Kerstin is a full time artist living and working near Stockholm in Sweden. She studied Graphic Design & Illustration at Berghs School of Communication in Stockholm. Recent exhibitions include: "Giraffen Och Sommarnattens Leende" at Nynäs slott, Sweden and a joint exhibition of Swedish Illustrators at Galleri Panorama, Stockholm in 2007. A solo exhibition of Kerstin’s work took place at Galleri Holmby, Lund, Sweden, this year.
W&N: Describe your work & style
KP: I have a real variety of styles. Many of my large acrylic paintings are very expressionistic and I incorporate a lot of mediums, including textured mediums such as modelling paste. I often glue things into these works such as feathers and tissue to add texture. I combine abstract backgrounds with very realistic details and use double outlines to create a sense of movement. This is one style and then I have others. A certain motive might require another technique. I use water colour and paint anything from delicate flowers to portraits and big cities, that I build up in perspective. I’m happy to work on different scales too, from small miniatures to paintings that are 4m2!
W&N: What artists do you find inspiring?
KP: When I was younger I had some favourites like Rembrandt, Lautrec, Arthur Rackham, the Swedish cartoonist EWK, Klimt, de Kooning. I looked at the fabulous Swedish water colour painter Lars Lerin and Munch and many more; I think I made a style of my own after that. Today I get inspired from what I read, what I see, and what happens in life, sometimes also from the materials itself. Life can be very wonderful and very dark and I want to paint it all.
You can view Kerstin's gallery here.
W&N: Why do you use acrylics?
KP: They are so wonderful! I first started to paint in acrylics when I was fifteen and got my first starter set from my father. Since then I went the long way, from painting rather “normally” to using all the experimental techniques one can imagine. I really like that with acrylics you can concentrate on realizing your inner vision instead of caring about the chemical rules (as with oils). Sometimes I search for something that I haven’t seen before, somewhere else, and then it takes a lot of experimenting to get there. I need colours that follow my rules and not somebody else’s.
W&N: What are your first impressions of Artists’ Acrylic?
KP: My initial reaction was, wow, what a wonderful gold! I like gold and use it a lot and this was a gorgeous one. The colours also are very bright which make them look like glass colours when painting in thin layers. Really nice and good for me.
I also noticed that the drying time is a little longer and that’s good because I like to blend the colours on the canvas.
I do like also that you can see the actual colour on the label.
W&N: What else have you noticed with Artists’ Acrylic?
KP: The no colour shift between wet and dry colour is very important to me because I plan things in my head and I want the colour to stay exactly as it is, once it is applied to the canvas. In Sweden it has been a tradition to paint with more toned down colours, but I like my colours strong and I like them to stay strong!
