Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristina Parish.
Hi Kristina, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Local Venom is my artist studio name, representing a collection of items I create—primarily hand-painted and carved ceramic art pieces. My work seems to live at the intersection of the beautiful and strange, often drawing from animals, sea life, and the darker corners of the natural world. Each piece is made slowly and deliberately, resisting mass production in favor of creating singular, functional art meant to be used, treasured, and collected. I create other products under the Local Venom name as well, but the connective tissue is my illustration style and a focus on classic vs highly commercial production methods.
My background is rooted in art school — I studied fine art and furniture design at Webster University briefly before spending a decade in underground bands in Boston, Massachusetts. Later, I continued my art education studying graphic design at Massachusetts College of Art & Design before moving to Nashville with my husband and newborn son in 2014.
I’ve always had a love for functional artwork, which is what initially inspired me to study furniture design. While I loved dabbling in 3D sculpture and more abstract forms of art and greatly enjoyed experiencing this type of work in the world, I have always been deeply interested in works of art that existed in or for spaces that were meant to be used and shared, and in objects that are beautiful but also have a function. It fascinated me that, long before my time, incredibly skilled artisans adorned shared spaces and common objects, sometimes with great detail and elaborate, slowly crafted production techniques. Many of these artisans’ names have been lost to history, but their representation of nature, myth, and spiritual connection lives on in the treasures they’ve left behind for us, and there’s something beautiful and sacred about that.
After moving to Nashville, I took a position as Art Director for Thought Catalog Books, where I found myself designing and often illustrating hundreds of books over the years. I also became an author in my own right and published “A Squiggle Is Just a Squiggle” and will be releasing “Ride” in September of this year—both children’s books born from my own quirky illustration style, love of animals and nature, and voice. My work life, combined with parenthood, didn’t leave much room for deeper art exploration for a number of years, but something kept nudging me to check out Make Nashville, and I finally did in 2023. This allowed me to refresh and deepen my skills in ceramics, where I still find myself constantly failing but also making a lot of very beautiful things. I love the challenge of it all—how many ways something can go completely wrong, making every laborious part of the process an exercise in futility. And yet, when pieces make it through the process whole, and when I have the opportunity to see or hear about how people connect with and treasure pieces I’ve made, it’s one of the most deeply rewarding experiences of my lifetime.
Local Venom is an emerging brand in many ways. The vision is to have a singular umbrella for all of my odd but deeply special creations, available online and in select stores, while I also continue to write and illustrate books.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Being an artist in general is hard, but especially so if your circumstances don’t allow for periods of time of great study and focus. In other words, if you need to do things to survive, like make a living, and you don’t come from money, you are inevitably going to be climbing two mountains at once. The mountain of physical survival and responsibility to yourself and others, and the other mountain of being honest and true to yourself as a creative being who will otherwise wither and shrink from life without a means of self-expression that’s possible and (hopefully) reasonably fulfilling, even during challenging times. This is how I would describe my 20s, especially. They were scrappy but still creative. I’ve seen my artistic expression shift through my lifetime—from my early days as a weirdo outcast art nerd in highschool, to studying art formally in college, to playing guitar in bands for many years, to designing books, becoming a children’s book author and illustrator, and now—finally—Local Venom where I can finally express myself in a more holistic way and completely on my own terms.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’ve likely already said this in previous slides, but my current focus is Local Venom, the umbrella studio name for my physical creations—especially functional, illustrated ceramics. I create other products as well, and have more in the works, but my passion is in the slow, meticulous creation of hand-illustrated and carved bowls, plates, platters, and cups. I also continue to write and illustrate children’s books and expect to continue, although these are not distributed under the Local Venom moniker but under my artist name, KJ Parish.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
I want to give credit to Make Nashville—particularly the founder and his family for having the idea and vision to create a place that serves artists and all the volunteers and community members who make it what it is. Where I am today could not have happened without Make. As a volunteer-run multi-disciplinary studio, it feels like a scrappier version of art school, but nestled into the community. The folks I have met there and the ability to contribute to a space that has given me so much is deeply fulfilling. Access to affordable, collective studio spaces is so necessary for creatives. If you think about it this way—Nashville provides greenways, gyms, pools, and libraries—all things that promote a sound mind and body. But not any kind of collective, open-access art studio space. Make is the only studio in town I’m aware of where someone can learn and develop new skills at an affordable price, which opens the door for creatives of all ages. I’m deeply grateful and encourage any emerging artist out there to check it out.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thelocalvenom.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/local_venom/
