About Kris Crestejo
Finding inspiration through your pets stories
Since I was a child I remember drawing, obsessing over items, random objects, animals and sceneries that created a spark in my mind. I never knew that creating Art was going to be my lifelong career & love.
My Story
I've always love to create, from my first memories of drawing stickmen with my mom to the one moment that set me on my art path, a head to head drawing competition with my older sister.
Around 5-6 yrs old we had a contest and begged our mom to tell the truth and crown a victor, the subject, an angel. I lost. But I didn't cry, I didn't give up, it set me on a path of determination to beat my sister. I practiced and practiced every day, then totally forgot that it was revenge practice and grew to enjoy drawing so much.
In my teens my artistic nature took over more and more, drawing all types of subjects but still unable to draw/paint what I longed for, animals. Trust me, I was real bad. But I wasn't do bad at still life and landscapes (realism), which landed me in a Gallery in Montreal at 18yrs old. But selling art was not easy, Ebay had JUST came out and I was making some good headway on there, but not successful enough to pursue a full-time job out of it. By 21 I ended up choosing a career with dogs, successfully training and working on behavioural cases until my mid thirties.
One day I saw an artist video drawing a dog with pastel pencils (I didn't know that pastel pencils existed!) I did some research and bought my first package of paper and pencils and drew my dog and he turned out not to bad.
This exact drawing set me on my path today.
I now know why I couldn't draw animals in a realistic or cartoon manner when I was younger; lack of experience understanding the subject and lack of patience. As an adult I have ten fold the patience I did as a teenager or even young adult.
I am so appreciative that I get to join my two passions, animals and art, for my career.
I live on Vancouver Island on my hobby farm with my husband , dog (Mookie), (2) cats, endless chickens and flourishing food garden. I enjoy all types of outdoor hobbies that our Border Collie forced us into so that she wouldn't be insane everyday.
I pick up my inspiration through the stories my clients tell me of their pets, the happy moments and not so happy moments when they had to say goodbye to a family member. When I memorialize your pet or a friends pet, it is a serious undertaking for me, I have to make sure that the soul, the personality, the "life" is within that portrait. These works of art can not only give happiness to many individuals but it can help through a grieving process (if the pet has passed) to have such a tribute to something that was TRULY loved unconditionally.
A glimpse at my life when I'm not painting
