Kristen Ockert

kristenockertart.com
Kristen Ockert was born in Walnut Creek, CA in 1982 and grew up in the suburbs of Pittsburg and Antioch. From the moment she could hold a crayon, she impressed her preschool teachers with her drawings.

Throughout high school, she discovered Impressionist artists and this created a desire to recreate the beauty she saw in the paintings of John Singer Sargent, Edward Hopper and Berthe Morisot. Ockert got her first set of oil paints in 1997 and after high school, began a quest to further her skills in college.

Ockert majored in Graphic Design, but the need to paint and draw, using the physical tools of a brush and pencil to create, was her true passion. Life, as it does, got in the way, and she struggled to find time to continue her work while working full time. A trip to Europe in 2016, rekindled a wonder and excitement in her after viewing some of her favorite works at the Louvre, Musee d’Orsay, Galleria dell ’Accademia, and especially Monet’s home in Giverny. Returning home, she found art instruction that finally fit her needs and joined the Classical Realism program at Sadie Valeri Atelier in 2016.

Ockert continues to study through Sadie Valeri, and has also taken workshops with Emilio Villalba, Lindsay Kustusch, Christina Kent, Nathaniel Bice and has attended Plein Air paint outs with Nancy Roberts. Having studio space in San Francisco has been a key component of helping her continue to make more art and be around like-minded artists. Ockert is inspired by the everchanging beauty of the San Francisco Bay Area and the California landscape, aiming to bring the warmth of the sun into her paintings, while also capturing the cool glow of the mountains and surrounding nature.