Krista has a passion for all things vintage! It began during her years at Georgia State University in Atlanta, where she received a BFA in graphic design. She would go without lunches in order to buy books featuring vintage design collections. She loved it all: Opulent cigar label lithographs of the early 1900's, sleek and elegant Art Deco posters and packaging, whimsical images on vintage matchbook covers. When she first moved to New Mexico in 1995, she faced an apartment of bare walls. She decided to decorate in her favorite style and since she couldn't afford the real thing, she turned to her book collections. "I pored through my books and found the images I loved best, then painted them large, on masonite or old wood and antiqued them," Krista explains. A couple of years later Jason Suttle, a friend knowing she was an artist (and a starving one at that), asked if she would do a painting of his Jack Russell named Fergus. Krista loved the idea and when Jason told her to just do whatever she wanted, she loved it even more. "I figured why not do it as a beer label, Flying Fergus Pale Ale - Good Dog Good Beer, with his little dog leaping through the center," says Krista. Jason loved the end result and so did everyone else, so she started taking commissions in the spring of 1998. Nowadays, instead of taking commissions, Krista concentrates her time on making new prints. Dogs are center stage right now but she plans to add cats, horses, pigs and even birds to the Retro Pets gang. As Krista puts it, "I'm painting as fast as I can!
