About Kathryn

I have always been fascinated and obsessed with life from a bygone era. There is something both comforting and mysterious about things from an earlier time. A sense of history and nostalgia, and the feelings that invokes, speaks to me. Black and white films of the 1940’s were one of my earliest visual influences; a stylized, dramatically lit world that was overwhelming with details. It has always been about the details.

Early in my career, my involvement with both photography and graphic design had an enormous influence on my art. Much of my photographic imagery focused on subjects that invoke nostalgia, like old store windows with reflective surfaces, Victorian facades, worn and weathered antiques and vintage advertising. Photography became a lifelong companion to my art, helping me collect images and memories to bring to life in my paintings. Graphic design exposed me to the world of type, and the power of the printed word. How beautiful, stylistic, seductive and influential a word can be–both its visual appearance and its meaning. These two things combined have altered my vision and influenced how I see.

These experiences had a dramatic affect on my art, and I became fascinated with the imagery of type. These visuals became my new subject, and still are today. I have been particularly inspired by old neon signs, and old packaging. These subjects, along with the dimensionality of strong sunlight, create mood, depth, and define the details which give the objects their unique identity. Recently, I began choosing typographic images that covey a message. In some, the message is very obvious, and others let the viewer interpret their own meaning. Either way, it is my hope that viewers will be pulled in by the art of the details, and the art of language in my work, and create a visual dialogue with it.