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Archive for the ‘Artist Biographies’ Category

Kerry White

Type of media you prefer:

A mix of landscapes, photography, portraits et al.

What got you interested in art?

I started work at KTWU in Topeka in the mid-80.  A few years later I realized that I needed to get back into Art to keep from going crazy.  I picked up a small cheap set of watercolors and a small pad.  I tried to follow along with several of PBS’ watercolor shows, but, ended up with mud.  I did not have the patience required.  I fell back onto my abstract roots and began dribbling rubber cement and splashing paint onto the paper.  As time passed I learned the visual vocabulary of what the paint did.  My abstracts started to approach landscape imagery, so I then started to do landscapes.  A friend said that he wanted to see me do figures. I started with a nude in a photography magazine.  After a number of figures I noticed that the faces were looking like the models and I concentrated on portraits.  Soon, I was doing family, friends and retiring co-workers.

What training (formal or informal) do you have in art?

I have two degrees in Art from Emporia State University.  My Graduate show in 1979 consisted of Abstract Expressive collages on four foot by four foot Masonite.

Why did you decide to join the Topeka Art Guild?

I moved to Topeka for a job that at first had me going to bed at 9pm and later working very late.  I never had time to make local friends.  I thought that the Guild would help broaden my horizon and have an outlet for my paintings.

If there’s one thing we should know about you or your art, what would it be?

I have gifted Governor Kathleen Sebelius, Dr Jerry Farley, president of Washburn University and Eugene Williams, head of KTWU, with portraits as ‘bread upon the waters’, but, so far, no one has yet come to me wanting to commission a portrait.

Most of my landscapes have been based on photos of the forests in central New York, with emphasis on plays of shadow and light.  My more recent Kansas works are much more brightly lit and always have jet trails in the skies that I keep in the abstract vein.  I still rely heavily on the use of rubber cement and masking fluid for sharp edges and protecting the white of the page.  My abstract sensibilities are always in play, no matter how realistic the images are.

A quote that you love is:

I’m Peter Pan!

I’m perpetually young!!

OW!! What’s wrong with my back?

Karen Smith

Type of media you prefer:

Watercolor-drawing-knitting

What got you interested in art?

I started with a group of friends taking folk art lessons.

What training (formal or informal) do you have in art?

Informal

Why did you decide to join the Topeka Art Guild?

I took watercolor classes from Johanna Hanks and she told us about the art guild.

How long have you been a member of the Topeka Art Guild?

5 years

If there’s one thing we should know about you or your art, what would it be?

I always question myself as to why I do watercolors as I like control of things and that is not easy with watercolors.

A quote(s) that you love is:

“The day is lost if no one has laughed.”

Esther Luttrell

What got you interested in art?

I had dream Thanksgiving week, 1989. In the dream a man’s stern voice told me that I would “paint tomorrow”. So I did.

If there’s one thing we should know about you or your art, what would it be?

I would hope that anyone looking at one of my paintings will see the story it tells, for that’s how I see myself: A storyteller who writes in curves and color.