About
Artist Statement + Bio
Kristin Fuhrmann-Simmons is a painter based in Southern Maine. She draws inspiration from life on the seacoast, and her watercolor paintings combine her meditation + painting practice into one.
A teacher + marketer by trade, Fuhrmann-Simmons honed her artistic skills in her mid-40s. She states: "I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis right before the pandemic, and the curious (and miraculous) coupling of both my own physical changes, as well as a massive shift in how I conducted work in the community, helped me focus how I wanted to spend my time through the healing process of art-making. Painting has given me a new vocabulary and a new way of being in the world.”
Her preferred medium is large-format watercolor on paper, and she has branched into screen printing and mixed media. Her work contains abstract images of the land + sea that bring to life the joy and pause-worthy gentleness of nature through a richly saturated color palette.
Fuhrmann-Simmons began formally exhibiting her work in the Spring of 2022. She sells originals, prints, and a line of durable goods that feature her work, including cards, candles, necklaces, handbags, and coffee tumblers. She teaches watercolors out of her home studio and at Allagash Brewing in Portland, Maine, at the Norumbega Inn in Camden, Maine, and aboard the Windjammer Angelique - part of Maine's historic Windjammer fleet.
Fuhrmann-Simmons is a Professional Member of the Maine Craft Association. She lives with her husband and their two daughters in Kennebunkport, Maine, along with a menagerie of animals, including a handsome rescue dog named Winslow Homer.
EXHIBITIONS
2022 Group Show - Rumpus Hydra Art Collective, Engine, Biddeford, Maine | Watercolor Large Format Work
2022 Solo Show - Breakfast with the Artist, The Nonantum Resort, Kennebunkport, Maine | Watercolor Show + Live Painting Demonstrations
2022 Schooner Victory Chimes - Onboard Watercolor Class, Rockland, Maine
2022 Autumn Petite Pause - Class + Demo, Tops’l Farm, Bremen, Maine
2022 Solo Show - Queen Tides, Harbor Chase, South Portland, Maine
2023 Solo Show - Between the Tides, Infinity Center at Spurling, Kennebunk, Maine
2023 Winter Petite Pause - Class + Demo, Tops’l Farm, Bremen, Maine
2023 Windjammer Angelique - 4-day Onboard Watercolor Class, Camden, Maine
2023 Featured Artist for August - Canopy by Hilton, Portland, Maine
2023 Maker’s Market Cliff House Show - Ogunquit, Maine
2023 Holiday by Hilton - Canopy by Hilton, Portland, Maine
2024 Windjammer Angelique - 5-day Onboard Watercolor Class, Camden, Maine
2024 Brick Store Museum - "Bold Visions" Muralist, Kennebunkport, Maine
2024 Allagash Brewing // The Cellars - Painting the Summer Orchard Workshop
2025 Monhegan House Retreat - Island Watercolors Workshop, Monhegan, Maine
MEMBERSHIPS
2022-Present - Professional Member | Maine Crafts Association
ART EDUCATION
Maryland Institute College of Art | Continuing Education
1987 - Watercolor + Ink | Figure Drawing
1996 - Intaglio Printmaking
Richmond College in Florence, Italy | Study Abroad
1994-1995 - Painting Still Life, Fresco Restoration, + Art History
Haystack Mountain School of Craft
1996 - Summer Session | Painting + Assemblage with Doug Bell
2002 - Open Door | Clay + The Art of Process Over Product
2022 - Open Door | Layered Surfaces: From a Photograph to a Screen Print with Adriana Barrios
2023 - Open Door | Drawing beyond Boundaries with Nancy Nicholson
EDUCATION
- Master’s Degree in Social Work 2001, U. of Maryland, Graduated Cum Laude
- Bachelor’s Degree in Linguistics, 1997, U. of New Hampshire, Graduated Cum Laude
- International Studies at Richmond College, Florence, Italy 1994-1995
- Friends School of Baltimore, HS Diploma 1992, Art + Spanish Concentration
AFFILIATIONS
- Professional Member, Maine Craft Association 2022-present.
- Trustee, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Massachusetts Chapter 2018 -2024.
- Team Captain, The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Team in Training. John Engdahl Award 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 for outstanding fundraising and team leadership.
- Member IFWTWA: International Food Writer and Travel Writer Association, 2012 to present.
Photos by Amy Welch-Olson of @capshore photography