AK Wild Woman: Kristin Vantrease

We grew up with an amazing girl named Kristin Vantrease. Our friendship started on Homer's nordic ski trails, and continued into the summers as we wrote boat letters between the Bering Sea and Bristol Bay. These days, we share the cooking creations we dream up in the galley and printmaking techniques and stories of good days skiing. Kristin is an amazing writer and artist, not to mention cook, fisherwoman, outdoorswoman, and big sister. Her linocut prints are beautiful snapshots from the past 13 summers that she has been commercial fishing in Bristol Bay, Kodiak and Prince William Sound. She loves the clean lines and the power of negative spaces involved with linocuts. She has recently started a series of prints depicting wooden boats around Alaska.

"The lines of wooden boats sweep and curve like poetry, and remind me of a time in fishing before jet engines: when boats moved a little slower and the work was incredibly demanding," she says. "Now, these boats rest stationary in people's yard and along the roadside like wooden sculpture gardens."

We asked Kristin what things have been changing her life lately, because she has great taste and is always learning something new. These things include: The Moosewood Cookbook, music of the Milky Chance, Purity Ring, Sylvan Esso variety, brewing her own kombucha, and making granola bars in her food processor (with oats, chocolate chips, peanut butter, coconut oil, honey, vanilla and salt. Try it!).

Kristin's prints are available for sale at Dos Manos gallery in Anchorage and in the summer at High Tide Arts on the Homer spit.

We hope to continue featuring amazing AK Wild Women on our blog. If you read this and a particular resourceful, creative, inspirational woman immediately comes to mind, let us know, we would love to feature them. You can also join us in tagging your wild adventures and truly awesome friends with the hashtag #akwildwoman on Instagram.

Until next time, wild women!

Emma & Claire