Art isn't just a picture it's a mood. I find my pleasure and passion to paint from the nature around me in moments captured, of memories past and present. I hope to bring you a calming optimism. I particularly enjoy painting landscapes where I become entwined in their natural settings. I especially love the personality of trees with their majestic souls deeply embedded in the earth and in my heart. Each blank canvas takes me on a personal adventure, and allows my curious spirit to roam freely with optimism, oftentimes with a much needed escapism.

My goal is generally to capture a moment in time that draws me in and embraces me. Eventually I ‘gift wrap’ it in varnish and a complimentary frame in hopes you, my viewer, may discover your own personal connection to a painting.

My art stems from the depths and soul of places I have lived, loved and oftentimes simply dreamed. My greatest inspiration is love of our planet. My rare artistic blocks come through difficult times. I am unable to share anger or despair on a canvas. Art is my personal therapy, but not my personal Therapist. Oftentimes, I am just an escape artist heaven bound to my studio.

Thank you for visiting, comments are appreciated on my "Comments" page. 

  My draw to nature began as a young child when I rode my horse through the woods and alfalfa hay fields of our Illinois farm. There I discovered my inner peace where I was mesmerized by nature’s scents, sounds, surprises and incredible beauty. I was raised in Illinois; however I spent a few summers in a cabin on a lake in Eagle River, Wisconsin. There, as a young girl, I experienced the most incredible sunsets reflected on a peaceful lake in the wilderness surrounded by birch trees and pines, where graceful deer roamed freely, and tranquility was my norm. As a teenager I was captivated by the beauty of the ocean and inlets at my grandparents St. Andrews Bay, Florida home. I am still haunted by the enchantment of the ocean’s balmy salt air and the fragrance of fresh pines where Spanish moss danced nearby on grand Oak Trees.  My senses hold a lifelong gift of memories...

As an adult I’ve lived in the stillness and magnitude of the mountains of Colorado. I lived in Sedona, Arizona, surrounded by the everchanging shadows and magnificent red rocks where Oak Creek Canyon is inundated with the fragrance of cinnamon. My life experiences to this day calm me and draw me back to my carefree days. I’ve always inhaled the beauty that surrounded me, and I still cling to the unconditional love and warmth of my family and my dear pets since passed. There is nothing that compares to nature’s serenity, Her mystical skies, the timeless glistening aqua and deep blue vastness of the ocean as I lived on an Island in the Keys; the coolness and stillness of a flaming yellow Aspen Grove in the Colorado Mountains in midday as a stream flowed nearby. I am captured by Her ever-changing lighting and shadows from sunrise to sunset; Her strength and calmness…Her breathtaking kaleidoscope of colors.  Nature is a friend who follows me everywhere. I know I can’t capture Her, but She certainly keeps me inspired.

“Nature is the balance of our sanity” ©k.c.

My Art Education began at a very early age with my favorite hobby being “Paint by Number”. My mother and grandparents kept me well supplied. As early as eighth grade, I was fortunate enough to have an art instruction class. I chose Art as my Major at Northern Illinois University, and followed up in North Chicago at the Chicago Art Institute Adult Extension facility. 

When I retired from my Marketing Management position in Cincinnati, I decided to take my art to the next level.

I was initially instructed by Susan Schuler, a very successful internationally known Abstract Artist. Susan held classes in her Kentucky studio, and gave me my first exhibition opportunity at her studio in 2010 where I experienced my first sale. Susan’s beautiful works are vibrant in color and contrasts, and she encouraged me with her great enthusiasm to enjoy the freedom of colors, and to “keep on painting!”

A week later I was accepted into an exhibition and continued to enter juried exhibits, and was offered a few solo exhibits. I was honored to be chosen as a member of the Hilltop Artists, a Cincinnati woman’s exclusive Art Club which has existed for over 70 years, holding an average membership of only 18 artists at any one time. Through this fine club, I attended several club exhibit opportunities. 

I was fortunate to be instructed in a small class, then one on one, by Tom Dusterberg, an internationally known Commercial and Fine Artist. Tom quotes at a University of Dayton Exhibition he attended in 2000: "My paintings aren't meant to be simply decorations for people to hang over their sofas; I want my art to speak to people, to make them think. I want the images to resonate in their minds in a different way.”

He continues, "… I sense that a lot of people feel the need for and the reality of the Spirit. And art is a very spiritual thing for me." 

Tom encouraged me to continue to pursue my art career and it was such an honor to work with him. He was a spiritual guide for me, indeed, and probably didn’t even realize it at the time. Thank you, Tom. 

I am an 11 time Award Winner in the Cincinnati CityArt Annual Holiday Card Contest. In 2019, I was commissioned by the State of Ohio Legislature as the sole Ohio artist to design and paint the Statehouse Holiday cards that were distributed to the State legislators for their use and placed on display at the Ohio Statehouse Museum. I continue to pursue commissioned works.

Artworks of Cincinnati accepted my painting, “Riverside 3 a.m.” and constructed it as a mural on the trail Beautification Greenway Project in Covington, Kentucky.