For Kristin Herzog, art has never been a choice—it has been an intrinsic part of her identity for as long as she can remember. “I don’t recall a time when I wasn’t an artist,” she reflects. Her earliest memory of painting, at just two or three years old, was met with mixed reviews—her chosen canvas was the porch floor of a rented home, and her mother swiftly handed her a bucket and brush to undo her masterpiece.
That early instinct to create never faded. Over the years, Herzog’s artistic influences expanded, shaped by both historical and contemporary figures. She draws deep inspiration from the female abstract expressionists of the 1930s to 1960s—Joan Mitchell, Elaine de Kooning, Lee Krasner, Grace Hartigan, Helen Frankenthaler—women who carved their own paths despite being largely overlooked by the art world. She also admires a wide range of masters, from Picasso and Matisse to Van Gogh and Klimt, as well as contemporary artists like Brian Rutenberg and Louise Fletcher. Yet, she acknowledges that artistic influence is often subconscious, absorbed in ways we don’t always recognize.
A Journey Through Mediums and Techniques
Herzog’s formal training was unconventional. Limited by a high school with a rudimentary art program and a college without a studio art major, she pursued language studies while taking every available opportunity to refine her craft. A pivotal mentor, Loren Oliver, provided the foundation she still relies on today. A junior year abroad introduced her to Bauhaus artist Kurt Kranz and gave her the chance to experience Europe’s great art firsthand.
Her early career took an unexpected turn when she discovered a talent for drafting, a skill that would later shape her precision in line work and drawing. She decided to apply for the MFA program at George Washington University and went for an interview. “They asked me about not majoring in art and I explained we had no art studio major. I was told flatly I could never enter their MFA program and promptly dismissed. Returning a week later with my paintings in tow, I was admitted on the spot. However, to my great disappointment, their program at that time left an enormous amount to be desired. At least it did give me a good credential and the space and time to pour all my focus into my art.”
After moving to New York City, Kristin Herzog spent decades away from fine art, building a successful career in publication design with roles at Dow Jones, the Dayton Daily News, and as Art Director for an international education magazine. She also taught publication design at Indiana University during the early days of digital publishing. Though her career paid the bills and connected her to creative circles, art remained a side pursuit until a watercolor class at the Torpedo Factory reignited her passion. Surrounded by a supportive community, her skills flourished, and her art began earning recognition. “As my art improved I had developed a deep sadness that as a young woman in the 60s I had for the most part been vehemently steered away from even the slightest thought that one could ever become a full-time artist,” Herzog remembers.
A pivotal moment came with a residency in Virginia, where she redefined her path—using art to explore the world through residencies in France, Germany, Spain, and Australia, and with a show in China. Guided for years by teacher Rob Vander Zee, and shaped by countless museums, peers, and workshops, and brush skills she learned with a craft painting certification course, Herzog continued to grow—even after losing her studio, gallery, and mentor in one heartbreaking month. Now in Florida, she works independently, fully immersed in her art and committed to lifelong learning.
An Ever-Evolving Artistic Style
Kristin Herzog resists being confined to a single artistic style. When pressed to nail down that style, she hesitantly, and perhaps coquettishly, settles on “eclectic.” She thrives on experimentation, constantly exploring new techniques, colors, and approaches. Acrylics, her primary medium, offer endless versatility, allowing her to shift directions freely. One gallery even joked that she paints like five different artists because of how often her style evolves.
Rather than adhering to a rigid aesthetic, Herzog embraces inspiration wherever she finds it. If she sees a style she admires, she’ll attempt to work in that direction—though, inevitably, the final piece takes on a life of its own. This openness to change keeps her work fresh and dynamic, ensuring she never feels creatively stagnant.
Creating for Joy, Not for an Audience
Herzog paints for the sheer love of it. She doesn’t create with a specific audience in mind, nor does she tailor her work to trends or expectations. Instead, she sees her role as bringing beauty into the world—offering her paintings as gifts for others to enjoy.
“I feel my job is to put more beauty into the world,” she says. “Some people are meant to be accountants or doctors or schoolteachers. My job is just to create beauty.”
While she values feedback from respected artists and collectors, she has learned that true art enthusiasts crave something fresh—something they haven’t seen before. Early in her career, she discovered that paintings created with the sole intention of selling rarely found buyers. “It was like the universe was telling me, ‘No, do not do that again!’ What does sell are the pieces I paint that I personally enjoy. So, I trust that.” When she painted purely for herself, those pieces invariably resonated with others.
Luminous Worlds: The Ethereal Quality of Herzog’s Work
Kristin Herzog’s paintings often evoke a dreamlike, surreal atmosphere—works like Once Upon A Time I and Hanging Gardens VIII, IX seem to exist in a space beyond reality, inviting viewers into a world of shifting light and depth. This ethereal quality is intentional, rooted in both her artistic philosophy and personal beliefs.
“I love that ethereal look and feel it has a timelessness which is important to me,” she explains.
Beyond technique, Herzog’s work is influenced by her spiritual perspective. Though raised in Christianity, she believes that most faiths share a common thread—the idea that there is something beyond the tangible world. “Astronomers are trying to see it. Science is trying to map it. Astronauts are trying to visit it. I guess I’m just trying to paint it,” she says.
Her process for achieving this effect relies heavily on glazing, a technique that subtly shifts colors and creates depth. She layers passages so that elements appear to weave in and out of the foreground, making it impossible to pinpoint what is in front or behind. This constant visual movement mirrors the uncertainty of perception, reinforcing the sense of mystery. “And then I often like to have the sense at some point in the painting that one is looking off into eternity, like looking into the sky. Adding light and some mysterious space or distance brings the sense of dreaming or the unknown into a piece. I love always leaving room for the viewer’s consciousness to expand or fantasize,” she explains.
A Love of Acrylics
Herzog has an undisputed love of acrylics. “While I was Rob’s student I shifted from primarily watercolor to primarily acrylic for various reasons. I love doing large pieces and also more galleries will take acrylics. I also love the versatility of acrylics, and especially the glazing. In college our professor emphasized glazing in oils and the technique always resonated with me. In oils one glaze takes days to dry while in acrylics it’s more like ten minutes. So, the work goes much faster. Many oil painters these days actually do much of their underpainting in acrylics and then do the finishing coats in oils. I glaze constantly; a painting might easily have 30 or more glazes. Also, with acrylics I can quickly repaint when I’ve messed something up!”
She avoids student grade paints or anything branded “basic”. “The word ‘studio’ in a brand is also suspect so I’ll call the manufacturer to find out if it’s professional or student grade. My experience is these student paints just go flat once they are dry and it’s too easy to get discouraged when this happens. I love Matisse Acrylics, but they are getting so much more expensive since they come from Australia. And I use Golden and Liquitex just because they are available everywhere and are solid brands. There are a couple other good brands I should try more often but one gets used to how certain colors in certain brands perform. I really love the beautiful deep colors and heavy pigment load of Charvin and use them frequently but they tend to not last nearly as long in the tube as my other brands so that can get frustrating. While I spend money on top quality paints and paper I don’t often need great brushes. In fact, I’m very rough on brushes and don’t take good care of them. Since I just paint in my home I often stop and think I’ll get back to it in a few minutes, and then somehow don’t. A day later I come back, and the brush has hardened and needs serious cleaning.”
A Life Devoted to Art
Herzog is a prolific artist, producing work at an astonishing pace. The reason is simple: painting is her entire life. With most of her family gone and no children, she dedicates herself fully to her craft. “I’m so completely blissfully happy doing it, I see no reason to change,” she says.
Yet, even the most passionate artists experience creative blocks. For Herzog, these moments became more frequent after moving to Florida, particularly during the isolation of the pandemic. She found that variety and stimulation were essential to keeping her creativity flowing.
One unexpected breakthrough came when she won a set of colored inks in an art competition. “It was like getting a brand-new giant box of Crayolas when we were kids,” she confides. She had never worked with inks before, so she simply played—experimenting with small pieces on paper, adding conte, pencils, and charcoal. This playful approach reignited her creativity, leading her back into larger works.
“When I found the ‘Art Juice Podcast’ with Louise Fletcher and Alice Sheridan, I realized the key to what I was doing was the Play,” she remembers. “Louise stresses all the time how Play is the most critical part of developing and after watching myself for a couple of years now I’m finding Play is the route to getting out of a block, or just off dead center. Simply fiddling with the materials, not trying to create anything, no plans for anyone to ever see it; just relax and have fun. That’s when the magic happens. We put too much pressure on ourselves with sales and deadlines and shows and galleries and bills. But the root of it all is Play. That’s what puts your own spark into a painting. That’s what puts the spark into a lot of things, actually. Even relationships. Everyone responds to playfulness.”
Herzog’s joyful exuberance is one of the hallmarks of her work. Though her style may vary from piece to piece, the vibrant colors and playful execution are what keep followers and collectors carefully watching her while recognition and honor continue to rain down on her work. Though she was raised in an era where women were discouraged from pursuing art, now she stands proudly behind her ever-growing collection, every bit the artist she was told she couldn’t be.
Acquisitions
Kristin Herzog’s art can be found at her website, kherzogart.com, on Facebook, and the MAC Gallery in Ft Lauderdale. Here in Naples her art can be viewed and acquired at Aldecor on Trade Center Way, and Judith Liegeois Designs newly on 41 (9th Street South) in downtown Naples.
Gallery
Kristin Herzog lives in Estero with her mandatory Cat Lady feline companion, KoKo, aka KoKo Puff, a gloriously fluffy World’s Most Perfect Cat, the last remaining of three wonderful cats, who is very much in charge of the studio. Herzog is often asked why she has 3 chairs in a 10 x 11 ft room. The reason is that KoKo expects her own and Herzog needs two, one for the paintings on each wall. “If my full attention is on something, then KoKo demands to be right there in the middle,” says Herzog. “Five hundred years from now if they look for DNA to verify my paintings they’ll surely find her fur in all those glazes. They say cats feel it’s their job to balance the energy in a home by sleeping in odd places where a spot needs some ‘balancing’. I don’t know, but maybe she feels she needs to balance the energy in my paintings, too. She’ll be leaving me soon, so I’m particularly wrapped up in her whims these days.”
Extraordinary People
