with Kristy Heilenday

 ABOUT MY STUDIO

I’ve been in my current studio since January 2011. Prior to that, I created artwork in the corner of my bedroom in a shared apartment. Mixing sleep space and turpentine is never a good idea, so getting a studio away from home was a wonderful way to improve my art-production and health!  My studio, a dusty room just under 200 square feet in size, is located on the second floor of a WPA-era warehouse on the tiny yet historic Mayo Island. The floor is also home to nine other artists, each of us working in a diverse range of media. Together, we comprise Mayo Island Studio Collective [MISC ].

My studio space pictured from the inside. This was about a year ago; it’s a little more “worked in” now, as you will see.

Beyond the windows is a wide moss and gravel balcony. Beyond that: the James River and a view of the downtown Richmond skyline.

Painting supplies, in their usual condition.

In the winter of 2011, I tutored this high-school senior in preparation for his application to VCU’s School of the Arts (which he got into, yay). He’s drawing the skull on the chair in this photo.  I painted it simultaneously. . .

Skull, 1974.

What my studio looks like right now.

The painting you see on the easel in my studio– a commissioned oil painting of Edgar Allan Poe, in progress.

What I wear to keep from making all my clothes “painting clothes”: an Air Force flight suit donated to me by my brother-in-law (who is 6′-4″) and a couple Starbucks aprons that I managed to hang on to from my tenure there.

 About the Artist

Kristy was born in Pennsylvania, the fourth child of a Naval Captain and a Canadian model, and grew up in various locations on the east coast. She received her B.F.A. in Communication Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of the Arts. Kristy’s focus is in drawing, but she uses a variety of media including pen and ink, acrylic and oil paints, as well as photography and 2D design. Her work has been exhibited in solo and group shows both locally and internationally. She produces commissioned artworks and also works as a freelance illustrator. Currently, she has pieces in a group show with her studio-mates at Capital One, and will hold her second solo show in Carytown’s Chop Suey in October of this year.

Kristy has been with the Visual Arts Center of Richmond since fall 2010 where she serves as the Event and Volunteer Coordinator, coordinating and managing fund-raising events such as the Visual Arts Center of Richmond’s Craft + Design Show and Collectors Night.

You can see more of Kristy’s artwork,  visit her blog or learn more about MISC.

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