Originally published on October 13, 2022.
Kirsten Beitler, an art composite major with an illustration concentration at SUU, is now applying her degree as a full-time sign artist for Harmons grocery store in Santa Clara, Utah.
“I love being paid to draw all day long and the freedom I have to use my sense of humor and my illustration training to enrich our customer experience,” she says. “I make any kind of sign the store needs. They are usually done with a pigment pen on Sintra board but some signs are just lettering and prices. I have free rein to do pretty much anything I want.”
She has a successful commercial art career that supports her family in addition to building a satisfying personal art portfolio as a contemporary figurative and portrait painter. And for the past few years now, Kirsten has run her own teaching studio and has produced several national-award-winning paintings as well.
Additionally, Kirsten is involved in the Southern Utah Art Guild, Arts to Zion Studio Tour, the UTU Business of Art program, and as a volunteer mentoring women navigating through betrayal trauma.
Kirsten is grateful to SUU faculty members Perry Stewart and Brian Hoover for teaching her how to be an artist. Both remain good friends and she says it is fun to see her mentors continue to grow as artists and support each other in the art world.
“Perry was a hard teacher who expected a lot from us. He emphasized solid drawing and design skills that I use every day,” she says. “Brian Hoover taught me how to oil paint and opened my mind to the idea that I could be an illustrator and a fine artist. I didn’t need to choose one or the other. He championed my quirky style and challenged me to become a better artist.”
Kirsten is a second-generation SUU graduate, as her father Ferron Holt (’76) and brother David Holt (’98) each attended SUU as well.
