I’ve been a long time fan of Melbourne-based artist Kirsten Jackson. There’s just something about her art that makes me feel instantly happy. A real mood-lifter! And I know I am not alone. One of my clients recently commissioned Kirsten to create an original piece for her Bondi Beach apartment and she said she loves looking at it more and more everyday. The room just wouldn’t be the same without it.   Kirsten is renowned for her use of colour, colour and more colour. In her abstract pieces she masterfully layers it, mixing vibrant hues with pastels to create the perfect combination.  “I love colour so much. I work intuitively. There’s no thought going through my mind when I paint and sometimes I will create a piece in hours and sometimes it takes days.”  

        As well as her striking abstract pieces, Kirsten also creates ‘Happy Face’ paintings. There is usually only one of these special pieces in each collection and it’s an idea she initially developed to remember her mum, who died when she was just 14. “I drew a happy face of her to have in my home. It’s incredible how much that first face reflected her. Now I paint other faces to make other people happy.” Kirsten loves that her collectors feel such a connection with her art and that she’s able to help bring a dose of colour and happiness into their homes. “I have truly fabulous clients and I really believe you get back what you put out. I had someone buy a painting recently because due to circumstances there was a lot of sadness in her home and she wanted to put some happy energy into their environment. I feel so lucky and grateful to be able contribute to other people’s lives in that way.” Although she’s now achieved international acclaim for her colourful collections, it wasn’t always this way and success came after many years hard work, persistence and even rejection. “In the beginning, no one was willing to exhibit my art. All the galleries told me that they couldn’t sell what I was creating,” Kirsten says. “Eventually, I found a gallery that showed some interest. They still said ‘no’ but there was one part of a painting they did like. So I kept working on it and working on it. I returned to that gallery so many times! But in the end my persistence paid off.”   You can see more of Kirsten’s work on her website www.kirstenjackson.com.au Don’t miss her next exhibition in April at Art 2 Muse gallery in Sydney.