19. Kathleen Secrest
Nature inspired landscape and abstract paintings in oil and pastel
6521 Wintergreen Drive, Clinton 98236 by appointment only Phone: 360.341.3826 Email: Website: Studio Directions: From the Mukilteo ferry turn left from 525 onto Campbell then left on Wintergreen Drive. Studio is about .5 mile on the left. |
For me, painting is an exploration. Whether I’m painting an abstraction or en plein air, painting is solving a puzzle. I make a mark and it creates a problem that will need to be solved with the next mark. The next mark creates a new problem. And so I work until I can find no more problems to solve. My subject matter relates to nature and my love of making marks. I’ve always been fascinated by the lines that occur in the environment—the crisscross of branches, the curl of a dead leaf, the lines in a spider’s web. I haven’t changed much. I still collect natural objects and treasure them more than gems. I bring home nests, feathers, stones and bones. I like being outdoors and painting the landscape, the sky and the clouds. My observations while painting outdoors, and the treasures I collect there are jumping off points for my abstract art. Working from nature reminds me this place is one organism, everything connected. I paint as a way of honoring the organism and the natural beauty around me.