Monday, December 23, 2013

Getting To Know Kathy Durst Artist

By Marcia Marks


Kathy Durst artist is an American art teacher from Redwing, Minnesota. Growing up in Rockford, Illinois, she earned a teaching certificate in Visual Arts and a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the Austin campus of the University of Texas. Retired from teaching, it was not long before she was invited to participate in her first solo showing of her ark-full of paper painted collage animals in 2014 at the Ross Gallery.

With 25 years of experience adding beauty to the world, the artist has used almost every medium and technique imaginable. The work that is available online is mostly produced using paper painting collage. "Roseate Spoonbill" is an example of the level of detail and range of colors and textures that can be achieved using this technique.

"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 are readily available and inexpensive and the techniques can be taught to preschoolers. With her 25 years' experience and maturity, Ms Durst produces some complex and ingeniously patterned results. It is easy to find tutorials of collage methods on the Internet. If you really want to understand the artist, it is worth spending some time getting to know the medium.

Most of the subjects of Durst's work that you will find involve animals; this is the theme of her Ross Gallery exposition. In the whimsical, "Take Me Along, " you see two scuba divers working their way through a sea of atlas cuttings and musical notes. They look really happy. Try THAT with a set of watercolors and paper.

View this artist's work at your own peril and be prepared to spend time and money experimenting with your own painted paper collage artistry. It is positively inspiring. Seriously, just watching someone do it on YouTube is entrancing.

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 uses textured papers and stencils in her work to give it character and depth. As beginners, the best we can hope for is a lovingly-produced Sunday School project. Find the date of her next showing and track down her work. You will be hooked.




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