Art & Life with Kathleen George

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kathleen George.

Kathleen, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
My earliest memory is being soothed by painting. I grew up on Cape Cod, MA with parents who deeply appreciated art. My grandmother was a painter by profession and my grandfather’s great uncle was the well-known American Impressionist painter Frank Benson. I studied visual art with a concentration in painting at Gordon College, in Wenham MA. As a young painter, I was completely enamored with the figure, and studied figure drawing and painting earnestly. The freedom of art-picking up an easel and meeting the art professor at the beach to paint, or staying up until 2 AM in the studio, going hours and hours without doing anything but making art-this was the best part of college.

I graduated in 2000 and worked various jobs to pay the bills until I decided to go back to school to become an RN. It was 2005, there was a “nursing shortage,” and I wanted to have an occupation that would free me up financially while allowing me to learn from and help others. I secured a job working with Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, which has been an extraordinary, grounding and rewarding experience for me, and has greatly balanced out the heady, soaring love of making art. I work part-time and am able to spend the remainder of the week in my studio creating works of art, I have one small son and a husband who frames my work. I live in Gloucester, MA and am part of the Rocky Neck Art Colony, exhibiting each season at a cooperative gallery space. I have exhibited on Cape Ann, in Salem MA, in Providence RI. In 2017 I started an organization called Art with Action as a way to sell art and donate 100% of sales to various organizations doing good work to advance social justice. I have always used art to heal myself and share beauty and light with others.

Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I use acrylic paint and copper leaf to make works generally inspired by the nature-open fields, trees and sky, but have experimented with pure abstract as well. Like most artists, the art just comes out of me: I work on something until I love it, with generally no plan at the outset-just a blank board. I am in love with the process of creating art-I love the feel of the copper leaf, the sticky paint, the water dripping everywhere. I love carving flaky lines into the paint with a screwdriver and moving my arm to make big sweeping skies. The painting itself ends up being moved all over the place; on the floor, on the table, on the easel.

I move back and forth over the piece, and truly delight in the process of belonging to it. All the work is imaginative. I don’t venture out to paint outdoors, because I like to be cozy, but I love the light pouring into my kitchen studio-Gloucester light is particularly dramatic and gives the right mood to work.

Any advice for aspiring or new artists?
I never wanted to be trapped by the financial constraints of being a broke artist. I never wanted to be beholden to creating work that would “sell” but compromised what I wanted to do. Art is joy but it needs balance. The way this has worked for me is by getting a meaningful and well-paid part-time job to pay the bills and add structure to my week. Then I am free to paint what I want without worrying about making it pay. That has made me really free to explore and grow as an artist. And I think artist headspace can be pretty heavy, so having a balanced life has been important for me.

What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
Currently I exhibit at Gallery 53, Rocky Neck in Gloucester, MA seasonally, May-Oct. I am on social media and always update my website and social media pages with upcoming exhibits. I can also be contacted to arrange studio visits or commissions.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.kathleengeorgeart.com
• Email: kageorge@kathleengeorgeart.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/paintedbranches/
• Facebook: Facebook.com/Kathleen-George-Art

Image Credit:
Kathleen George

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