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Kathy Keenan

http://www.keenanstudios.com
gallery images
kkeenan@value.net

At present, I focus on what I’m calling “Other Realities” – depictions of images seen in my dreams (or waking visions, in some cases). From earliest childhood, I’ve had a very vivid dream life, and I frequently remember dreams on waking. It’s nice to be able to put these nocturnal meanderings to some use other than entertaining my family over breakfast!

However, I enjoy painting from life or from photographs, often blending several images together to achieve a better composition. Peoples’ faces are particularly interesting to me, because faces record a person’s life as they live it.

My art training until recently was fairly disastrous. My first art teacher (fourth grade) held up my efforts in front of the entire class and commented that I had no talent. He later accused me (and Chrissie Fitzgerald) of plagiarizing a research report. (For the record, he was wrong on both counts.) My second art teacher threatened to throw me out of his class for bad behavior and lack of talent.

I never believed the teachers and decided to pursue art on my own. I worked primarily in pen and ink with watercolor washes, with some side excursions into block prints. I did a couple of book covers, an album cover and some magazine illustrations, but did not pursue art as a career. This was partly due to my father’s refusal to underwrite a college degree in art, so I majored in English Literature instead, following this up with a Master’s in teaching. To my astonishment, I actually used the English degree, first in journalism and later in public relations. But I still dreamed of being involved in the visual arts.

As a middle-aged public relations professional, I finally decided to take another art class. I wanted to try oils –– a new medium for me. As a child with no training, I had tried oils and been abysmally disappointed in the results. I chose Lee Hartman, of San Jose, Calif., as my teacher, because she was teaching eight-year-olds to paint beautifully. I figured if she could get children to paint so well, she could help me. It was an inspired decision. Oils became my passion, my medium of choice. Under Lee’s gruff and affectionate tutelage, I came further in four years than in the previous 40. I have also taken several portrait workshops, including a class taught by San Francisco portraitist Robert Gerbracht.

I don’t have any pithy descriptions for my style. It changes all the time as I experiment with new techniques or new ways of looking at things. All I’m trying to do is capture a moment, evoke an emotional response in the viewer.

Shows and Awards

Santa Clara County Fair Fine Arts Exhibition, Summer, 1999
“County Fair”
Honorable Mention: “The Blues”

Los Gatos Member Show, Los Gatos Art Museum, October, 1999
“The Blues”

“Treasures,” Los Gatos Art Museum, March 2000
“Heading Home/Peru”

Second Place, Artist of the Month, June 2000, Los Gatos Art Association
“Heading Home/Peru”

First Place. Artist of the Month, September 2000, Los Gatos Art Association
“The Burden”

Second Place, Oils, October 2000, Los Gatos Art Association Membership Show, Los Gatos Art Museum: “Heading Home/Peru.” Also juried into this show: “The Burden.”

“Walls to the Future,” exhibit sponsored by Los Gatos City Council,
November 2000: “How We Go to the Stars”

Third Place, Artist of the Month, February 20001, Los Gatos Art Association

Santa Clara County Open Studios 2001, April 28-29, 2001

Monte Sereno Gardens Art Show, Monte Sereno, CA, May 20, 2001

Alliance of Visual Artists Show, Santa Clara, CA, June 2-3, 2001

Mountain Art Guild Show, Los Gatos, CA, June 9-10, 2001

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The Mystic Eye - Antioch, IL 60002