Kristen Vails is the executive director of the Plaza District in Oklahoma City, a burgeoning artists’ community and shopping district. Raised in Piedmont, Oklahoma, she’s a painter who’s exhibited in galleries across Oklahoma. Her primary subject is the horse, which she uses, through her paintbrush, to “capture the spiritual aspects in nature that relate with the human condition.”

Originally published in This Land Vol. 5, Issue 6, March 15, 2014.