We recently had the chance to connect with ArtGirl Kristan Ryan and have shared our conversation below.
Hi ArtGirl Kristan , thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: What’s the most surprising thing you’ve learned about your customers?
The men who buy most of my animal artwork as well as buy some of my angry female art tell me they understand why we women feel the way we do about many of our typical interactions with males who don’t seem to accept that we women have the right to express ourselves. They try to stop saying to women, “You look so much prettier when you smile,” because they are clear that saying that is ridiculous and infuriating.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am what is called by psychologists as a “third culture kid” who grew up in Germany, Morocco and the USA. I speak multiple languages and understand different cultures and because my growing up experience was broad, I taught myself how to draw and paint based on my variety of cultural art based interactions with other child and adult artists in the places in which I spent my childhood.
Based on all I saw women going through internationally, I chose to paint primarily those, adults and children, who were suffering and developed my first main project calling it, “Angry Females Done Swallowing Our Words.”
I go by ArtGirl Out Loud..
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. What was your earliest memory of feeling powerful?
I was a about 11 years old in the USA when I began to feel fierce and stood up for myself and other girls and women who were suffering for a variety of reasons. It was then I began to speak out and fight back through my speaking, my writing and my artwork.
When you were sad or scared as a child, what helped?
I decided to believe in myself. There was no one else who would so I had to tell myself that I understood what was happening and it had nothing to do with who I was and am.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
They would say that standing up for the suffering, female, male or animals, and showing them to the world through my artwork matters most to me.
Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
I’m guessing I only have 10 years left so I stopped traditional work sometime ago (being the president of vocational colleges) and started painting and selling my artwork for the suffering. I sold all I the property I owned such as my house, furniture and clothes, slept on the floors on pillows in my house until I eventually sold it and bought an old 4,000 sq. ft building built in the 1920s. I turned it into a living space and art and business gallery so I could sell my artwork and that of others. I hope to then teach those who feel they can’t draw or. paint their feelings to express what’s happening to them. So many are afraid to speak out — I know because they tell me that when they come to visit me painting.
Contact Info:
- Website: (ArtGirl’s Out Loud Art Gallery) facebook,com/Chinagirlpaints/
- Instagram: kristan_lee_ryan
- Facebook: Kristan Ryan (ArtGirl) facebook.com/kristan1
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