Well, Who am I? I'm not quite sure. I'm still learning. Do I want to know? We shall see...... What I do know is...HOW I got here, the path was a broken one, but I have never been more happy in my own skin than now. I was born Kristy Jean Heywood, EVERYBODY calls me Kris, and has since I was young. My brush name is Kris Jean because honestly I thought Heywood sounded a little backwoods for an artist. I am currenlty 33 years old, Single, but in a long term relationship with a very nice guy! He helps keep me focused! As a child I used to play with my Aunt Tenna's old oil paints, and spend time with my Grandmother who also painted a little. They showed me some basics, and I learned how to love to create. Without that influence as a child - I would not be painting today. I live in a small town just west of Fort Worth, TX, called White Settlement. I moved here at 5, went to grade school here, then Brewer High School then sadly never left. In High School I was a borderline Alcoholic, just trying to get through. I would partake in drinking at school - smuggled in my hairspray bottles. Whatever it took to make the days go faster. Most of that is due to anxiety. I have a really hard time around people, if I think about it. My brain won't stop. I honestly don't remember much of my freshman or junior years. But I made it out alright. After High School I stayed in my same High School funk - never changing a thing, Pretending to be happy. Someone saw through the charade - THANK GAWD! With that influence of striving to be more than I was (something I didn't have before) I really tried to find out who I was, and what in the world I was doing with my life. First thing I did was pick up a brush and create. The first Body Language painting was born. "Catherine" wasn't perfect, by any means. The process really gave me time to think, it relaxed me from being so tense all the time. I could paint and forget the world. Along the way I learned things about myself. Just little things that paved the way for big things. I figured out my REAL favorite color, not the one everybody else likes. I learned patience, and to take time to think things through. I know my point of view - simple. No need to muck things up with overtalking it. Say what you mean! (Why clutter a canvas with to many details if they arn't needed? See the paralell?) I have many sides - it is quite curious. I'm a control freak, loner, tease, sensual, rebel, smart mouth. Don't try to box me in or define me, you will get an elbow. :) I have no formal training, I paint what I feel. So now I live to sit and paint. I'm very close to getting to do this full time - which would be the end-all-be-all for me. I have come a long way since the begining and have learned so much about myself and the world. These paintings arn't just paint on a canvas to me....they are a part of me. They are who I am. | © Art by Kris Jean - All Rights Reserved ]