Kathryn Bartholomew is a self-taught visual artist and arts educator working in Connecticut. She is inspired by the natural world, human nature, poetry, and folklore. Kathryn has been sharing her brightly colored abstracted landscapes throughout New England since 2018 and has recently begun sharing the companion poetry she writes to her paintings. Kathryn lived most of her adult life outside of Boston but has relocated to rural Connecticut where she has much better access to ancient stone walls, forests, and mysterious bodies of water - all of which inspire her artwork. Kathryn has a Master of Education degree from Lesley University in Arts, Community and Education. In addition to creating art, Kathryn is an educator at a history museum, teaches art classes to children and teens, and volunteers as a ‘feline companion’ at a local cat sanctuary.
About
I paint brightly colored and emotionally charged abstracted landscapes in an attempt to show the way things feel rather than the way things look. As a self- taught artist, my relationship to painting began as a way to process my lived experiences and continues to be the way I explore myself as a person. Through my practice, I have discovered the influence art-making can have in personal growth. I am inspired by the natural world, by poetry and folklore, humans of the deep past, and the un-answerable questions I have about the universe. My recent work has been exploring meaning making in the face of certain death. While it might sound ominous, this body of work is a celebration of life and the human capacity to persevere and to hope.
I have studied the power and function of art in community settings at Lesley University where I received a Master of Education degree in Art, Community, and Education. I am an educator at a history museum and teach art classes to children and teens. These jobs fuel my art making by keeping my life full of conversations about human nature, history, and working through problems with paint.