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Desiree Kantrim
desiree50@comcast.net
www.blogfromthecenter.blogspot.com/
Jacksonville, FL USA
Artist Biography
Desiree was born on the
border between France and Germany. After many years of living in Canada and Costa Rica, Desiree finally settled
in Florida. Her paintings are as diverse as her background. She holds a BFA degree from Meisterschule Offenbach in
Germany as well as a Master's in Linguistics and German Literature from American University in Washington D.C. She
worked several years as Associate Professor for the Pentagon Language Institute in Washington D.C. before branching
out and opening a Needlepoint Design Studio in Bethesda, MD.
When her husband retired from the service, they moved to
Canada, where she became totally involved in pottery and hand built ceramics. She built her own 50 cubic foot outdoor
gas kiln as well as several Raku kilns. She has won many awards and was featured in several publications. After
the death of her husband, she moved to Costa Rica, but not before fulfilling a life long dream of climbing in the
Himalayas, where she completed the Annapurna circuit in two weeks and after a short rest in Katmandhu scaled all the
way to Everest Base Camp.
In Costa Rica she started with a B&B operation, but soon added four more bungalows
and turned it into a lovely ocean front resort. This is where she started painting seriously, taking advantage of the
rainy season during which there were few tourists on the road. She soon added the "Seaside Gallery," painting
strictly what was in front and all around her. In 2005, she decided to return to the USA and made Jacksonville
her permanent home.
Since her arrival here, she has exhibited in many juried art shows, at the St. Augustine
Art Association, the Karpeles Manuscript Museum, the Abbott Tract Art Gallery in St. Augustine, as well as at the
P.A.St., a gallery where she is a member. She is also a member of the Jacksonville Watercolor Society, the
Orange Park Art Guild, as well as being a founding member of "The Center," a Jacksonville artists cooperative.
Her first solo show, "JOURNEYS," opened on November 1, 2006 at the Karpeles Manuscript Museum in addition to another
solo show, "ELEMENTS," a part of the Beaches Fine Art Series in Jacksonville Beach on November 5, 2006.
Artist Statement
Nature has always been my favorite subject, trees, fish and birds, all of them are a never-ending source
of inspiration. But what fascinates me most are the three elements, fire, water, and earth. The
different moods of the ocean, ranging from a smooth sunlit surface to a raging, totally pitiless
malestrom, the warming life sustaining fire that can turn into an all devouring and pitiless inferno
and lastly the Earth that feeds us on one hand and can swallow us on the other hand through earthquakes
and volcanoes.
Having lived all over the globe, I have been witness to all of these.
Quite often a painting can be the interpretation of a mood or emotion, and you just have to let it happen.
Those are most often my favorite ones.
I prefer acrylics for my work, since one can use it
in so many ways. I can achieve a watercolor like quality, or texture it as with oils. It
also allows me to combine it with metallic paints. I paint on paper, Yupo, canvas, or whatever
is handy.
I use paintbrushes, fingers, sticks, sponges and many things heard and unheard of
for texture. My style: I can't possibly pin it down, like life itself it changes from
realistic to abstract and in between. I seem to paint in cycles, a series of abstracts following
a series of trees, followed by landscapes, etc. It's the changes as in life itself that excite me.
When I sell a painting, I'm always thrilled to discover that I was able to share the beauty of
my discovery with someone else, and to share that enjoyment with them.
Desiree
Artist Images
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