About The Artist
ARTIST STATEMENT
I’m Kristin Maija Peterson, a visual artist who connects people with the everyday, ordinary, and extraordinary facets of the natural world through art, observation, science, and story.
I blend art and story with self-directed science and environmental research to bridge an understanding of our current and historical relationship with the natural world. Work for series and exhibitions begins with curiosity and an ongoing search for awe and biodiversity in my immediate environment.
A through-line of my practice involves memories of growing up in rural west-central Minnesota, surrounded by the natural beauty of moraine glacier hills, expansive prairie, rivers, lakes, and woodlands. Born in the early 1960s, even then, my young self sensed the Earth was in trouble, and my childhood world would not last.
I work through detailed, layered watercolors and large graphite drawings to elevate the beauty and biodiversity found in uncultivated ecosystems with a call to save all that we can without judgment or remonstration. Ironically, we need nature to heal from our overly technological existence that is killing our true nature.
My work emphasizes what it means to be present in nature, closely witnessing what is right in front of me. It’s an invitation to cultivate curiosity, observe how the natural world reveals to us, and rekindle a bond to our environment and ourselves. In saving all that we can here on Earth, love has to be a part of the equation. When we feel familiarity and connection, love inevitability follows. And what we love, we are driven to protect.
ARTIST BIO
Like many artists who came before and who will come after her, Kristin started making art at a very young age creating small picture books bound by staples and dictated to her parents the words of her made-up stories on colorfully drawn pages.
Kristin continued to practice art throughout her formative education, graduating with honors (1984) from the University of Minnesota (Morris) with a B.A. in Studio Art, Art History, and Biology. After graduating with no formal education in the business of art, Kristin moved to Minneapolis to pursue commercial art, attending classes at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Kristin has held creative positions in book publishing and various marketing agencies.
Having built up many skill sets, Kristin opened her design business in 1996 (Grand Ciel Design Co.) to specialize in branding and marketing for non-profits. She practiced art in the margins whenever possible. In 2019, Kristin attended The Women’s Art Institute (St. Catherine’s University, St. Paul, MN) expanding her knowledge of women’s art and finding direction on environmentalism for her current series work.
The pandemic and a milestone birthday were a transition. Kristin closed her business to pursue her work as a visual artist full-time. Since 2020, she has exhibited extensively as an emerging artist in the mid-west region in juried group shows and solo exhibitions. Kristin practices art and writing through Terra Kind Studio Co. and is committed to donating 10% of her annual art sales to environmental non-profits.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023 I Children of Nature: Find Your Wonderland Solo Exhibit, Reedy Gallery,
Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Chaska, MN.2022 I Children of Nature: Find Your Wonderland Solo Exhibit, Owatonna Arts Center, Owatonna, MN.
JURIED EXHIBITIONS
2024 I Into the Madlands Gamut Gallery, Minneapolis.
2024 I What Fierce Looks Like Artists of the Women’s Art Institute, FORM+CONTENT Gallery, Minneapolis.
2024 I 23rd Annual Poet-Artist Collaboration Exhibit I Red Wing Arts, Red Wing, MN
2022 I 27th Annual Extremely Minnesota Exhibit I Robbins Gallery,
Robbinsdale, MN, November-December.
2022 I Ever-Present: Birds in Our Daily Lives I Jurier Mike Curran. Silverwood Park Gallery, St. Anthony, MN.
2022 I Minnesota State Fair Annual Fine Arts Exhibit I Minnesota State Fair, St. Paul, MN
2022 I Mississippi River Stories I Mississippi Watershed District Management Organization, Minneapolis
2021 I Many Waters I A Minnesota Biannual Juried Exhibit, Minnesota Museum of American Art,
St. Paul, MN July-October.
2021 I 20th Annual Poet-Artist Collaboration Exhibit I Red Wing Arts, Red Wing, MN
2020 I Voices of the Midwest I Fine Line Creative Arts Center, Kavanagh Gallery, St. Charles, IL
2020 I In Your Element I The Natural Heritage Project. Hudson Hospital & Clinic Artist Gallery, Hudson, WI
2019 I The Nature of Disappearance I Silverwood Park Gallery Hudson Hospital & Clinic Artist Gallery, Hudson, WI
2019 I Work from The Women’s Art Institute I Catherine G. Murphy Gallery, University of St. Catherine, St. Paul, MN
2018 I Emerging Artists’ Exhibition I Lanesboro Arts, Lanesboro, MN
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023 I Concerning Plants I ArtReach St. Croix, Stillwater, MN
2022 I Members’ Show I ArtReach St. Croix, Stillwater, MN
2020 I FOOT IN THE DOOR 5 I Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MN
2018 I THE GREAT OUTDOORS: Art Inspired by Wild Minnesota I ArtWorks Eagan, Eagan, MN
2016 I Art of the Garden I Minnetonka Center for the Arts. Minnetonka, MN
AWARDS
2022 I Best in Show I 27th Annual Extremely Minnesota Juried Exhibit,
Robbins Gallery,
Robbinsdale, MN, November-December
2019 I Scholarship I The Women’s Art Institute, St. Catherine University
PUBLICATIONS
2024 I 23rd Annual Poet Artist Collaboration Exhibition Clapbook. Artwork The Field Guide to the Birder’s Great Prairie Adventure ink drawings inspired by the poem The Eyes of Morning by Elizabeth Weir.
2020 I Graphite drawing Basket and written eyewitness story featured in Eyewitness: Minnesota Reflections on Climate Change published by Climate Generation: A Will Steger Legacy in celebration of
the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, April 22, 2020.
2021 I 20th Annual Poet Artist Collaboration Exhibition Clapbook. Artwork I Rode The Breeze As Children Will and Took Root Someplace Else a watercolor inspired by the poem, Planted by Deborah A. Goschy.
2022 I World Wide Magazine of Art I River Divination No. 1 appears on the Frontispiece of its 9th issue.
CONTACT
Studio: 651-318-7100
Email: kristin@terrakindstudio.com
I blend art and story with self-directed science and environmental research to bridge an understanding of our current and historical relationship with the natural world. Work for series and exhibitions begins with curiosity and an ongoing search for awe and biodiversity in my immediate environment.
A through-line of my practice involves memories of growing up in rural west-central Minnesota, surrounded by the natural beauty of moraine glacier hills, expansive prairie, rivers, lakes, and woodlands. Born in the early 1960s, even then, my young self sensed the Earth was in trouble, and my childhood world would not last.
The pandemic and a milestone birthday were a transition. Kristin closed her business to pursue her work as a visual artist full-time. Since 2020, she has exhibited extensively as an emerging artist in the mid-west region in juried group shows and solo exhibitions. Kristin practices art and writing through Terra Kind Studio Co. and is committed to donating 10% of her annual art sales to environmental non-profits.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023 I Children of Nature: Find Your Wonderland Solo Exhibit, Reedy Gallery,
Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Chaska, MN.
2022 I Children of Nature: Find Your Wonderland Solo Exhibit, Owatonna Arts Center, Owatonna, MN.
JURIED EXHIBITIONS
2024 I What Fierce Looks Like Artists of the Women’s Art Institute, FORM+CONTENT Gallery, Minneapolis.
2024 I 23rd Annual Poet-Artist Collaboration Exhibit I Red Wing Arts, Red Wing, MN
2022 I 27th Annual Extremely Minnesota Exhibit I Robbins Gallery, Robbinsdale, MN, November-December.
2020 I Voices of the Midwest I Fine Line Creative Arts Center, Kavanagh Gallery, St. Charles, IL
2020 I In Your Element I The Natural Heritage Project. Hudson Hospital & Clinic Artist Gallery, Hudson, WI
2019 I Work from The Women’s Art Institute I Catherine G. Murphy Gallery, University of St. Catherine, St. Paul, MN
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023 I Concerning Plants I ArtReach St. Croix, Stillwater, MN2022 I Members’ Show I ArtReach St. Croix, Stillwater, MN
AWARDS
Robbins Gallery, Robbinsdale, MN, November-December
PUBLICATIONS
2024 I 23rd Annual Poet Artist Collaboration Exhibition Clapbook. Artwork The Field Guide to the Birder’s Great Prairie Adventure ink drawings inspired by the poem The Eyes of Morning by Elizabeth Weir.2020 I Graphite drawing Basket and written eyewitness story featured in Eyewitness: Minnesota Reflections on Climate Change published by Climate Generation: A Will Steger Legacy in celebration of
the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, April 22, 2020.
2022 I World Wide Magazine of Art I River Divination No. 1 appears on the Frontispiece of its 9th issue.
CONTACT
Email: kristin@terrakindstudio.com