items adorning the walls from floor to ceiling, some appearing as if floating. It’s pretty magical.

Afterwards, we’d walk through the historic town, and enjoy coffee and pastries from local Italian and French bakeries.

Or we could head up to Stroudsburg PA, for the Frazetta Museum, Frank’s home filled with his artwork, and the next day enjoy hiking at beautiful Bushkill Falls, and good food in town of course, with a trip to the local book shop. There’s a lot to do on the east coast, especially in the area, all drivable!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’ve had so many people over the years be a support for me, from my parents, family, friends and their parents, former teachers, colleagues, and students. I’m very fortunate for that. I should also mention how much I appreciate the people who actively support my work through purchasing my artwork or sharing it with others. It means the world and it allows me to do what I do.. Lineage is also important to me. I’m a firm believer in studying and learning from people who know more than you and study who and what came before us. One of my former instructors, now colleague, said I was like Tyler Durden in school. “Hit me as hard as you can!”….Meaning….I would always ask for more, how can I improve. I was like that with all of my instructors. I’ve been fortunate to have the teachers and mentors in my life that I have.
Too many to name personally but I am grateful.

Website: https://kristenmargiotta.com

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