I live in coastal North Carolina where I paint watercolor images of the low-country birds and animals I see from my kayak in the creeks and waterways. I take some art commission requests. I create 3D wall hangings from natural found objects that intend to give nature a face--I hope it's harder to destroy that which seems alive to our human-centric selves.

 

I provide digital media, website design, social media content, and ghostwriting/blog services for small to medium-sized businesses.

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I'm currently enrolled in graduate school, writing a nonfiction memoir about my personal journey of recovery from my late husband's OxyContin addiction--Tim and I were early victims of the Purdue Pharma campaign that resulted in the current U.S. opioid epidemic. Please see my writing page for published nonfiction and fiction stories and for news on the release of my book.

 

My first love is art, and I've been drawing and painting since I could grip a crayon.

 

I spent much of my life working as a graphic designer and animator with high-level security clearances for the USMC, DoD, and the corporate aerospace sector. 

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I was stationed in Okinawa, Japan, and Quantico, Virginia as a US Marine. I worked at Bolling AFB for the Defense Intelligence Agency, at the Pentagon as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff intelligence briefing team, and at a CIA classified Area as a subcontractor with GE Aerospace (now Martin Marietta).

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Those were exciting times, for sure, but I never felt that those super-classified intelligence projects were in alignment with my artistic, nature-loving, inner self. After close to fifteen years of that stressful work, I left civil service and moved away from the DC Metropolitan area to offer freelance services as a graphic designer and website builder.

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I lived in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia for over fifteen years on a small organic farm nestled at the foot of the Blue Ridge mountains where I raised chickens, honeybees, and goats and grew medicinal herbs and vegetables. It was here, on this small piece of almost heaven, that I found the courage to change and heal from the devastation (and death) caused by the prescription opioids given to my late husband.

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During those years I continued to paint and write and grow.

 

Thank you for visiting my website. Please reach out with questions, art commission requests, or if you need writing, website, or social media services. Let's connect on social media--you can find me in all the places @KristenDorseyArtist.

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