We were lucky to catch up with Kristine Overacre recently and have shared our conversation below.
Kristine, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
I grew up in a family of doctors and scientists, so I didn’t realize that there were pathways to make money as an entrepreneur and generally creative person. Early on, I treated most of my interests as hobbies, in part because my parents were constantly urging me (up until a few years ago actually!) to consider going to medical school. As a child, I was always living in my imagination, obsessed with color and art and had the unseemly habit of re-arranging furniture and re-styling coffee tables whenever I would go to a friend’s house. I ended up getting a degree in English Literature and Art and was told by many that it was an entire waste of time and money. I don’t totally disagree with that sentiment in some ways—while I enjoyed college immensely, there’s a large part of me that wishes I had taken that time (and money) and invested it in starting my own creative enterprises straight away. After graduating, I found myself working in a few “creative jobs” (advertising/marketing) that were fun but didn’t fulfill all of my artistic or career ambitions of wanting to set my own schedule and generally do things my own way. It was until I met (and dated) someone who had their own business and worked in the design industry that I realized there was a way to build a business of my own, centered around my passion. It was a huge turning point in my life and that’s how I started my first design business.
Kristine, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’m a multi-disciplinary artist and designer, with a strong entrepreneurial streak. I love building business and creating beauty in the world—I truly believe that business and capitalism can be one of the strongest forces for good in our world today.
In the art world I’m best known for my large scale works of new pointillism—it’s highly abstracted and typically done in gouache or acrylic. I’m most inspired by the color and light quality of the places that I live or travel to, as well as light artists like James Turrell and Phillip K. Smith. It’s a highly meditative process, I’m truly obsessed with it. I’m excited to be working on a project where I’ll be able to share more of my work with a broader audience and move beyond the realm of fine art into work that is more accessible.
As far as design goes, I founded a little agency called playground nearly 10 years ago now. After selling that, I focused entirely on art for a couple of years and realized that while I adore the art world, I missed taking on design projects, which led to the founding of a new interior design firm, Beaucoup Creative. In founding this, I wanted to take everything I had learned and create something that was more bespoke and specialized for people and projects who really want to create custom, special places with a strong point of view. I’m lucky to have an amazing roster of both private clients as well as a few exciting commercial projects (mainly in the hospitality / restaurant space) where I’m able to collaborate with some really successful and creative people who are contributing to the world in a big way. What I’m loving most in my design work at the moment is collaborating with artisans and artists from diverse communities to create custom pieces. I’m also super into local sourcing at the moment and adding vintage as a key element in most of our designs. As a firm, we’re really focused on creating sustainable, ethical designs that stand the test of time, while also working in accordance with WELL standards. It’s an exciting time to be in the field, as we’re seeing so much diverse up-and-coming talent entering the scene.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
I think reading constantly in general is useful—audio books included. I love learning in all form and think having a curiosity about things is what fuels the creative process. All other media aside, I think the best thing you can do in any field is to surround yourself with people you admire and that you can learn from, who inspire you. My friends are definitely my greatest business and creative asset, as we’re always looking out for each other and for opportunities to collaborate. I also know that with my network of friends I always have someone I can call or chat with for good advice in any particular area.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
This is an interesting question. While I just mentioned that having friends you respect who you can call for advice as being the greatest superpower in business (and in life), it’s also so important to be particular about whose advice you take. I believe that on many levels we all know what is best for us and have a good internal compass and intuition about things, but sometimes you do need outside help to bounce ideas off of or to help shine a light on your path. For me I had to unlearn asking everyone for advice and really stick to asking for (and taking) advice from people who had walked the path I wanted to walk, at least in the particular area of their life where I was seeking their advice.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kristineoveracre.com and www.beaucoupcreative.co
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristine_overacre/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristineoveracre/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/k_overacre
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@kristine_overacre
Image Credits
Images courtesy of Kristine Overacre Fine Art and Beaucoup Creative LLC. All rights reserved.