“I was the kid that just kept doing art,” Menlo Park painter Krista Skehan recently told The Almanac in advance of her upcoming art show at Coffeebar on Nov. 29. But making the transition from being a kid who loved art to a grown-up creative professional and artist hasn’t been a straightforward journey, she says.
She credits her initial passion for art to the then-nascent Art in Action program, a Menlo Park-based nonprofit founded by Atherton resident Judy Sleeth that promotes art education in local schools. She participated in that program as a child, and her mother, an art teacher at Saint Francis High School in Mountain View, also supported her, she says.
In college at Indiana University, she created her own major, “visual communications,” because she was so interested in fusing art and business.
She went on to found Personify, a Menlo Park-based branding and design company where she now works as creative director, got married and had two daughters. Eventually, work and family life pushed her painting work to the backseat.
“Like so many, I felt like I didn’t have time for it,” she says.
But her passion for painting didn’t wane. Working with a life coach helped her to find the time to paint by readjusting her priorities, she says. She opted to watch less TV and spend less time cooking.
“I thought I needed to cook every night,” she recalls. “In actuality, my kids and husband didn’t care (and were) fine with it not being perfect.”
She’s since had two art shows — in spring 2017 and spring 2018. The upcoming show at Coffeebar will be her first open to the public.
Skehan says that she believes pursuing painting helps set an example for her two daughters, ages 6 and 9.
“My kids see me doing something I love,” she says. “It’s powerful to see a mom making time for herself. I want them to find their passion and live that passion.”
Now, when things get tough at work, she likes to think about the scene she’s working on at her easel back home.
“Inside, I start smiling,” she says. “It changes my whole thinking to be more positive.”
She believes that the artistic sense she’s developing through painting is helping her be more creative in her design work, she says. Plus, the combination of producing art alone at home and doing collaborative design work at the office provides her with a sense of balance, she adds.
‘California-inspired’
“I’m known for bright, happy art,” Skehan says, describing her work. “A lot of thought goes into each piece before I paint it.”
She says she’s cultivated an aesthetic style that is “California-inspired,” with bright colors — beaches, babes in bikinis, palm trees and tropical leaves. The time she has spent in Carmel and at her parents’ home in Hawaii has also shaped her art, she explains.
“The ocean is therapeutic for me,” she says.
Another source of inspiration for her painting is Instagram. She uses it to follow photographers and interior designers to get ideas about different patterns, fabrics and textures.
“I take all that info, and then, you know, it leads me to the next spot in my mind,” she says.
If you go
Skehan’s art show will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 29, at Coffeebar, 1149 Chestnut St. in Menlo Park.
“It’s kind of the latest hotspot that people enjoy in Menlo Park,” Skehan says.
The event will be open to the public with live music, wine and cheese.
Skehan also does some work on commission. To see more of her art, go to @kristaskehan on Instagram or to her website at kristaskehan.com.
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