Meet Terri Sierra

About the Artist

Terri Sierra is a Kentucky artist whose work is driven by color, experimentation, and connection. Working across painting, mixed media, photography, digital design, and public art, she embraces a continual process of exploration.

Her bold, layered paintings often reflect what she calls Abstract Retrospective—a process in which earlier marks and layers become part of a painting's history, even when covered or transformed. For Terri, those layers mirror life: experiences, memories, people, and places accumulate over time and all contribute to who we become.

Terri and her husband, artist David Sierra, are the owners of Creative Eyedias Art Studios & Gallery in Westport, Kentucky, where their individual practices often come together in collaborative projects, including murals and community art.

How long have you been a member of AGA?

I'm a brand-new member of AGA, and I'm honored to be among such esteemed artists. I love being part of artist organizations because of the opportunity to learn from other artists, exchange ideas, and contribute to a larger creative community. I'm excited to get to know the artists of AGA.

Adjudicated member of Kentucky Crafted
Currently Vice President of the Louisville Artisans Guild
Member of:
- Kentucky Guild of Artists and Craftsmen
- Lexington Art League
- Southside Arts League
- American Women Artists
- Artist Guild of Anchorage.

Being involved with art organizations is important to me because it's also about supporting other artists, sharing knowledge, and helping build a strong arts community.

A CONVERSATION WITH TERRI SIERRA

What media do you work with?

I'm definitely a mixed-media person. I work with acrylics, inks, watercolor, drawing media, photography, digital design, mixed media, and murals. I love experimenting and don't want to limit myself to one material or way of creating.

Much of my process involves building layers, making marks, covering things up, scraping back into them, and allowing earlier portions to reappear. Sometimes what happens accidentally becomes more interesting than what I originally planned.

Curiosity is probably the common denominator in everything I do. I like asking, “What happens if I try this?”

Tell us about the Westport Mural.

The Westport Mural was commissioned by Knock on Wood and Oldham County Tourism and painted on the side of the Knock on Wood building. Because it's one of the first things you see entering Westport, David and I wanted it to feel like a visual welcome to our hometown.

We designed and painted it together, using large WESTPORT lettering as a framework for images representing the community—horses, the Ohio River, music, art, boating, Knock on Wood, and other pieces of Westport life.

From a distance, you see WESTPORT. Up close, you discover the stories inside it.

What was it like creating a mural that represents an entire community?

Public art is very different from creating a painting for yourself. We kept asking, What makes Westport special? What will residents recognize? What should visitors learn about us?

David and I have very different artistic styles, which works to our advantage when we collaborate. We wanted people who live here to see the finished mural and think, “That's us.”

What was it like painting while the community watched?

That became one of the best parts. People would stop, talk with us, ask questions, and watch the mural take shape.

One day, someone who had been fishing in the Ohio River stopped and offered us some of the fish he had just caught. We loved that. Here we were painting fish and river life, and someone literally arrived carrying part of that life to share with us.

You couldn't plan a better Westport mural moment.

Did anything unexpected come from the mural?

Definitely! The mural inadvertently turned me into a T-shirt maker.

Afterward, I created a shirt featuring the mural. One shirt led to another, and soon people were asking about other designs. Now I'm creating and printing T-shirts for people, organizations, and activities in our community.

Tell us about "Old Glory" and what it means to you.

Old Glory actually began as a portrait of Elton John. As the painting developed, however, the canvas seemed to have other plans. I continued responding to the paint, texture, and marks until the portrait disappeared beneath multiple layers and Old Glory emerged. Elton is still buried in there somewhere, which is why I sometimes call it Old Glory or Elton John Was Here.

The layers became part of the painting's meaning. Like our country, the finished work is built upon what came before it. Its weathered interpretation of the American flag represents history, resilience, struggle, sacrifice, celebration, and renewal.

I was especially honored when Old Glory won Second Place in the America 250 category at the 2026 Kentucky State Fair.

Sometimes you begin by painting Elton John and end up painting America!

"Old Glory"

What work have you created that is most meaningful to you?

It really is like choosing a favorite child! But if I had to choose one, it would be Old Glory or Elton John Was Here.

It's meaningful because of the journey. It represents what I believe about making art: you have to be willing to listen to the painting and sometimes let go of what you originally intended.

The Elton John portrait underneath is still part of the painting even though no one can see it. Every layer that followed was influenced by the one before it.

That's how I see life. We're all made up of layers of experiences, memories, successes, failures, people, and places. Some are visible and some aren't, but they're all still part of us.

Tell us about Creative Eyedias.

Creative Eyedias grew naturally from our lives as artists. David and I wanted to create a place where artists could work together and creativity could be shared. We established our studios and gallery in Westport, where our individual practices often come together in collaborations.

I'm primarily an abstract and mixed-media artist, while David's work is predominantly figurative. Those differences give us complementary perspectives and skills.

Creative Eyedias has grown beyond a studio and gallery. We create original artwork, murals, public-art projects, commissioned pieces, installations, digital designs, and other creative projects for individuals, businesses, and communities.

You can learn more at CreativeEyedias.com.

ART, PLACE & COMMUNITY

Whether I'm painting, photographing, designing digitally, collaborating with David, or exploring a new creative direction, one idea consistently runs through my work:

Art creates connections.

The Westport Mural demonstrates that beautifully. What began as a commission became a celebration of the people, places, river life, art, music, and character of our community. While we were creating it, the community became part of the experience.

People stopped. They shared stories. Someone even offered us fresh fish from the Ohio River.

Then the mural became a T-shirt, which led to other designs, relationships, and opportunities.

That's what I love about art. It doesn't necessarily end at the edge of a canvas. Sometimes it becomes part of a building, a town, or something someone wears.

And sometimes, if you're lucky, someone stops while you're painting and offers you fresh fish from the Ohio River.

Those moments are all part of the artwork.

More art by Terri Sierra