Kristen Ferrell has been doing just that, on her own, for years. On top of working, on top of being a mother to her son Sullivan (who's art is promising on its own). It’s tiring to even think about. But somehow she does it, and the art that comes out of it shows no sign of fatigue.

She spent her developmental years in Lawrence, Kansas, working her way up through gallery shows, steadily growing larger. During this time, she also developed her line of clothing, starting off as re-prints of drawings and linocuts in wearable form. About two years ago, she moved the entire family to Huntington Beach, California to pursue larger shows and help reduce her traveling time, and it seems to have paid off. Kristen has gotten to hold larger local shows, and take part in a number of international openings; recently taking part in the Fusion 5 festival in Cannes, as well as other group shows in London and Düsseldorf. Currently she's taking a year off of gallery shows in the states to focus on an extremely large solo show in Berlin at the Strychnin Gallery (she needs to produce 100 new pieces!).

She does all this while maintaining her clothing line and trying to survive as a small business owner in a suffering economy. However, the success she's found has allowed her to expand into new things, making her girls clothing a little more detailed and unique, getting independent sewing shops to produce textiles (as opposed to just purchasing them pre-made), developing a line of toys (I NEED a finger cat toy), and developing new lines of accessories.

Kristen somehow found a few minutes to spend talking to us about where she finds the motivation to get it all done.

BtZ: Your audience has changed a bit in the last year, between international gallery showings, much larger group showings, and your clothing line steadily getting more upscale. How has that been, gathering new customers, while maintaining your existing ones?

KF: It's all been really amazing... but there's a trickier balance between keeping my artwork accessible to everyone while the pricing of my artwork climbs. The whole reason why I started my little "merch" business was so everyone could have some affordable art - even if it's just on a t-shirt or a postcard set. But because my paintings are getting priced higher, it makes a larger separation of who can actually afford original pieces.. which is something that I'm not comfortable with. So I'm constantly trying to come up with ideas on how to keep artwork affordable without pissing off galleries and collectors by devaluing my work (because I need those galleries and collectors just as much as I need my retail customers). So I have good quality prints of paintings made that are really affordable ($30-$50), or when I get pieces back from galleries I'll put them on my website for a few weeks and let everyone have a shot at buying them at a lower price (which I've been reprimanded for, but I really don't care). But as far as the clothing goes... even though I'm making my items more upscale- I still will always offer the simpler more inexpensive styles so that noone has to break their budget to be able to own anything of mine. The insulting attitude that "you have to be rich to own art" has always infuriated me, so I've always worked really hard to try to offer things for everyone's budget. It's difficult trying to please everyone.... but I've worked really hard to find good balance.

BtZ: I think that kind of inclusion, to the viewer and consumer, is part of what highlights you among so many artists. You have so many levels that people can get involved with your work, from a somewhat large investment in an original piece, to the instantly affordable print or piece of clothing. Do you think it comes from working DIY for so long?

KF: I think what instigated my desire to be able to offer artwork to everyone is that I've always loved art- but have always been too poor to own any of it And because I didn't have money, I had to DIY everything to start my little "company" (and still do). And because everything we exist in now is so corporate, a lot of people appreciate the fact that I shun that route. I knew going into being a "working artist" that I was going to be poor for the rest of my life (because if anyone thinks they're gonna get rich off making art, they're in for a sad reality check), so I like doing everything myself, being able to make everything affordable, and having closer contact with my customers.

BtZ: You were raised in the Midwest. Do you think that may have made you more at ease with working hard for so long?

KF: Absolutely!! My mother was a school teacher, and my dad was raised on a farm... so having a strong work ethic was something that was really enforced growing up. It's what has completely saved my ass in adulthood, and got me where I am. I have no problem with only getting 3 hours of sleep a night for weeks on end, and giving up my social life in order to be able to make a living doing what I love. Being raised in the Midwest, and in the environment I grew up in, also taught me the things that REALLY matter... you are not what you own; happiness, self-respect, and character is more important than money; living by the "golden rule", etc. All the stuff that you think is bullshit when you're a teenager turns out to be the stuff that makes you a good, respectable, and happy adult. Mom and dad were right about everything (except God, God is a total dickwad).

BtZ: I'm a little surprised to hear that about your family. Some of my favorite pieces of yours have been the portraits of family members, especially anything involving "Grandmas". It was in an older collection, but they were presented pretty nightmarishly. Is there any truth to that? Or has portraying them that way helped learn those lessons?

KF: The majority of my family is amazing... but my Grandma... I was terrified of her. She was a very angry woman, and didn't like me much at all. She thought I was weird and awkward and the opposite of what "little girls" are supposed to be (which I was). It never really upset me when I was younger- I just tried to steer clear of her as much as possible But now it's fun to make drawings of her because she was such a menacing character. The other "mother and father" pieces I've done in the past were more about me adjusting to my role as a mother, and portraits of my ex-husband (my son's father). I wouldn't even know how to make portraits of my parents... they'd be super happy pictures- and I don't know how to make happy pictures.

BtZ: Most of your work is so wonderfully feminine, with a lot of other things fueling the actual content of the painting. Over the years we've seen the rage in the early works slowly grow into something much more accepting, from a certain point of view. The new works are still pretty terrifying images, but they're graceful somehow, almost light hearted in their ferocity. Could you talk about that?

KF: My artwork is my way of venting. When I was a kid, I would tear around screaming and throwing things because the daily frustrations of life never set well with me. Through the efforts of many many child therapists and shrinks, I learned to vomit all that screaming into artwork. My earlier work was filled with alot more blatant rage and confusion because that was where my head was at. When I was 24 years old with a toddler, going through a hostile divorce, trying to put myself through college while working multiple jobs- I was fucking pissed and confused at why things had to be such a struggle. But the older I get, the more I realize "Oh... that's just life". The trauma and struggle and frustrations just go hand-in-hand with breathing. Since my attitude has changed over the years - so has my art. Instead of the kicking, screaming, "Oh yeah? Well fuck YOU!!", I now try to turn the frustration and pain into something I can laugh at so I don't lose my mind and eat a bullet. All the pieces that I've made lately have to do with isolation, self-destruction, and mania (because these are the things that run through my head all day). Not the kind of isolation and self-destruction that would make me a candidate for 24-hour psychiatric supervision.... but that feeling that you get after 3 weeks straight of stressful and bad days, and you're laying on the floor thinking to yourself "Goddamn, a great big handful of pills sounds like a really good idea right now". (Everyone thinks that... right?... or is it just me?). But instead of a handful of pills, I make mean and funny art. And I make it as pretty as possible, because I'm sick of it being so ugly in my head.

BtZ: Surely being a one woman show has got to let you hang on to some of that "Fuck You" attitude. Is there anyone you look to for inspiration, or is it all from the mania?

KF: Oh, I've still got a lot of "Fuck You" in me... but it's not the angsty-nonproductive kind anymore. It's now the healthy "kick-in-the-ass when I start to wear down" kind. Instead of getting upset when life throws a big pile of shit in my face, my healthy "Fuck You!" jumps up and I throw the shit right back. My anger and mania has decided to become my life partner (I've tried to shake it, but I just can't)- so I use it to fuel me when I need it to instead of letting it break me. And I learned to laugh at it. Laughing at the horrible things in life make them a little easier to swallow (that's why dead baby jokes are so funny).

As far as people I look up too... I don't have any one person who I gather inspiration from. But I'll see characteristics about people that I admire and strive to be more like that. I want to be more laid-back like my dad (I swear to Christ, the world could collapse right before his eyes and he'd just smile and say "Well, it could always be worse!"), or be more patient like my younger brother. But I try to not put any one person on a pedestal, because people all have flaws and when they screw up it shatters that illusion you have of them. So I just stick with my mania- there's enough of it to power a large city.

But as far as business ethics goes, my husband and I always say "What Would Fugazi Do?". Their entire careers were based around DIY dignity and staying true to their ethics. And they succeeded by sticking to their guns. Of course, our WWFD ideals could all go to shit if they ever did a reunion tour sponsored by Clear Channel.... but I don't see that happening any time soon.

BtZ: I don't think you have to worry about that. The Even's were just here and Ian is still the most calming, perspective filled person I've ever heard. So, what's next? What are you working on now, what's exciting to you? Are you going to start showing again in the US soon? You can let the natives feed you vodka for a weekend, you know.

KF: I'm really excited about my upcoming solo show in Berlin with the Strychnin Gallery- though it's really stressful too because I'm having to produce more work for it than I ever had for any other gallery show (100 new pieces). BUT after that I'm going to be back to doing shows in the states. This past year has been really busy and stressful, so I'm just looking forward to things being a little slower-paced next year (though it probably won't happen, it never does). That was a really boring answer. I apologize to all who are reading this.

BtZ: Slowing down never has seemed like it was your forte, Kristen. But, as part of your audience, I can only hope to see more of your work in the future. Thanks for giving me some of your precious time.