Artist's statement
Art is so very much more than a pretty picture.
I've known all my life that I was an artist and I've worked in many different media.
My art skills have grown over the years and my understanding of the production end of creating.
My eyes are wide open to the spiritual nature of art. Creative expression does something more than tell a story or paint a scene. It is a connection between the artist and the viewer, between the writer and the reader.
And, ideally, a window to view the natural and social world.
I've known all my life that I was an artist and I've worked in many different media.
My art skills have grown over the years and my understanding of the production end of creating.
My eyes are wide open to the spiritual nature of art. Creative expression does something more than tell a story or paint a scene. It is a connection between the artist and the viewer, between the writer and the reader.
And, ideally, a window to view the natural and social world.
Bio
Kathy grew up not too far from Drake University where she later received her undergraduate and master’s degrees in fine arts and teaching.
From a very early age, Kathy wanted to be an artist – her first showing was a very carefully rendered picture of a teepee, a horse, and a stick figure man, scratched into the side of her mother’s new walnut bedroom dresser. She was 4 years old. Her mom kept that dresser until she left her home for assisted living – she obviously knew good art when she saw it.
Her second showing of note was a third grade tempera painting of the family dog, Patches, that hung on the refrigerator door in her family kitchen. She remembers it as a true representation of a wire hair terrier showing his personality and cuteness. Thankfully, it disappeared sometime later from its position on the refrigerator – and remains only in her memory. Nobody else in the family remembers the painting – so she assumes she might have had an inflated view of her talent at that point.
But she did receive lots of encouragement and even won some prizes - one in an international contest. So she knew that she would be an artist someday.
When Kathy was growing up, children took the city busses everywhere.
And whenever she traveled ‘downtown’ she passed by the old Technical High School. An art teacher at her junior high school explained this was the place for people who wanted to be artists. So, that’s where she went.
It was one of the greatest opportunities of her life. Students studied art three hours a day and when they graduated they went on to art careers without any further training. After high school, she became the staff artist at the Des Moines Public Library and was offered an art position at HallMark Cards in Kansas City. However, living near Drake and taking piano lessons at the college of music, she knew this was where she wanted to study art. So, much to her parent’s dismay, she turned the job offer down and enrolled in Drake’s fine arts program.
After college, as did so many female artists, Kathy put her career thoughts on hold, married, and started raising kids. She did free lance work, including some fashion illustration and design. But most of her artistic abilities were used for sewing and gardening projects.
During this time she became involved in gifted education and when it was time to return to the work world, she went back to school to teach gifted children, teaching for the next 20 years. This included sparking her students’ creativity in such programs as Mock Trial, Odyssey of the Mind and Future Problem Solving as well as English and creative writing. She also taught teachers, through Heartland Area Education Agency, about creativity in the classroom, technology, and life-styles.
In 1993, the year of the Great Flood, Kathy took a watercolor class from Mary Muller, a nationally acclaimed local artist. The year is cemented in her mind – the irony of taking watercolor classes without water was delicious.
From this first class, Kathy was back to being an artist and when she received a first place for her entry in the women’s club show, she was encouraged to go back to her first love. Since that time, she has shown work in many juried shows and has juried shows herself.
Prior to Covid, Kathy taught painting at the Des Moines Art Center. During that free time, she taught Heartland classes for educators, “coaching the creative process”.
After Covid, she was isolated at home. This gave her a wonderful opportunity to finish the novels she has been working on for years. The first is in the final editing process with a publishing date tentatively set for Autumn.
The second novel and the recipe book are in the creative stages as is the children's timely novel.
Obviously she has a problem sitting still.
From a very early age, Kathy wanted to be an artist – her first showing was a very carefully rendered picture of a teepee, a horse, and a stick figure man, scratched into the side of her mother’s new walnut bedroom dresser. She was 4 years old. Her mom kept that dresser until she left her home for assisted living – she obviously knew good art when she saw it.
Her second showing of note was a third grade tempera painting of the family dog, Patches, that hung on the refrigerator door in her family kitchen. She remembers it as a true representation of a wire hair terrier showing his personality and cuteness. Thankfully, it disappeared sometime later from its position on the refrigerator – and remains only in her memory. Nobody else in the family remembers the painting – so she assumes she might have had an inflated view of her talent at that point.
But she did receive lots of encouragement and even won some prizes - one in an international contest. So she knew that she would be an artist someday.
When Kathy was growing up, children took the city busses everywhere.
And whenever she traveled ‘downtown’ she passed by the old Technical High School. An art teacher at her junior high school explained this was the place for people who wanted to be artists. So, that’s where she went.
It was one of the greatest opportunities of her life. Students studied art three hours a day and when they graduated they went on to art careers without any further training. After high school, she became the staff artist at the Des Moines Public Library and was offered an art position at HallMark Cards in Kansas City. However, living near Drake and taking piano lessons at the college of music, she knew this was where she wanted to study art. So, much to her parent’s dismay, she turned the job offer down and enrolled in Drake’s fine arts program.
After college, as did so many female artists, Kathy put her career thoughts on hold, married, and started raising kids. She did free lance work, including some fashion illustration and design. But most of her artistic abilities were used for sewing and gardening projects.
During this time she became involved in gifted education and when it was time to return to the work world, she went back to school to teach gifted children, teaching for the next 20 years. This included sparking her students’ creativity in such programs as Mock Trial, Odyssey of the Mind and Future Problem Solving as well as English and creative writing. She also taught teachers, through Heartland Area Education Agency, about creativity in the classroom, technology, and life-styles.
In 1993, the year of the Great Flood, Kathy took a watercolor class from Mary Muller, a nationally acclaimed local artist. The year is cemented in her mind – the irony of taking watercolor classes without water was delicious.
From this first class, Kathy was back to being an artist and when she received a first place for her entry in the women’s club show, she was encouraged to go back to her first love. Since that time, she has shown work in many juried shows and has juried shows herself.
Prior to Covid, Kathy taught painting at the Des Moines Art Center. During that free time, she taught Heartland classes for educators, “coaching the creative process”.
After Covid, she was isolated at home. This gave her a wonderful opportunity to finish the novels she has been working on for years. The first is in the final editing process with a publishing date tentatively set for Autumn.
The second novel and the recipe book are in the creative stages as is the children's timely novel.
Obviously she has a problem sitting still.