Isabella Kristina
Mysteries of Spirit, Original Acrylic Paintings, Hand Painted Crosses & Hand Painted Mirrors
Ranchos de Taos New Mexico

ISABELLA KRISTINA

Artist Statement
 

     I, Kristina Benson adopted the artist name of Isabella Kristina because I was told it was my true spirit name, my higher self and that is were I feel my art comes from.
I moved to the mountains of Northern New Mexico in 1989 after I had a vision of living in a beautiful high dessert, and followed my heart to Taos New Mexico, where I now live with my husband KC who is also an artist of watercolor medium, dogs, cats and horses. I was born with a deep love and kinship for animals and nature. When I was little my grandfather told me stories about wild horses and burros he experienced as a boy growing in Arizona and I was hooked. I read every horse book I could find and had a love affair with the beauty and spirit of equines. I have been drawing, painting, riding and dreaming about them since I was young.

        After I moved away from the ocean, I started having many dreams about the water, dolphins and whales, which set me on a journey to understand their meanings. I have traveled to The Bahamas, Honduras and Hawaii in the last four years to swim with the magical wild dolphins. They are wise and beautiful teachers of joy and love; they opened my heart and reminded me to live in joy as they do, to play a lot more and live in harmonious community with others. This has been a great inspiration to my art, spirituality and life. After experiencing the dolphins, I feel that horses are land dolphins.

        I also have been greatly influenced by the spirituality of the indigenous peoples of the Southwest and the Great Plains who believed that all animals and the earth itself have something to teach us about how to live; each has a special message of power, patience, stamina, love, etc. Living near these beautiful Taos Mountains has impressed upon my soul that ultimately all of life is connection in sacred inter-woven relationships.

        I paint about this inner-connection, the dream realms, nature spirits, power animals and totems, mystical journeys and mysteries of spirit. I intentionally use bright colors of acrylic medium, and believe in the power and influence of color to affect emotion and remembrance. My love of this beautiful earth, the natural world, and animals are reflected in my colorful, spirited, symbolic art.

        I also study animal inter/species communication, energy healing modalities and dolphin pulse therapy.