Tryon Arts & Crafts School announces March Artist of the Month, Kristen Mode. The public is invited to attend a reception for the artist on Wednesday, March 20, 5 to 7 PM, with refreshments and live music. 

 

Kristen Mode’s paintings are known for saturated, bold strokes, typically over a dark ground. Themes of animals, human rights, and eco-friendliness wave and pulsate through her insistent mark-making and sweeping linear brushwork. The paintings have a vibrance and vitality that also characterize the artist, herself. 

 

Kristen is the owner and artist of Kaleidoscope Studios, a small business based out of her home in Tryon. When asked about the name of her studio, she explains, “I enjoy exploring the trails by foot with my dogs or on the back of a horse. Every crunch of a leaf, smell of warm pine needles, and song of the river resonate within my artwork. They are visions like a kaleidoscope, intertwining all my passions of abstraction, Mother Nature, and animals.” 

 

In addition to her studio practice, Kristen wears many hats in Polk County – volunteer and art coordinator for the Saluda Arts Festival, Chairman of Tryon Arts & Crafts School’s 2018 Spring Arts Festival and Manager at the Purple Onion in Saluda.  

 

Kristen loves bringing people together with art, music and local food – that is precisely the formula the community will use to celebrate her creative talents on the evening of March 20 at Tryon Arts & Crafts School. The reception is free and open to the public. 

 

For more information about the school, please contact the office at (828) 859.8323 or visit www.TryonArtsandCrafts.org.