We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kendra Morrison. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kendra below.

Kendra , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I have followed a meandering path toward pursuing art professionally. Although I completed a degree in fine arts, my early adult career was in the areas of publishing and marketing, two professions that were very creative in nature, but not representative of my previous artistic pursuits. For fifteen years, I dabbled in painting and other artistic endeavors in my spare time, and eventually returned to university for a masters in education.

Being surrounded by children fed my creativity in many ways. First, children are so wide open to the world, deeply curious and unreservedly creative themselves. Their perspectives on the world around them, opened my eyes to enjoying small, yet significantly beautiful things. I began enjoying a fresh view of the world around me–it seemed as if I was viewing the natural world for the first time. Secondly, the practicalities of stocking my cupboards for craft activities, and building an engaging classroom environment, allowed me to work with materials and processes I had not explored before, including my eventual tool of choice- the wood burner.

A few years into my teaching career, my father suddenly passed away. As I grieved the loss, a friend encouraged me to get back to creating art as a way to process the feelings around the loss. I did so, beginning first with the traditional painting practices of my university days, but then began experimenting with a variety of materials, including that old wood burning tool I had tossed in the back of my cupboard.

A big shift toward pursuing my art professionally came with developing what I call “tinted wood burning,” a technique incorporating the use of burning an image into wood using a simple wood burning tool, then layering translucent pigments in order to create a rich surface, accentuated with collage to add little pops of color and interest.

Over the course of a year or two, as I continued to develop this unique process, there was increased interest in my work. I began exhibiting and selling my work through our local First Friday and Open Studios events, and through gallery representation. I found that each piece I created quite quickly found its home, commissions began to come my way, and patrons returned to purchase additional work.

I had not intentionally pursued a professional path with my art, but I happily found myself on that path nonetheless. Although my work was selling, it was not until I established my own studio space that I fully embraced the role as professional artist. There was something about making the investment in an allotted space to create, host, and do business, that helped me mentally make that shift to professional artist. “Hanging out my shingle” has firmly grounded me as a professional, and gives me that physical and mental space to develop routines, set creative and business goals, and pursue expansion.

Even with a growing art career, I have chosen to continue in my role as teacher. I find that this part of my life–exploring and learning alongside children–continues to feed my creativity to overflowing! Having both income streams (rather than relying solely on my art) provides me with incredible freedom to follow my creative inspiration wherever it leads. My teaching informs my art, and being an artist enriches my teaching.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Over the past seven years, I have developed a unique process I call “Tinted Woodburning.” Using pyrography, a technique using heat to burn an image into wood, I begin by burning the entire image into the surface of the wood using a variety of marks to create patterns and textures. Once the image has been established, I use transparent pigments and stains to infuse the woodburning with color and form. The tinting process includes intervals of sanding to bring out the layers of color and bring forward the unique grain of the wood to enrich the image. Finally, I choose small areas to collage using acrylic monoprint papers, and hidden images—this final touch accentuates the details of the image, bringing light, color, and a bit of whimsy. The result of my tinted woodburning process is a truly one-of-a-kind piece utilizing a one-of-a-kind process.

Each piece is a visual meditation. The process draws the viewer in to explore the variety of deep sepia marks made through burning the wood. The layers of undulating color mix with the unique grain of the wood, which in itself becomes a presence within each piece. Carefully selected areas “pop” with color through the sparing and strategic use of collaged hand-printed papers, images from old children’s books and texts. I often observe people getting so lost in the surface of the work that they reach up to touch it, and I always invite them to do so! This process and the viewing of the work is a multi-sensory experience to be enjoyed as such.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspects of being an artist are as follows.

First of all, creating art is personally rewarding, but the reward is not fully realized until the work is shared. To welcome visitors to my studio, or an exhibit of my work, introduce the unique process of tinted wood burning, and to discuss their responses to the work is most rewarding. When someone chooses to invest in my work, it is incredibly rewarding to hear what inspires them about the work and why they chose a specific piece. Inevitably, they tell me about themselves, their own life, and the things that inspire them and what they find to be beautiful. This reciprocation inspires me to keep creating.

Secondly, I find sharing a creative life with my family very rewarding. Raising my two boys in a creative environment, surrounded by art materials, tools, half-completed work, has encouraged their own creativity. Both of my boys are pursuing a creative life–one in design and the other in engineering, and we often discuss and explore materials and processes together. It is truly a family affair!

Additionally, it is very rewarding to bring the creative energy to my classroom. Whether we are writing, drawing, working with numbers, or learning about nature, there is an overriding curiosity to explore and create. It is a joy to watch young children develop their unique ideas through hands-on learning.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I view my creative journey as one of faith and connection. In regard to faith, my desire is to reflect the beauty of the natural world and the Creator behind it. Whether the piece is of birds fluttering amongst the trees or a figure at rest, my goal is that each piece resonates with the viewer on a spiritual level, whether it be through the line and color, the theme, or simply viewing something beautiful.

As far as connection goes, although my work is narrative in nature, I intentionally do not share the intended narrative, but leave it open-ended for the viewer. That way viewers can explore their own interpretations and overlay their own personal narratives onto the piece. In interacting with viewers, they often share with me what is drawing them to a specific piece and why-maybe it is a memory, a feeling, a specific person or event. For example, one of my pieces featuring a mother and young child really “spoke” to a young couple who eventually purchased the piece. Without sharing what inspired me to create the piece, I asked them what drew them to it. They shared that their own young child was recently diagnosed with specific developmental challenges, and they connected to the protective posture of the mother for her child. The goal of connecting with viewers, as they connect with the art, develops a deep sense of kinship.

Contact Info:

• Website: kendramorrison.com
• Instagram: kendramorrysonart
• Facebook: Kendra Morrison, Artist

Image Credits
I have rights to all images uploaded.