Krisstie Byrnne
bio
Hi, my name’s Krisstie. Welcome to the page about me. My life as an artist began when I was a small child, and I remember my first painting of some yellow and red flowers. I taught myself to draw well in my early teenage years, when I used to sit at home and draw the pop group “The Monkees”. I enjoyed the practical aspects of art at high school, and wanted to go to the Queensland College of Art after grade 10, to become an artist and an art teacher, however my parents and the Guidance Officer suggested that I should concentrate on something more practical like secretarial studies.
For the first five years after high-school, 1978 to 1983 I worked in the insurance industry and after a series of other jobs (that proved very much to be an unsuccessful utilisation of my talents), I began working as a temp in a broad cross-section of industries. Through this time there were many role models that I learned from, what to do, and sometimes what not to do. Many of the lessons I learned were reinforced as I began to study various martial art systems and Eastern philosophies from the age of 16.
After many years of boring jobs, and much dissatisfaction within the workplace, I decided that I would again pursue my passion for painting. I went back to finish my Year 12 at night school, but didn’t manage to complete enough subjects to qualify for my Year 12 certificate, but luckily, the University offered a Mature Age Matriculation Test in English and Mathematics. While I failed the mathematics component, my English was good enough, and together with my first initial folio submission to the Queensland College of Art, gained me a place in the drawing entrance exam and an interview.
I didn’t get through, and I remember the tutors asking me what I would do if I didn’t get a place. I told them I would go away and get some lessons, and that I would see them again next year. My time in the martial arts gave me the discipline and perseverance to succeed in whatever I set my mind to. After learning some key points about colour, tone and negative space my drawing and painting improved to the point where I was accepted at my next interview. That year, there were over 1000 people who had applied for approximately 60 places. While the intake was 80, the critiques were honest and blunt, placing many students under so much pressure in the first year, to the point where many of us ended up breaking down and wondering what the heck we were doing there. The tactic worked, and by the end of first year we were down to sixty students, the number of places they actually had. By the end of third year, we saw 35 students out of the initial 80 graduate. I remember our tutors final speech, where they told us that many of us would never paint again, some would only paint occasionally, and a select few would prove to be prolific. Myself ... I got married, brought a house and didn’t pick up my paint brushes for close to five years.
After graduating from the Queensland College of Art in 1993, I then completed my ‘Train the Trainer Certificate’ at Tafe, and soon begin teaching adults how to paint in the Tafe Adult & Community Education classes in 1994. I really enjoyed teaching over the years, right up until early 2007, as it has always given me a deep level of personal satisfaction seeing beginning painters flourish under the right guidance, especially when they are so proud of what they’ve accomplished. In 1995 I commenced a part-time Post Graduate Arts Administration degree, but withdrew after the first semester due to unforeseen circumstances.
After more years of various and sometimes dangerous employment (I worked in the Security Industry), I gained entry into QUT’s Master of Teaching degree in 2001. After graduating in 2002, and after completing numerous contracts in high schools, (which I found very similar to working in the security industry !!), I decided that there were better and more efficient ways of learning, than that being offered in the traditional school system.
The accredited system of art training currently offered, fails to address the fundamental skills required by artists, and does not deliver the skills that students seek to develop, which is how to draw and paint. Over the years I’ve gained a keen insight into training and coaching. My first-hand experience has been that competition and assessment is a hindrance to the development of the Artist Within. Being forced to compare your artwork to others, and with the pressure of assessment, does little to develop the creative spirit.
The training that I personally offer has been developed and shaped over time, as I believe it’s necessary to try to understand and appreciate each individual student’s feedback, which helps me utilise this information to better improve my approach to the syllabus and teaching skills. I currently teach the 16 week Term class on the Fundamentals of Drawing and also the Fundamentals of Painting. These classes are stepped out in a processed and incremental manner, building and compounding on each other.
Thank you for visiting my website, and I look forward to meeting you sometime in the not too distant future, and hearing your comments and suggestions. B.A.A.’s teachers and I will do our best to help you meet your artistic objectives.
