John Kraft — Artist Statement

I create joyful, light-hearted work that celebrates my experiences and interests as well as the universal themes of love and laughter.

My journey as an artist arguably started at birth, but my work, in tangible form, has been in development for just over twenty years. Fifteen years ago I found what I consider to be my voice and my vocabulary as an artist. With a consistent palette and use of both strong color and line, this vocabulary has freed me to focus more on the story I wish to tell and less on the words I use in the telling of that story.

The recurring figures represented in many of my pieces have made their own journey as well. In earlier work they were lonely or lost souls fighting against excess and inner conflict, but now they are exclusively celebratory, loving and joyful – a direct reflection of the happiness and joy I’ve found in my own life with my wife, Nikki, and my daughter, Sienna.

My process has evolved over the years from the use of acrylics and pastels on wood panel or canvas to what is now a true composite of both traditional and digital painting techniques. This includes the creation of key elements with acrylics and pastels, digitization of those elements, and finally refinement of composition, color and scale within the digital space. I love the flexibility of working digitally and the myriad of “what-if” scenarios that I can explore. The added benefit of this approach is that the work can then be expressed on either paper or canvas from the same source composition.

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