My latest little project

While I was working on "Diantha's Crossing" in May I met one of the production assistants who wanted me to be in her short film based on a poem she had written as a teenager. The poem was really deep, and I was drawn to her passion she had for the project. It's only a 3 min. short where I am running through the forest searching for something. I come to a bridge that I have to cross and as it is falling from underneath me I have to decide if I'm going to trust that someone is on the other side of the bridge to catch me when I jump. It is symbolic of searching for truth in your life and coming to a crossroads and deciding what you really believe and what you will put your faith in. The ending can be interpreted many different ways, and I like that.

As you will be able to see in these pictures, the bridge scene was shot at a park with a green screen underneath it. In post production they will be making it look like a huge scary river is underneath me. The whole scene will look like it's night time as well. That's the magic of film. In post production you can make it look like almost anything. I'm really excited to see what she does with it.

















Presenting Karissa Nash. This is her baby.

I have been cast!

As a lead in a new web series. I am under verbal contract not to tell anyone about the story so I am sorry that I can't give any details as of yet, but, as a web series, you will be able to watch it right here on the good ol' web, for free! We begin filming sometime in the fall.
I will never be able to give the story away, but when I am allowed to give more details of what it is and where you can see it, I will post it here.

So Kristen, what do you DO?...

This is always kind of an awkward question for me because I have found that as an artist of any kind, people don't really give merit to what you do as being "real work" unless of course you're famous, and even then, a lot of people still don't give art merit as being real work.
My friend Tatum explained it well by calling actors and "artsy people" the "slashes". Example: "I am an actress/waitress, or I am a singer/teacher" etc.
Very rarely can you just live off of your craft in art, yet if you really want to succeed at it and be good at it, you have got to devote your whole heart to it. It's kind of a catch-22.

Well, I fall nicely into this "category" as I do many odds and end things all the time. It can be nice as I am someone who HATES routine and get very bored if I don't experience new things in my life, but sometimes it can be hard not to have consistency. That is something I truly do appreciate about my husband, that he is consistent and enjoys routine, bringing balance to our relationship.
Anyways, here is my "slash" job for the month of August...



I am a promotional model for "cosmetic promotions" and get to put makeup on people etc. sigh, I wonder what the next month holds.

Which by the way, if any of you know of any part time job opportunities that you think I would enjoy let me know because I am trying really hard to save up enough money to go back to school, and if I don't get the acting job that I'm really hoping I get then I will definitely need to get a job doing something else! Thanks!

My Childhood

While most little girls loved to play "house" growing up, I loved to act out scenes from my favorite movies. A lot of people are creeped out by the movies I liked, such as "Return to Oz" or "The Labyrinth" or "Never Ending Story". I was intrigued by the weird creatures, romance, and mystic nature of these films, at a very young age! I was also captivated by the soundtracks to films like these and I think that's where I developed my love for newage and celtic music. Here are some pictures to give you a glimpse into my twisted childhood fantasies.

American Idol Auditions

Hey guys! I just barely got back into town. A lot of you have asked how Idol auditions went and I'm sorry I couldn't update you sooner. Ryan and I left town right after auditions so I wasn't able to call anyone to let you know...


I'M GOING TO HOLLYWOOD!




Psych! I wish. There were thousands of people there and before you can even audition for Simon, Paula, and Randy you have to make it through the producers around 3 times. In the whole 6 hours I watched people audition I think only about 4-5 made it through every hour and hundreds were turned away by the hour.



So what happens in this round is you are set up in groups of four and step up in a line at the booths you see in the middle of the arena. You step up and get to sing for about 10-15 sec and they raise their hand and tell you to stop. There were definitely some great singers that got through, but there were also some just average, and really weird ones, showing you that they are just trying to make a show. Infact, we had to do so many takes of us cheering that I truly felt like I was on a movie set as an extra, but without getting paid, wait a minute, THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I WAS! ;)
Here I am with my mom and sister. We still had a lot of fun and made some new friends while waiting in line.



I have to say I am so proud of my little sis. She did an awesome job and I hope that she will try again in the future. She has really been so inspiring to me, and helped me to remember why I loved music in the first place. My mom is also a sweetheart. She's the kind of mom that encourages her children to reach for their dreams and supports them 100% in whatever they want to do. I really look up to and appreciate her for that.

For the record, I felt good about my audition. I walked out knowing that I gave it my best and was very grateful for all the good advice given to me by friends and family, especially my father in-law Randy.

Some people are very discouraged because they feel "entitled" to win certain things. I knew it was a long shot in the dark for me but I was honestly very proud of myself for trying because it scared the crap out of me just thinking about it at first. But you know what? After I got there, I realized it was not that bad at all and I had a lot of fun being around so many other singers. It seemed like everyone was very kind and supportive of each other because we were all in the same boat. It's not often you get in such a huge group of people and feel so much warmth and support.

I definitely saw some friends who I think without a doubt should have made it through, but, what do I know? Check out my friend Joslyn, she rocks!

www.joslynmusic.com

Now tell me how she didn't make it through? I don't know. Anyways, I'm so glad that I can look back on my life and say "been there, done that" instead of "if only I had tried..."