Kathryn McHolm, Artist

Artist's Statement

Poppy & Scarlet Pimpernel, Watercolour, 2005

A lifetime of influences and inspirations has led me "to do what I do"- watercolour, draw, garden and work with fibres. As a teenager working the soil in what was known as my Grandmother's garden I became intrigued by plants and their histories. I was observing the interactions between man and nature and intricate designs in flower parts and recording them in pen and pencil and paint. At the same time
I was also interested in rugs and quilts created by both maternal and paternal grandmothers and began experimenting with fibres, teaching myself how to quilt and rug hook. As the years passed, an interest in using plant fibres found me weaving baskets and making paper. All this brings me back to the garden, for it's there - next door to where my Grandmother gardened, where I create.

In "my space" subject matter abounds - I take my cues from my surroundings. Every year for my In A Garden show (held on my property in my studio and garden) I create a series that relates in some way to the garden.

Bio

Reflections on the East, Watercolour, 2005

Kathryn lives in the Village of Welcome (of the 5th generation to do so). She's worked as an artist (mostly self-taught) since the 70s and has experienced several media.:

Watercolours

• open ended series
• includes subject matter pertaining to the landscape, architecture, the quilt, designs of flora and fauna including William Morris influence, etc..

Environmental Art

• paper made from recycled materials (and plant fibre)
• making use of "throwaways" eg. Scavengers - birds with "garbage" inside
• Rughooking, cording and braiding methods (with rags) used in unconventional ways

Basketmaking

• using accessible natural materials from my garden and the roadsides

Adobe

• worked with Clarington Visual Arts Centre at the Bowmanville Zoo creating handbuilt tiles/bricks
• have created several adobe bake ovens - a diy project appeared in Harrowsmith Country Life and Firefly Book's
  Living the Country Dream

Other

• writes how-to articles for "Harrowsmith Country Life", and in the past for "Century Home"
  
• her garden has been included in books and magazines since the 1990s

She conducts workshops/classes in all these media and also provides a space for artists/artisans to participate in two annual shows taking place on her property - the July, "In A Garden", and the November, "The Harvest".