Most artists paint on canvas. Kristy Woodhouse waits for her canvases to fall from the sky. Mother Nature creates the leaves, and Woodhouse paints detailed wildlife images on them
Woodhouse is a naturally artistic person. Many people know her for her singing voice. She has performed every year for the past 10 years at Culture Connection in the Peace Gardens. She has a degree in graphic design, but her path to painting is a bit unconventional.
When her grandmother passed away, Woodhouse inherited all of her painting supplies. Woodhouse’s grandmother was a trained artist who lived in Provo and was a big part of the art community there.
“I had not painted before, but I thought, ‘why not?’” said Woodhouse. She was working for the Sun Advocate as a graphic designer and began her self-taught paintings on the side. As time went on, a friend suggested that Woodhouse might want to try painting on leaves.
Leaves became Woodhouse’s favorite medium, “It was such a big hit that I had to keep doing it because everyone wanted more.”
She finds the “canvases” by looking for the biggest, oldest trees. She frequents the areas in Provo around BYU in the fall to find the leaves that grow at the very tops of the pioneer-aged trees.
The greatest challenge Woodhouse has creating her artwork is the fragile nature of the leaves. “It’s heartbreaking when I spend 6 to 12 hours on a painting and then the leaf cracks,” she said. Most of Woodhouse’s paintings feature wildlife because she loves nature. She will have a booth at the Helper Arts Music and Film Festival this weekend. Her booth will offer original paintings on leaves and prints.
Her canvases fall from the sky
Kristi Woodhouse has mastered working in a delicate medium.