Kristin Balmer likes the immediacy of the hand-held object; the artist’s hands make the work, and the viewer’s hands “see” it. She also likes the geometric shapes and repetitive patterning of many folk art traditions. She finds compelling the incremental decorative elements that transform everyday objects into art.

Kristin Balmer trained as a painter at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. She learned bookbinding while working as a conservation technician at the Library Company of Philadelphia, a rare book library founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1731. Now living in Nashville, Kristin divides her time among painting, bookbinding, and Argentine tango.