Kathy Walmsley

When my youngest son started kindergarten a friend of mine asked if I wanted to take a painting class once a week.  I hesitated at first but agreed and have been painting ever since.  When I was a teenager I found my love of art through photography and then as an adult I took a drawing class knowing I wanted to start painting when time allowed.  I have also taken several weekend long workshops with various artists from around the country through Brazier’s Studio.  Each workshop offered different insight and technique, which afforded me the ability to   develop my own style of painting.  I am intrigued by heavy paint with thick, bold brushstrokes, I also paint with a palette knife to give the texture I desire.  Texture is so much of what I am drawn to in a painting.

Many people ask,  “Why do you paint cows and barns?”  Living in Albemarle County has allowed me to be surrounded by wonderful views of the countryside on a daily basis.  These views are littered with cows and barns and over time I found myself more and more drawn to them, especially the cows.  Cows have such personality, they make me smile and who couldn’t’ use a few more smiles in their life.

Now I have discovered fish.  My husband, Chris, came home from a fishing trip to the Bahamas with several photographs of fish he and his group had caught wanting me to painting one in particular of a bone fish.  It looked interesting to me but at the time I was heavily into painting other subjects.  This past fall I finally picked up the photograph and decide it would be my next project.  I had so much fun with the colors and shapes I decided to explore other types of fish and now I’m hooked.