Kristen says she is amazed at the power of words, and she incorporates them in many of her paintings; sometimes the meaning is hidden, intentionally obscured. Color plays a major role in her work, and she is specific about the colors she chooses because every shade evokes a different mood or memory. Kristen loves the look of paint and makes it visible by layering and constructing the surface, using a palette knife or sponges (rarely a brush), abstracting the subject until it becomes a field of color, text, and feeling. Her art is both personal and subjective, and meaning is derived by one's own experience.