THE CATCH NEWSLETTER

Pens and Paints: An Interview with a Local Creative, Krista Lee Weller

Interview by Hannah Frison

Introduction

For this month’s newsletter, we have a transcript of a very touching interview with North Florida-based artist, Krista Lee Weller. In this interview, Weller explains how her photography, filmmaking, and mixed media art all work together to create vivid storytelling. Behind every video, photo, and paint stroke lies the essence of treasured memories and inspirational encounters of herself and others. Please enjoy the discussion, and check out her artwork at the links below:

Website 1: kristaleeweller.com

Website 2: productionsthatmatter.com

Check out Krista Lee Weller’s Documentary Film: "Vendemmia"

If you have any questions for our artist of the month, please reach her at kristaleeweller@gmail.com.

Interview Transcript

HANNAH: Thank you so much, Ms. Krista Lee Weller, for joining us for the Talon Review Interview of the Month! If you could please introduce yourself before we get started?

KRISTA: Sure! My name is Krista Lee Weller. I’m a North-Florida based artist, filmmaker, and photographer, and a UNF alum. 

HANNAH: Alright, thank you so much! To kick off our first question, I wanted to ask you what is your favorite piece of work you have done and why?

KRISTA: Well, I would say that my favorite piece of work that I have done would have to be one of my crow pieces… I don’t know they’re all kind of, like, my babies. So the crows… it’s hard to say which one, but there’s one in particular that I did after, um, after wrapping up and releasing a documentary film I did in Italy. So, I did two crow pieces, the first one… I did one for me and one for my filmmaking partner. And I used photos from our film, like set photos, from being on location in the Cinque Terre, in Italy, to collage the crows. And they’ve just been so meaningful and personal to me. So, like I said, I made one for myself and one for my filmmaking partner, and they're kind of the same but a little bit different. And those two are really my favorite because they encapsulate, you know, years of hard work and the celebration of the beautiful film that we did together. 

HANNAH: Okay, could you tell us a little bit more about the film you guys made?

KRISTA: Sure! Well, when I graduated from college, I actually went into film and television and really didn’t do a whole lot of art for a long time. I mean as far as, you know, painting, fine art, collage, all that stuff. So, I worked, like I said, for a long time doing more commercial stuff, and then, I finally got to a point where I wanted to go out on my own and make my own films.

And we had this idea about doing a documentary film in the Cinque Terre of Italy because it was really changing and all the young people were leaving and the landscape was drastically changing because it’s a very hard terrain. It's coastal, but they have, terraces, vineyards, and keeping those up you have to do everything by hand. So we went out there and just intended to capture, you know, the beauty of a place that seemed to be changing because of, again, the younger generations leaving, but we found a whole different story.

So, it ended up being on sustainable tourism and it just was a wild ride for many years because they had a bunch of flooding and you see all the things happening around the world with [the] climate. They were experiencing massive flooding, political unrest and so it ended up being about sustainable tourism and how they were preserving the area, but also about a lot of other things that were happening in the region, and it still holds up today! We released it 2013, and I just had um, the University of California requested it for a class. A professor wanted to use it for a curriculum on sustainable tourism. So that’s pretty cool!

HANNAH: Absolutely! That’s super cool! This actually leads into my next question. Your website mentions you dabble in filmmaking and photography and you also, you know, stated that you made an amazing documentary about what’s going on in Italy, and I was just wondering how all the different art styles that you incorporate work together as a framework for your creativity?

KRISTA: They definitely work together, just with the example I just gave you. Using set photos from my film to make two, you know, mixed media pieces. I always have taken photographs everywhere I traveled, and so, I use my photography in much of my mixed media artwork. It’s just, you know… I like to bring all the places I’ve been ‘cause I’ve been to some really, really cool places around the world! It makes the piece I’m working on… I don’t know… it infuses it with the stories of these places, so it really does tie together. Even when I’m not using my photograph, I don’t know, I think I am very influenced by architecture all around the world, especially Europe. I’ve been to Italy quite a bit. France, you know, Croatia, Slovenia. Just a lot of cool places that, um… definitely influence what I’m doing with my painting and my mixed media works. I’m also working on another film! It’s funny because the story of me not doing artwork for a while and then coming back around to it, ‘cause my minor in art from the University of North Florida, and I studied under Louise Freshman Brown for years. And she… was still at UNF when I ran into her randomly, and we started talking ‘cause she had been doing workshops over in Europe and Italy and Provence and Croatia and places like that. And I’d been doing films over there. So, she and I started to talk about doing a film together, and we actually are still working on a film, it’s taking a long time. It’s on arts and medicine. 

HANNAH: Okay.

KRISTA: Yes. She had students that she would send to Wolfson Children’s Hospital to intern with art and art in healthcare. So our film focuses on the artist and how working in arts in medicine affects them. Of course, patients and stuff are also in the film, but the film focuses on the artist and how it really… changes everything for the artist! I mean art is so important, in so many areas. In medicine, it actually alleviates symptoms with patients, and you know, [art] does so much. So, my work just keeps on intersecting in really interesting ways!

HANNAH: Of course, but I just wanted to say that was really cool! I wanted to ask as far as the art in medicine goes, are we talking about art therapy? Or, what does art in medicine mean? I’m just curious. 

KRISTA: Art therapy is not necessarily the focus of what I’m talking about in film; it’s actually the artists going in, painting, drawing, one artist did origami, that I covered, with patients. 

HANNAH: Oh!

KRISTA: So it’s more, actually bringing art to a hospital room or sometimes, you know, if a patient can go into a bigger room and not have to stay in their room, they can do that. It’s the way the artist interacts with the patient. So, it’s not technically art therapy, it’s actually just making art, and it’s been astonishing! Patients forget about their illness when working with these artists, and it has just been really cool.

So, we’ve been working on that for a while, and you know, I’ve got a few artists, now they’ve graduated form the University of North Florida and gone on and gotten degrees in “Arts in Medicine” from University of Florida, who has a really strong Arts in Medicine Program, and are working in the field now. So it’s like, documentary films take while because of the stages and getting the full story. So now, the last thing I need to do is follow up with them as they're actually working as professionals in arts in medicine. 

HANNAH: Absolutely. That is really interesting, and it sounds like you have a lot going on, and just like, a lot of people who you influence as well, kind of, follow in the footsteps of what you’re doing, which is really cool. The next question I want to ask… let’s get into the Mixed Media Crow Collection! So, my first question was what is the difference between the Via Dell'amore Series and The Visitation Series, but I remember you were saying that when you do these collages that include your photography it’s more about what you're feeling at the moment. So, I don’t know if that question is still relevant.

KRISTA: It is, it’s still relevant. So the Via Dell'amore Series, those first two, “Via Dell'amore I and II” are the ones I did for myself and my filmmaker partner that I talked about.

HANNAH: Oh okay!

KRISTA: And then there was a third piece that I did in that series. And they all included photography that I either took or had access to because they were set photos for our film. So, I collaged those with those photos specifically. The Visitation Series was actually the first series I did with crows, and I used photos I took in Milan, mostly for those. That series is the series of five crows, The Visitation Series, that really turned the corner for me as an artist, as a fine artist as well as a filmmaker and photographer because I kind of dabbled in art when i was taking… actually Louise Freshman Brown told me that if I was going to film her teaching art for the film, I had to take her workshops again! So, I hadn’t done anything for such a long time and then she’s like “okay, you're gonna do it,” and she got me back into making art.

But, The Visitation Series, I really trying to figure out what I wanted to say as an artist, and I have a story about this: One crow flew into my backyard, and we have crows in our neighborhood, but I never see them in my yard. I have cats and dogs, you know, animals back there so. But anyways, one flew in the backyard and sat in my garden and kind of looked at me when I was out there, and I’m like, “Hey, what’s up?” And we kind of had some eye contact and [the crow] flew off.

A couple days later, three crows flew into my yard, sat in a different tree together and it’s me, my husband and my son, there’s three of us. I’m always looking for symbolism and meaning in interactions I have with animals. So, they flew and sat in the tree, and I was on the phone with my husband and I was like: “There are three crows that just swooped into our yard and they are sitting in the tree looking at me right now! I’m trying to figure out what this means!” And then they all left together! All three together, and I’m like, “Okay, this means something.” And then, a few days later, an entire “murder” of crows, ‘cause you know a flock of crows is called a “murder,” flew into my yard, and they sat in the original garden the first one was in. They were in the trees, they were on the ground, they were on my fence; I have the rod iron fence. They were everywhere! I’m like “alright.”

I started sketching out crows in my sketchbook that day. I was like, “They have something to say, and I guess I’m supposed to say it!” So that whole interaction, that week-long interaction with crows in my yard started The Visitation Series for me. And it just came out, it was… I don’t know. I didn’t really have to think about it. It just sort of flowed, you know? I’ve had people ask to buy it and I’m like “nope!” That one is personal. I don’t know, maybe one day I’ll sell them. I’ve sold prints of them, but I have all the original crows of the original series.

HANNAH: Yeah, that is a crazy story! I’m always interested to hear what’s the story behind [the] painting ‘cause when I think of Italy in terms of animals, I automatically think of rats.  

KRISTA: Oh wow!

HANNAH: Just ‘cause Ratatouille and France and all that! Italy is not France, but it’s in the same ballpark and so, I always think: Rats. 

KRISTA: You see how pop culture is influencing art in everything!

HANNAH: Yeah! To see crows, I was like: I never really thought that crows were [prominent] in Milan and Italy and things like that. But, to hear your story, now I see how the crows fall in with the photos of all the different architectures, which is interesting! You know, crows are really, really intelligent, so it makes me wonder if the crows kind of got together and were like “this is a cool place to chill and just to exist.” They weren’t exactly staring you down like this was Alfred Hitchcock or something with The Birds. [They were] more like: “Oh, we can relax here, nothing’ too crazy.”

KRISTA: I’ve always felt like I had a connection with them. I’ve been fascinated with them. I've never felt like they were omens of doom or anything like that, you know. Harbingers of death; I’ve never had that vibe with the crows. I’ve always felt like they were super intelligent, like you said… they always have fascinated me! The behaviors, the societies, everything! They are so complex, they definitely communicate with each other. Felt like that week, they were definitely communicating with me, so… I love them!

HANNAH: My career is not in animals, but I do have a certain respect for animals. So, I wouldn’t say I’m an animal lover but we’ll just say… animal respect-er, if that’s what you want to call it! But yes, I can definitely appreciate crows for, like you said, their intelligence and you know, just how they live in the wild amongst other birds. It’s very interesting once you do the research on them. Now, thank you for sharing on that Mixed Media Crow Collection; that was really interesting. And I like how you said you kept the originals because they were important to you and you couldn’t exactly part with them yet because they still had a lot of meaning to you. I like that you said that. ‘Cause sometimes, I know artists… they just love all of their art, and it’s very hard to sell any of them because they all put a little piece of themselves in the art that they do. So I think that, like I said, I think it’s really cool you can choose which ones to sell and say, “No I’mma keep this one. This one just means a little too much to me.”

KRISTA: Yeah, it’s funny because someone I just idolize as an artist in Jacksonville named Laurie Hitzberg; she also paints crows and they're just stunning!

HANNAH: Really?

KRISTA: She does nests and crows, yes. And I talked to her about her work and I was just like, “I really wanna buy one!” And she was like, “I just don’t want to sell any of them!” So it’s the same thing. One day, I’m gonna own one of Laurie’s crows; they're spectacular! But yes, I think all of us who especially are painting something like the crow that is meaningful to me, and obviously, to her, it’s hard to let go of them.

HANNAH: Yes, now onto the Custom Collages Collection. So, on your website you say you do custom collages for people who put in a personal request, and there was one on there that consisted of a cardinal with images related to Joseph’s Pizza, which I’m pretty sure is local to Jacksonville. I just wanted to know if you could talk a little bit more about the story behind that painting? 

KRISTA: Yes, so I have a client, she's a very good friend. Her name’s Sabrina. She is the daughter of the man who opened Joseph's Pizza. The original one is on Main Street, and then there’s another one on Atlantic Beach. So Joseph’s Pizza goes back, you know, a pretty long way here in Jacksonville. And Sabrina lost her dad. It’s been a while, but you know, I just lost my dad as well, so I think I can relate much more now to people who have lost a parent. I don’t think it’s ever going to go away, the grief over that. She was very close to her dad. She told me a story about when her dad passed away. Right after that, she was standing at her kitchen window, I believe, and she said a cardinal came and just sat on the window. Just sat there, and looked at her and just would not leave! And she was so sure that was her dad telling her everything was okay, she said it was just amazing and a spiritual experience.

I know many people associate cardinals with being messengers, but when you have an interaction with an animal like that where it gets close to you and really looks at you, it takes it to a different level, you know? Rather than it just being a symbol, it’s like, okay, this was a real interaction. And so I did this piece for Sabrina, she’s been a client, but this piece… we did a project together, bringing in a bunch of artists. It was to raise money for healthcare and a few other Jacksonville charities. I did this piece for her as a thank you, and as a friend because she has been such a good friend to me. So, I pulled photos from Joseph’s and some of her personal photos and made the collage for her, and it just… I don’t know. It was meaningful to both of us because these were not my photos; these were hers.

That piece was the first time I did one for someone else, not just for myself, using things that I wanted. I wanted to make sure this was reflective of her, and so she has that. And you know, it brings a little piece of that person back to her—her dad. She can look at it, and it brings back the cardinal and the happy things about her dad, rather than just think about the sad thing. I really enjoy it! Sometimes it’s hard to use other people's photos because when I’m doing my own, I can cut through faces and stuff. If it’s my photo, I’ll make a wing… I use pieces a lot of times more based on the shape. In some of my Via Dell'amore pieces, you can see I cut right through myself and Sharon, my filmmaking partner to make a wing. But with Sabrina’s dad, I didn’t want to cut right through his face. I wanted to make sure those pieces worked with the collage, but also didn’t disrupt the meaning of the photo. Does that make sense?     

HANNAH: No, absolutely! My guess is that, this is kind of an instinct thing, sometimes you just look at something and you’re like, that works! And you look at something else and you’re like, no the doesn’t work, let me flip it around, and it’s just this feeling inside that says: Yes, I am complete, this is complete, this is great. I love it!

KRISTA: Yes, that’s exactly how the process [is]. It’s like putting together a puzzle sometimes with the collage, you know? Sometimes, it’s not; sometimes you just put it down and you just keep putting things down. Sometimes, it’s more, like with the cardinal… again that flowed, I had some cool things to work with. In Joseph's pizza downtown they have this big mural wall, it’s a really cool wall! It almost looks like graffiti, but it's the original building ads. It’s hard to explain, but it made for some great filler pieces I could just cut to use for shapes and things, instead of, you know, worrying about cutting through somebody’s face. 

HANNAH: That’s a really wonderful story about how making the piece with somebody else can also impact you in the process and can also… I don’t know if the right word would be revitalize? But, you feel each and every aspect once you start putting the pieces together, and you can really connect with the piece emotionally and maybe empathize with the person.

Well, you also said that you had lost your parent, and so that was a path of empathy, but also, just channeling that while you make the piece. It just makes it that much more impactful and you just know that once it's done, it came from a relatable place but also a good place, and I just think that’s really cool!