Rafting the River Painting

How could I possibly exist if I didn't see this planet as beautiful? With all life's brokenness, shattered dreams, tangled lives, the earth beneath my feet has to be my rock, the skies above me have to hold the promise of new horizons. The beauty of the landscape thus holds everything and creates a solidarity with the heavens and energies beyond this life. It is my truth, speaking to perhaps a universal need for a depth only found in beauty and a need to seek what is divine. Kathleen's landscapes are atypical in composition and use of color. Her work has been described as “never boring”, and “you walk into a room with her paintings and go ahhhhh…” Painting brings her a sense of peace and serenity and those qualities emanate from the work for the viewer to experience. Kathleen started her art career as a landscape painter, entering into oil painting as a way to recreate the New England landscapes that she loves. Her first inspiration to paint was at the Amherst College gallery where she fell in love with a Thomas Cole painting. She was taking an art history class there. Her work also reflects her knowledge of plants and trees in the landscape as she has a degree in horticulture. While living in Texas she studied painting with James Stegall who was trained at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. She moved back to New England and settled in Connecticut. Her landscapes have been accepted into the New Britain Museum of American Art members’ shows and 2 of them were sold at their Annual Gala. Senator Joe Lieberman exhibited a landscape of hers in his inner office in Washington DC as part of a juried Connecticut artists exhibition sponsored by the Connecticut Office of the Arts. She serves as a Board member of the American Artists Professional League based at the Salmagundi Club in NYC, and is past President of the Art League of New Britain. Kathleen has had several solo shows, most recently at the Celeste LeWitt gallery at the UConn Health Center in Farmington, CT. She regularly exhibits in the Connecticut area by entering juried shows and regional exhibitions and is represented by the Pandion Gallery on Fishers Island, NY. In addition to creating art, Kathleen is an arts teacher. She complemented her career with teaching drawing and painting to a variety of age groups in a variety of settings, including working with special needs children. She returned to school and received an M.A.