Reprise | Kevin Kresse, Sculptor

Up in Your Business with Kerry McCoy

This week we revisit Kerry's two prior interviews with Arkansan painter and sculptor, Kevin Kresse. Kevin has exhibited his work around Arkansas, New York, Washington DC, Memphis, and Atlanta. His work has been featured in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the Arkansas Times, Soiree magazine, and more, and he has been featured in pieces produced by local affiliates of ABC, CBS, and PBS television, as well as a short film by Garret Lakin. The journey toward a career in art began with Kresse and his wife Bridget’s decision to pare down their lives financially. Both of the Kresses had “job-jobs,” as Bridget calls them. She was a financial planner, Kevin a newspaper art director. Work and money had been “all about accumulation.” The Kresses opted for a different road. They gave their employers a year’s notice, lived cheaply, and saved money. Then they took a four-month trip to Europe. The trip to Europe was priceless. It laid the foundation for their marriage, they say. It gave them time to reflect — something Kevin points out is growing increasingly scarce for workaholic Americans — and it pointed the way toward their future. It was on that trip, Bridget says, that “Kevin decided to do his art." "It's a kick knowing that my public work will still be there long after I'm gone," he said. "I never thought about that aspect too much until after my father died. It is also great hearing people interpret what they see in some of the work. It makes me realize that everyone sees art through their filter of life and that every interpretation is just as valid as the reason I did it."