Artist Krista Timberlake was initially on her way to becoming a medical doctor when a college calculus course shifted her toward a more creative path.
“While my high school studies were focused on the sciences, as I was planning on studying medicine, I have always been involved in the arts. One year into college and my only poor grade ever in a class (calculus), made me rethink my plan,” she says. “I’d always loved both science and art, and I think both those worlds make you view the world in a unique way. It didn’t feel like a drastic shift to me, as I’d always studied art, as well.”
Her grandfather, an anesthesiologist, had been talking about the way things were changing with regard to an increase in malpractice suits, paperwork and forms, and less time practicing medicine. She left the University of Vermont and ended up earning a bachelor’s degree in painting from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. In the years since, her work has been featured in shows and galleries in Vista, Carlsbad, Encinitas, Oceanside, Cardiff, as well as in Kentucky, Colorado, and Minnesota. Currently, her “Organic Metals” exhibition is on display at the Cardiff Library through April 30.
Timberlake, 53, is a senior designer and senior design manager at The Upper Deck Company, known for its sports and entertainment trading cards and other collectibles. She lives in Vista with her fiancé, Verne Ward, and took some time to talk about how her love of cycling and art come together in the nearly 30 watercolors and drawings in this current exhibition.
Q: Can you talk about your process for creating the pieces in this show?
A: My process usually starts with the subject I want to paint (and I have an endless list of things and people I want to paint!). I start with picking a size; drawing a light, basic pencil outline; then, drawing in pencil the numerous bicycle components and other mechanical parts that suggest themselves to me as fitting the theme and/or shape of what I’m creating. I often hide words or messages in there as well. Then, I paint. With the nature of watercolor, my wet-on-wet technique, and the way I render the various mechanical parts, I often have to work on very small portions at a time, filling and shading something as small as an armadillo claw or an eyelid, and moving on to other areas while things dry. So, on the larger pieces, or things with a lot of smaller parts like bicycle chains, this can take many hours per painting. I’d estimate the quickest pieces take four to five hours between drawing and painting, while others are easily 20 hours of work, if not more — I do tend to lose track of time during the painting process.
Q: The description online for this show talks about your 30 years as an avid cyclist and time as a pre-med student leading you to explore the combination of living things and machinery. What was your inspiration for “Organic Metal”? Can you tell us about the meaning behind the title of your exhibition? And, how does the title translate into the pieces we can see in this exhibition?
A: From dissecting things in high school (when I thought I was on track to go into medicine), to studying anatomy and physiology from the different viewpoints of medicine, exercise science, and life drawing, I really came to view living organisms as extremely complex machines. I witnessed several live operations during a veterinary internship during my senior year of high school and saw a lot of what’s “under the skin” in animals, as well. I’ve always had bikes in my life, but got more serious about cycling during high school, and then was on collegiate cycling teams, both at the University of Vermont and at the University of Massachusetts. Training on a regular basis, you really come to view your bike as part of you, or an extension of your own body. “Organic Metal” is a description of what all of the pieces represent—a melding of organic, living people and animals with metallic machinery. The title also conveys the fluid, organic nature of watercolor, juxtaposed with cold, hard, non-living metal.
What I love about Vista…
I can walk in my neighborhood and get to a lot of great places by bike. It’s relatively quiet and I get birds and lizards in my yard. Frazier Farms Market is a few miles away and Vista has a phenomenal farmers’ market on Saturday. I can get to the ocean or great walking/hiking trails pretty easily. It’s a few miles on a bike to Leo Carrillo Ranch, with its entertaining peacocks.
Q: What is it about machinery that you find particularly fascinating? Especially to the point where it’s showing up in your artwork?
A: I , at a very young age, being fascinated by the books on M.C. Escher and H.R. Giger that we had around the house, plus the Italian design magazines my father got. There are also a lot of amazing old mills and manufacturing buildings all over New England (I always loved looking at the old, rusty, broken-down machinery). Once I started taking art history and film classes, I was very drawn to industrial art and Italian Futurism design, along with so many other art movements. Once I started cycling and being around cyclists, I always had bikes and bike parts around. I also have always loved antique clocks and find all the gears and mechanics fascinating and beautiful. It just seemed natural to want to render them, but I’m not sure at what point I started combining machinery with living subjects.
Q: Who are some artists whose work you respect, or are influenced by?
A: Some of my favorite artists are [Henri de] Toulouse-Lautrec, Paul Klee, and Egon Schiele. I love their unique perspective and irreverence, but, above all, just how their art makes me feel. That’s what I love so much about art — it can give you an immediate, emotional, visceral response just by the way a line is put on paper, or a color choice or area of texture just feels so perfect. I also have a great love of dark, whimsical drawings and illustrations. I love the art of Edward Gorey and Tim Burton. Music and musicians are also a huge influence; the music itself, lyrics, or seeing a musician and/or singer perform their art, is incredibly inspiring. I have a lot of portraits of musicians and an endless list of others I’d like to portray. David Bowie is my all-time favorite, but there are many more.
Q: As someone who’s spent a significant amount of time invested in and enjoying cycling, do you see connections/parallels between your own body and the machinery of your bicycle(s)?
A: I do have a fondness for the classic steel road frames and old Campagnolo components (you will see those hidden in many of my art pieces). There is definitely a correlation between the cyclist and her bicycle(s); it’s a mostly love/occasionally hate relationship. I am so addicted to cycling, I can’t imagine life without it, and I find being on a ride is one of the few times my mind clears and I can get ideas/think through things I’d like to create. Riding can give you joy, pain, anger, despair, clarity, and elation, and you pretty much always feel better after riding. While the stress on the human body tends to make us stronger over time, that stress and wear-and-tear causes things on your bike to wear out, get less shiny or break.
Q: What inspires you, as a visual artist?
A: What doesn’t inspire me? I find endless inspiration, I just lack the time for my inspiration to come out as art. Animals, humans, bikes, nature, music, dance, food, culture, humor, books, fashion, and film are just a few things that provide endless ideas and visuals to spark a thought of something I’d like to explore visually. The process of creating and exploring, visually, is pretty magical.
Q: What are you hoping to convey to others through the pieces in “Organic Metal”?
A: I always feel like I see things a little differently than other people; I’m very observant and notice strange, funny, beautiful little elements everywhere. I’d like people to look at my work and see a cat or armadillo or sock monkey or portrait of David Bowie or Bono in a whole new way. I hope people get drawn into seeing life brought to metal and think about the juxtaposition of machines and the living world. There’s a lot of whimsy in many of my pieces, so I hope people smile. I love playing with color and texture, so I hope people lean in and just enjoy looking at an area of paint and paper.
Q: What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
A: Never stop learning or being curious. And, you learn more by failure than success.
Q: What is one thing people would be surprised to find out about you?
A: How funny I am and how much I see the humor and absurdity of everyday life.
Q: Please describe your ideal San Diego weekend.
A: An ideal weekend would probably take place in the winter, when it’s under 70 degrees. A 40- to 50-mile bike ride each day on scenic roads without cars, with my partner and maybe a few other friends. Some wine tasting at any of the great vineyards around. A hike at Mount Laguna or somewhere else with lots of trees. Reading a book, taking a sunset walk, doing yoga in the evening, grilling some seafood. Going to an art reception where I have work on display, selling every piece that’s there, and getting some commissions!
