Kristen Palana

MASTER ARTIST

Unlock Your Artistic Potential

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Mentoring Emerging Artists
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MEDIUM: Mixed Media | Acrylic | Digital | Drawing | Ink
SPECIALTY: ✔ Building Your Brand ✔ Website Sales ✔ Social Media

Our mentorship group is all about mastering the business side of art, focusing on effective studio time management, expanding financial diversity, and uncovering new income opportunities. We’ll explore the vast landscape of art career possibilities, including teaching both within academia and beyond, engaging in both in-person and online formats. We’ll dive into the nitty-gritty of website and social media management, online content creation, and mailing lists, and we’ll leverage AI and other innovative digital tools to ensure we’re working smarter, not harder. Based on group interest, we can also explore mixed media and painting techniques, alongside practical advice on applying for shows, securing grants, and writing impactful artist statements.

In my own art practice, I draw the world not as it is but how I wish it could be. I use symbols, icons, and patterns with cross-cultural significance combined with color psychology to help soothe, heal, and reinvigorate weary idealists. Inspired by the lofty mission statements used by the world’s top organizations, my images are a call to action to visualize better outcomes for our lives, communities, and the planet. Through my mixed media drawings, I layer colors, lines, and textures with ink and acrylic on vellum or canvas, adapting my practice to suit an expat’s location-independent life on the move and in diverse environments.

Joining this mentorship means we’re not only going to dive into your art business, income opportunities, teaching, and tech tools. We’ll also explore how your work can inspire meaningful dialogue, challenge perspectives, and contribute to positive societal change. This is about empowering you to use your creativity as a force for good, encouraging a deeper connection with your community and the wider world.

Artwork by Grahame Booth
Artwork by Grahame Booth

Kristen’s EXPERTISE

Listed below are this Mentor’s specialty skills. Join this group if you want to grow in these areas.

Specialty: ✔ Building Your Brand ✔ Social Media ✔ Website Sales

Technical:

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Colour and Composition

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Incorporating digital tools and technologies into an art practice

MARKETING & BRANDING:

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Website Design

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Social Media

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Artist Statement & CV

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Marketing & Branding

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Building Relationships With Fans 

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Building A Strong Online Persona

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Using AI & new digital technologies

Business:

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Selling Online

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Products, Prints, & Reproductions

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Help Making A Career Change

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Life Design Plans

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Applying for Grants & Fellowships

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Running Your Art Business the Day to Day

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MORE ABOUT THE ARTIST

Artwork by Grahame Booth

Kristen Palana is an American/Portuguese multidisciplinary artist based in Malawi. After decades as a digital artist, in 2021 she reconnected with her fine art roots. Inspired by the lofty mission statements used by the world’s top organizations, her mixed media drawings are a call to action to visualize better outcomes for our lives, communities, and the planet. Kristen’s earlier animations have screened at over 75 international film festivals, earning numerous “Best Animated Short Film” awards, including at the Cannes Short Film Festival, Italy International Film Festival, and Sunscreen Film Festival.

As an educator, Kristen has taught at universities on four continents. She co-founded the Film and Digital Media BFA at The American University of Rome, where she was tenured and led the Film and Digital Media Program between 2013-2016. From 2016 to 2019, Kristen expanded her teaching to academic institutions and NGOs in Myanmar, including at the groundbreaking American University of Myanmar. Founded in 2014, this institution posed such a challenge to the individuals now leading the current military government that it was unfortunately forced to close in 2018.

When not making fine art, Kristen works as a designer, educator, and consultant for international agencies, including the World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), The British High Commission, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), World Food Programme (WFP), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and The Australian High Commission. Kristen crafts training programs catering to diverse audiences, and since 2014, she has also reached over 80,000 online students from 191 countries. Her learners range from refugees and diplomats to individuals without formal education living on less than $2 USD a day, reflecting Kristen’s commitment to inclusivity and empowerment.