Kathe grew up in California’s Central Valley. From an early age she could be found drawing things she saw in her neighborhood and things she imagined might exist. She wrote stories to accompany her drawings and created little books for her family.

After high school Kathe attended art school in Seattle, receiving a degree in commercial art. While there her artistic aesthetic turned toward the fine arts and she felt she needed to further her art education. Back in California, Kathe pursued a university degree and a teaching credential. She recently finished her sixth year teaching art at the middle school level and in the Fall of 2009  moved on to high school.

Kathe’s approach to art has always involved experimentation and her inventive and inquisitive nature. She favors the stark black and white of a woodblock or a pen and ink drawing to express her ideas, though she uses all media to accomplish her artistic goals. Kathe enjoys writing, but she
expects her images to tell a story better than she could with words. She also expects the viewer to bring their own story to each viewing; so she wants to leave a lot open to interpretation.

Kathe is currently is working on several wood cut projects and paintings and is illustrating a story about the fear of falling off the edge of the bed.

Bursting at the seams…Teaming with life…Screaming for release.

My artwork is about you and me. In essence, it is about how we relate to each other, how we are bound together and how our actions affect the ones we love (or claim [to love]).

I want to understand how everything relates to everything else.

I want to show how the hold we have on what we value is tenuous.

I want to pull the pain from my chest and put it on view so that others can see it and know it and prevent it from happening again – to anyone.

In prints and paintings, I explore parts of a story, leaving the history and the truth open to the viewer.

You bring your own story to each viewing; you should be allowed your own
explanation.

I rarely plan. Rather, I start with simple lines or marks. As I continue, I wait to see what arises.

I try to stop when the story is complete. Sometimes I stop too soon or late. Sometimes I stop at just the right moment.

In sculpture, my desire is to see everything laid out in front of me.

I want to rip away the coverings and expose what lies underneath.

I want to see the structure and the balance of an object.

I want to see what keeps it from falling apart. What holds it together?

I want to show the tug life makes on our minds and bodies and I want to show us struggling through it and coming out on top.

I want us to win. Together.