“Self Portrait with Orchid”

Kathleen McGee

Watercolor

Kathleen McGee heliconia

Heliconia Forest
14″ x 11″
Watercolor

I think I was raised with the idea that I would be an artist. My grandfather and great-grandfather were both artists and a love for visual arts was instilled in me from a young age.

I began painting with oil on canvas in high school. I later switched to acrylics and then to airbrush and photography. But life got busy with marriage and a career. Then, some years later, I rediscovered my creative “roots” in watercolor.

The transparency of watercolor delights me. I love the way colors move and blend into unexpected and pleasant surprises. The capture of light and shadow is continually fascinating.

Living in Hawaii, coastal Southern California and the Southwest has inspired me. My art is focused on the flora and scenery of these areas. I am now living in the mountains of Northern Arizona with my best supporters – my husband of over 30 years and a finicky, Maine Coon cat named Peter. I have integrated my years of computer experience with my art background and I design web sites for artists and others at ARTplaces.com and an online gallery at ARTfaces.com.

A lifelong love of beauty and of nature has translated itself into my paintings and I can see how the facets of my past have been brought together into the expression of my art today.
Two of Kathleen’s paintings have been featured in the North County Times. Kathleen’s Carlsbad studio and garden were opened to the public during the 1999 Artist’s Studio and Garden Tour, an annual event sponsored by Quail Botanical Gardens and the San Dieguito Art Guild. She was also the featured artist at “An Enchanted Eden”, Quail Botanical Gardens’ annual gala event for 2001.

“Garden Palette”
Watercolor
18″ x 14″

“Santa Fe Series II”
Watercolor
16″ x 20″ framed

“Grapefruit and Iris”
Water Media
14″ x 18″

“Croton”
Watercolor
11″ x 14″

“Tropical Dreams”
Watercolor
14″ x 18″

“Magnolia”
Watercolor
18″ x 14″