GUEST TEACHING
“So grateful to have had the opportunity to co-teach a course with Krista! This was a draining and depressing year for teaching and the May term intensive, at Hanover, is already a challenge. And I was dreading it more than ever this year. But I was also really interested in the classes that Krista had been teaching since the world went online, exploring embodiment and sense perception, through virtual drawing workshops. We started thinking about what it might look like to teach a collaborative course situated in the places where my work in philosophy and theology intersects with her art work, drawing on the senses. Our interests meet, especially, in the more than human dimensions of our experiences.
So that's where we took the students this term. We had them get outside, to draw the more than human worlds that are held within their shadows. And we thought with David Abram about who and what we become when we think seriously about our shadow as a dimension of who we are. We had them rethink the textural languages that stones speak, drawing in conversation with Robin Wall Kimmerer's grammar of animacy. And many other things.
I loved this opportunity to see how students made sense of this material outside of the written word, which is more typically how we ask students to make sense of their meaning in my field. The whole experience brought a little bit of joy back to teaching, for me, which felt so incredibly good.
If you're ever working with students on ideas that challenge them to think in new ways about what bodies are, where bodies are, how bodies are, and what happens when we start to draw from our non-visual sense experiences, I would totally recommend bringing Krista in for a guest workshop! Students in our class were so surprised to see how these drawing practices helped them understand the material, deeply, in ways that talking and writing just could not.
—Dr. Beatrice Marovich, Professor of Theology at Hanover College.
CREATIVE MENTORSHIP
“Krista is the real deal. With the lesson space she creates, and with her intuitive guidance, I pushed myself to the edge. It’s uncomfortable at first, but being there long enough leads to the discovery that there is no edge. The ideas we have uncovered, the mysteries we have courted, and the wilderness I am pushed to explore within myself have infected all areas of my life.”
—Peter Mallozzi, Astrologer, Brooklyn, NY - Individual Mentorship
“The “Gut Lights” creative mentorshop workshop was given to me as a gift. It opened up my (at the time) very small and uninspired world, I had been going through the motions and processing pandemic life- so shifting my focus to a creative outlet was very rewarding.
I really enjoyed drawing with closed eyes and drawing along with breathing exercises. I was always interested to see how the prompts were considered by others in the class, as we usually had different results when it came time to share work with one another. It all felt supportive of a super personal understanding, the gut feelings/inclinations, that we were each following in our work and individual processes.
I really enjoyed how much freedom for creativity “Gut Lights” allowed. There was guidance/guided time and also free time to explore and wander. I found myself getting pulled toward whole separate projects through the inspiration of class-time exercises. It was also really nice to discuss the work we were making in a safe space. Each class we shared work, followed by helpful and constructive conversation. I loved the open drawing time, as even though we were all technically sitting alone in our homes or studios, I felt a closeness to other participants, just knowing we were doing the same task or working from similar meditations.
Krista created a judgement-free space that felt deeply open and connected despite being in a remote, zoom-based class. I received so much from the experience and would highly recommend it to anyone. “Gut Lights” offered a supportive and inquisitive environment that inspired me tap back into a creative process and learn new ways to incorporate artistic moments into my daily life.”
—Grayson Schmidt, Bartender, Abolitionist, Doula, Brooklyn, NY - Gut Lights
“The gut lights course was literally life changing for me - allowed me a portal into creativity that has opened up so many avenues of expression and finally getting out of my own way to be and create as I was meant to!” —Michelle Farnsworth, Author, Coach, Advocate, Washington D.C. - Gut Lights
DRAWING ON THE SENSES
“Krista creates a supportive platform that encourages more freedom in one’s mindset and work. She radiates a knowingness. Her empathetic approach is radical in its supportive, light-filled way.”
—Jennifer Jaffe, Artist, Model, Aesthetician, New York, NY - Drawing on the Senses and Gut Lights
“Krista’s approach is more than just instruction, it’s a way of igniting all the senses so that drawing becomes a whole body experience. Each class is an exploration so that seeing becomes not just observation, but a real way to feel the presence of the world in and around me. Her teaching style is warm and insightful, guiding without directing, and her classes are fun, stimulating and enjoyable. Working with Krista has helped me tap into my creativity more deeply than ever before.”
—Sander Williams, Architect, Brooklyn, NY - Drawing on the Senses
“Krista is a great art teacher helping me learn about areas of myself that I didn’t know existed. Calling her an art teacher is a understatement of high magnitude."
—Paul Grotas, Attorney, Brooklyn, NY - Private Classes
“I don't think of it as a drawing class. To me it's more an ongoing art exploration with special attention paid to body, portraiture and live subjects generally. Yes, pencils may be used... or not! You might instead choose pens, or water colors, or printed material, or objects found while walking around that day, put all together on a single page, or cut and rearranged, or collaged, or handled in any way that makes an overall personal, creative point.
A drawing class is a 'how to'. This class is an interior 'where to', with the destination motivated by poetic and philosophic texts and the direction guided by design principles. This place you go/create, you can people it as you wish with faces, bodies, real, unreal, in tones, colors, lines, scribbles, splotches of spices...”
—Mark DiBattista, Mathematician, Queens, NY - Drawing on the Senses
“Krista’s class has been a major turning point in a huge, lifelong journey. It rearranged the constellations and turned me from a training wheel to a tractor trailer, from a flipped coin into a slot machine.”
—Aeric Meredith-Goujon, Photographer/Musician/Coach, Brooklyn, NY - Drawing on the Senses
“I have learned so much from these classes, both from the inspiring ideas and examples that Krista prompts us with, and from her feedback to each participant during the class. I have no retrievable memory of anything I may have learnt about drawing or painting in art class at high school but Krista creates a safe space whatever familiarity or confidence you may have with drawing."
—Katherine Greig, Publishing, Boston, MA - Drawing on the Senses
“Krista is a great instructor, no matter what your drawing level,and style. She makes it fun and interesting at the same time.”
—Zac Munnell, Woodworker, Fredonia, PA - Drawing on the Senses
“Krista is an engaging and encouraging instructor. I love the blend of philosophy, art theory and drawing technique she brings to her classes."
— Brendan Albano, Architect, Portand, OR - Drawing on the Senses, Gut Lights