More about Kathleen Frank
Bio:
Kathleen Frank, a Santa Fe landscape artist, raised in Northern California. Family travels exposed her to a diversity of cultures and artistic styles. She earned a BA in Fine Art/Design from San Jose State University and Certification in Art Education.
In Colorado, Frank taught art and studied woodcarving. A printmaking program at Pennsylvania State University led to a Master of Arts degree. She co-founded the Printmakers Studio Workshop of Central Pennsylvania. During this time Frank taught printmaking and costume design at The Greer School.
She began a gradual shift to painting. Frank was a founding member of the Farmland Preservation Artists of Central Pennsylvania. Frank painted the land around her - the farms of Pennsylvania, California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains by the family vacation home, the Marin County scenery of her childhood between the mountains and the sea and now the colorful, uniquely rugged landscapes of New Mexico. She travels throughout the Southwest, photographing vistas for future paintings, catching light and pattern, a glimmer of logic, in all the strangeness and beauty.
Publications have featured her work in articles/cover art, including Southwest Art, Western Art Collector, Cowgirl magazine and The Santa Fe Travel Insider. She has had numerous exhibitions, including Jane Hamilton Fine Art, Desert Caballeros Western Museum, La Posada de Santa Fe, Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts and the Susquehanna Art Museum.
Her work is in the collections of the Desert Caballeros Western Museum, Wickenburg, Arizona and the Pattee and Paterno Library, Pennsylvania State University, College Park, Pennsylvania.
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Statement:
Having been an art teacher, woodcarver and a printmaker in my formative years, I emerged as a painter, joyously overwhelmed by color and searching for pattern. Color and pattern are everywhere, but the seeing and interpretation of them are different for each of us. Pattern in nature is primal to me – which fuels my desire to find a glimmer of logic in vastly complicated, confusing and tumbled landscapes. I do also seek out the vibrant hues in landscapes.
My oil paintings begin with a saturated red orange backdrop. This is overlaid with the main imagery, applied with distinct brushstrokes of brilliant color. Hints of the red background peek through like a woodcut, creating subtle impact without drawing attention away from the primary subjects.
Several times a year I travel throughout the Southwest, hiking and photographing vistas for future paintings. The goal is to catch the light and design in these scenes in all its strangeness and beauty. It is a lofty goal, but I find when the quest is shepherded with paint and brush it is a delightfully daunting adventure.