About Kathy Rees Johnson

Walking along the road on a sultry summer day, the Queen Ann’s lace is splayed in exclamatory fashion and the chicory is an eye-popping periwinkle blue. In wintertime, teasel gives a lovely structure to a scene of drifted snow. Such beauty, ours for the taking, by the side of the road! My subject matter comes from everyday wonders—sights that I have walked through many times. Whether strolling under the canopy of century-old trees at Ashland Estate, trekking along the trails at Blue Licks or gliding out on the water to watch the sun set at Lake Carnico; I am constantly capturing images to paint.

Nestled in the hills of Nicholas County, Kentucky and by a quiet cove of Lake Carnico, Clover Slope Studio places me in the heart of my artistic inspiration. Here, trees, sky, water and an ever-changing theater of species are just outside my windows. As my surroundings inform my art, the exercise of painting deepens my connection to the land and intensifies my ability to observe and translate its beauty. It is my hope that the resulting paintings link the viewer with their landscapes; their everyday wonders.

Party welcoming visitors

The nest is empty and my painting venue has moved to Lexington. Clover Slope Studio still provides the inspiration while Four Leaf Studio will provide the work space. In a sense this is a full circle event. My studio space twenty years ago was a small alcove at home. From there it moved to a townhouse which doubled as guest quarters, and on out to my lovely Clover Slope Studio; which is my favorite place to be. Now the empty room has called to me and, Voila! Four Leaf Studio, a great place to work (Carly likes it, too!)

My family moved to Kentucky when I was five years old. Drawing and painting have always been a part of my life (I know this because my mother kept the pictures!) On summer vacations, we took major car trips around the U.S. With my father pressed to the steering wheel of our Rambler station wagon and four kids and a dog rolling around in the back, we set out in pursuit of big sky and beauty.

I crossed the Ohio to study design at the University of Cincinnati (1973-75), and returned home to the Bluegrass to earn a B.A. in Art History (1977) from the University of Kentucky. Studying art history, there was a thrilling impulse, spurred on by illumined masterworks: I needed to create my own works of art.

My husband, David, and I have two adult children. Once my youngest was in school all day, a serious quest of painting began. I was fortunate to take part in a decade’s worth of workshops with Fay Moore. She not only introduced me to the pastel/underpainting technique, but her enthusiasm for art making was contagious. With a focus on painting the landscape, my early love of vista met with a newly acquired technique to prolific effect.

I work in several media: watercolor/pastel, watercolor and acrylic. Using watercolor and pastel is a spontaneous and intuitive technique; a loose and deep underpainting in watercolor is applied to paper with pastel laid over. Sometimes the more contemplative and strategic watercolor medium is called for. When working on large pieces or painting on panel (or fiberglass horses!), I use acrylic, my original paint medium.

Drawing is the underpinning of all my art. In drawings I work out what I am really trying to say—what is important in what I am seeing. Even if I do not prepare a preliminary drawing, all the drawings I have made through my life support the painting I am working on. One of the reasons I so enjoy pastels is that the medium is a combination of drawing and painting, line and mass.

White Horse Gallery
Paris, Kentucky
2010 - 2011

Creative Harvest
Hopewell Museum
Paris, Kentucky
2006 - 2008, 2010, 2011

Courthouse Square Arts Guild Member Show
The Corner Studio & Neal Welcome Center
Carlisle, Kentucky
2006 - 2011

DUAL LANDSCAPES: Images along Treks in England and Kentucky
White Horse Gallery
Paris, Kentucky
2009

Matrilineal Musings, solo exhibit
Heike Pickett Gallery at CMW
Lexington, Kentucky
2009

Banana Tree Studios
Flemingsburg, Kentucky
2007 - 2009

Arts on Main, Juried Exhibit
Shelbyville, Kentucky
2006

Ancestral Album, solo exhibit
Heike Pickett Gallery at CMW
Lexington, Kentucky
2005

Pastel Society of America
33rd Annual Open Juried Exhibit
National Arts Club
New York, New York
(Received the Artist’s Magazine Award)
2004

Landscapes, solo exhibit
Heike Pickett Gallery at CMW
Lexington, Kentucky
2003

Downtown Arts Center
Lexington, Kentucky
2002

Everyday Wonders, solo exhibit
President’s Room Gallery
University of Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky
2002

Kentucky Women Artists 1970-2000
Owensboro, Kentucky
2001

ArtsPlace
Lexington, Kentucky
2000

Kentucky Visions
Frankfort, Kentucky
1999

Many private collections

Lucille Little Fine Arts Library, University of Kentucky

Fleming County Hospital

Faith Lutheran Church

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