Kathryn Murray
Artist Statement
About 15 years ago I started to take my work with photography seriously although I'd been photographing for many years. I enjoyed all the opportunities I had to see beautiful places as I traveled the Northern Neck as a realtor. I was, and am, particularly drawn to foggy, misty waterfront moments.
More recently I took a collage class and thereafter developed a technique that relied on my class but was different, still relying on applying acrylic paint to tissue paper. For three years while being a care giver, I spent an hour or so after dinner painting away the day and finding peace. The abstract paintings in this show are some of those tissue paper pieces. For the most part they tend to include a bit of collage to spark them up a bit, but the majority of the work is one piece of tissue. The larger pieces are acrylic on watercolor paper, but even these tend to use a bit of painted tissue.
Having been exposed to a great deal of art and artful living throughout my life, I believe that I constantly have inspiration coming to me both from my surroundings and my memories.
Biography
I grew up outside of NYC in an absolutely beautiful suburb. The surroundings, the light, the water were all so very beautiful. When I moved to the Northern Neck of Virginia 30 years ago, I could feel much of those same natural elements that seemed so much a part of me.
After graduating from college with a degree in Art History I moved to NYC and worked in creative fields for almost ten years. I had a lot of exposure to some very dynamic creative processes as well as many galleries and major art events. Much of this was absorbed (as best I could).
Thereafter I moved to DC and got married. My husband was a sculptor and did commission work. He had a world of talent that I was exposed to. At that time I had a small desktop publishing company and so did some design work.
We moved to the Northern Neck and I needed to make a living and so became a Realtor (publication design was not a viable way to make a living here at that point). Working in real estate had its pluses and minuses, with the best part being the many new locations I'd experience while on the road.
I am thankful for the creative people I have met here and what they bring to my artistic evolution.
