My name is Kristy DeFlores. I am an artist and I am honored to donate a 28 x 38" original painting for the R.J. Leonard Foundation. Helping children and teens is close to my heart. I was an art educator for a little over 20 years. It gave me such joy and fulfillment to help others on their art journey. Creating an art school was a highlight. ArtMuse was established in 2015 and ran for five beautiful years. With the help of my husband, we built an amazing environment that inspired children and adults. After we closed our studio in 2020, I decided to pick up the brush again and began my art journey. It has been deep and personal process to learn who I am as an artist.

I am a mostly self taught artist creating art inspired primarily by strong women who are on their path to healing and growing from the struggle between the masculine and feminine. These individuals are on a quest for equality, balance, peace, individual strength and self love.

Each art piece is its own unique process. With some experimentation and a beautiful mistake, I developed a technique which allows me to really capture the emotions of the figures. Each painting comes with its own challenges and new learning about how to manipulate the medium. I splatter ink on canvas then remove the ink to reveal the figure's emotional story.