Kayaking Nootka Sound
Artist Blog – Interview With An Artist
Name: Kathy Atkins
Business Name:
kathyatkins.ca
What do you create?
Oil paintings and digital photography, mostly.
What inspires your work?
Colour inspires me…and exploring people and things, exploring the unusual. I am good at observing and studying people, I think. I like connecting those ideas into my art. Sometimes it is just seeing an expression on someone’s face, hearing a few words or seeing a figure in the landscape that gives me a feeling I want to capture and turn those ideas into an art piece. Sometimes it is a memory that inspires me. Each time though, the finished creation usually comes with a strong use of colour and contrast.
How did you get started?
My relationship with art originates with my parent’s passion for the world of nature and music. They are now gone but their love of wild places are my inheritance and the inspiration for my art.
I grew up in a family of self-taught musicians and had parents and friends who shared big gardens, photography, drawing and lots and lots of music … playing guitars, accordions, fiddles and banjos. …some of it stuck, lots of it didn’t. I still have great memories of those days though. Lots of creativity!!
Who are your favourite artists?
Impressionists of years gone by and photographers who capture the unusual.
Who are your favourite authors?
I love words and phrases. I don’t really have favourite authors, but I love reading, almost anything. I like to think of images from words or phrases, then I want to paint them…I am an artist who likes to paint her dreams.
What is your favourite drink?
Probably a glass of good merlot! I love the colour too!
What is your favourite journey?
My family is my most favourite journey. Also, forest walks, kayaking the west coast, being alive, being healthy… what's a better journey than that! … It’s not over yet!
What do you want to try next?
I want to turn up the heat in my art studio and think about painting forests. I have always been interested in soil, in particular woodland soil and how the trees emerge from the earth. I am interested in the relationship between trees and people. The smells, sounds and textures of a forest absorb me and are what I hope, in part, to shape into some clever artwork.
“Put Your Hand On Your Heart And Feel The Trees Breathe”