Australian-American Artist Kristi Abbott is this year’s final graduate from South Padre Island’s Art Business Incubator Residency Program.
Abbott made her way to the states in 2012 after visiting Minnesota, her father’s home. In Australia, she worked as a CEO of a group designing corporate leadership programs, before having what she calls her ‘a ha’ moment. “I was miserable and I just thought this is not the life I want to live.”
By the age of five, Abbott had her illustrations published in a school library. “In the back, there’s a picture of me, and it says, ‘When I grow up, I want to be an artist.’”
Abbott studied design, earned her MBA, and says she’s a businesswoman first and an artist second. “I love traveling, eating out, fashion, and all these things. I didn’t want to be a starving artist.”
Abbott joined an artist cooperative in Minnesota, where she met (now) fellow ABI graduate Hamsa. “She’s why I’m on the island, because she found out about the program and sent me a link.”