Friday, January 3, 2014

Getting To Know Kathy Durst Artist

By Marcia Marks


Okay, you won't really turn into Kathy Durst artist by viewing her work but it will certainly inspire you. Kathy was born in Redwing Minnesota and grew up in Illinois, attending an all-girl school. She earned a Bachelor's of Fine Arts degree at the Austin campus of the University of Texas as well as an all-level teaching certificate in the visual arts. She is retired from teaching, but remained very active in the arts. A selection of examples was selected for display of her first-ever solo display at the Ross Gallery in early 2014. The theme of these pieces appears to be Noah's Ark, because it is full of animals. This appears to be one of her favorite subjects.

A quarter of a century of teaching art has exposed the artist to almost every conceivable medium and technique. A lot of her work that is currently available for viewing online is paper painting collage stuff. Her "Lammie" is a great example of what can be achieved with creative use of scraps of paper and paint.

"Lammie" and "Yulka" illustrate what can be achieved by creatively employing paint and carefully selected scraps of paper. In "Yulka, " we see an empty soft drink bottle showing through a floral patterned swimsuit for flotation. This is a very deft application of the collage painting technique.

The materials involved in painted paper collage are easily available and not at all expensive. The method can be taught to a group of under-fives in a matter of an afternoon. Give these same children a quarter of a century of experience and the Durst talent and skill, and the future is going to be fun to watch. Try and view some videos on the Internet of people using this method. It will give you an insight into the artist's work. It is incredibly relaxing to view an artist at a day at the office.

In terms of subject matter, Kathy seems partial to animals, although this could be because that is the theme of her show at the Ross Gallery. "Take Me Along, " featuring a pair of scuba divers, goes a long way to showing the breadth of creativity that can be achieved with paper paint collage as opposed to a plain old boring brush and paint. Here, the pair are swirling through a sea of musical notes and scraps from an atlas. It looks more ethereal than it sounds.

The artist's work inspires creativity. You can't help but seek out more and more examples of what she has produced. You will also be driven to learn more about the technique and start imagining the fruits of your own efforts. In no time at all, you will feel like a part of the artistic community and assembling your own materials and working space.

Her "Rose, " is a different kettle of fish. Apart from being a departure from animals, it may or may not be another example of the painted paper collage technique. It could be. She is that good. The blossom is in shades of flamingo and coral, with little splashes of the main hues dotted around in the surrounding foliage.

Kathy Durst artist's use of stencils and textured paper in her collages gives her work depth and character. For most of the rest of us, our results would turn out more like a hastily put together Mothers Day present. Find out the date of her next show and pencil it in. You are going to want to pay her a visit.




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