Katharine Kennie

My current work engages with the local landscape near my home in rural Grey County, Ontario. While walking in this familiar landscape through the forests, fields and wetlands, I love to make observational drawings in my sketchbook. My attention is often drawn to both trees and the near symmetrical reflections of the landscape in bodies of water. When needed I also take my own photographs and video references to refer to later in the studio.

Each studio painting starts with further exploratory sketches as well as a very intentionally designed colour palette. I want these compositions to be simplified and reduced down to the very essence of what captured my attention in the first place. The colour schemes I choose are often quite limited, giving the paintings a sense of mood and atmosphere.

In this current body of work, in addition to exploring elements of composition and colour, I have been developing complex layers of surface texture. I'm interested in the evidence of process that becomes visible in small areas of each successive layer as well as the evocative and sensuous qualities of the paint itself.