Meet Kathleen Gray Farthing | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kathleen Gray Farthing and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kathleen, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?

As an artist, I can’t help but see a painting around every bend. It may be a rhythmic string of telephone poles along the highway, a glowing light falling on an old hay wagon or a breathtaking vista overlooking the ocean—patterns and colors that attract my eye and inspire me to create. These are the qualities I strive to share with others so they can experience the same. I want people to be as awed as I am, as amused, as delighted, as fascinated. That’s the challenge, as well as the pleasure, of painting. As an artist, I feel I am both a kind of story-teller and a historian. Standing on location painting (plein air), I am immersed in a scene, and come to know it in a profound way, documenting a moment in time. That place will never be exactly the same again.

Plein air painting has given me the opportunity to travel around the country and other parts of the world to capture the unique beauty and characteristics of those places. The joy of painting on a beach in Kauai as a brilliant rainbow bursts forth after a shower can hardly be described in words. The memory of painting in Havana, Cuba as people spontaneously broke out in dance (including the street sweeper) will always make me smile. Other painting adventures include a residency in the Olympic National Park, plein air painting competitions in Parrsboro, Nova Scotia, Louisiana, Florida, the Adirondacks, Sedona, the Finger Lakes, Knoxville, and more. I’ve painted in Sri Lanka, Vienna, Prague, Budapest, Portugal and Cuba. This spring I’ll be packing my brushes for a workshop in France.

Art is something I feel I have been born into rather than having chosen. I’ve always had a need to create art of one kind or another. Starting as a small child through my BFA at Carnegie Mellon University, I’ve used drawing, painting, crafts, printmaking and photography to express my creativity. While in college, it seemed that there were only two career paths for art- teaching or commercial art. I chose to move into graphic design and illustration. Beginning with a position at a television station, I moved on to an in-house design department for a large company, then started my own free-lance business while raising my children.

When my youngest went off to college, I felt it was time to return to my fine arts roots. I picked up my oil paints 14 years ago, and I have loved every minute of it. When covid hit, and all the painting events and travel were cancelled, I began painting still lifes and have learned to love that as well.

A wonderful thing about painting as a career is that there is no age limit. While I may not be climbing mountains to paint the vista when I am 90, I do hope to still be creating art.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?

I primarily paint oils on linen panels, though I have begun dabbling a bit with gouache paints. My style may described as contemporary impressionism. “Impressionism” referring to my work on location as well as my brushwork, much as the original French and American Impressionists did, endeavoring to capture the distilled essence of the place, a fleeting moment. “Contemporary” hinting at a modern approach to accentuating shapes and patterns while pushing the rich, chromatic colors on her palette. The result is a style that is neither wholly representational nor entirely abstract, but a combination of the two.

While I love what I do, I wouldn’t want anyone to think that being a professional artist is “easy.” Nor it is a way to “get rich quick.” But one CAN be a full time fine artist and be able to support oneself or even a family. Hundreds of hours of study and “miles of canvas” are behind where I now am. Like most artists, I am never satisfied to stay at the current level. I always strive to “be better.” I read a story about one of the impressionist painters who had work in a museum show. Yet, he still wasn’t satisfied with his painting. He went to the show with his paints and brushes and touched up the painting while it was hanging on the wall! I can relate. It is a lifetime of learning.

Since I paint out in public, I get a lot of questions and comments about painting. Some of the most common ones are, “If I stand right here, will you put me in the painting?” “Gee, that looks like fun. Are you a “real” artist or is this a hobby?” “How long did that take?” “It’s HOW much?”
I’d love for people to understand a few of the answers. Yes, it is fun, but it is also work. It takes a lot of concentration and a lot of effort both physically and mentally. Yes, it is a “real” job. While this painting may have taken “just” two hours to paint, it took a lifetime of study, and hours to drive, set up, clean up, varnish and frame. Also, a day out of every week to handle marketing and business. While the artist covers all the costs associated with the painting and framing, the gallery takes 50% off the top of the price. We don’t take home as much profit as one might thing, but it’s so very rewarding when a collector relates to something you have painted and values it enough to invest. I am so grateful knowing there are people who appreciates (delete the S) my work.

Something really fun just happened recently. I was contacted through my art website. A young man found a woodcut print dated 1977 at a Goodwill Store in Massachusetts. He took it home and searched the name on the print, concluding I may possibly be the artist. It was a print I did back at school in Pittsburgh 47 years ago. His mother framed it and it now hangs in her house!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would hope that my friend would visit Ohio in the late spring-early fall when Ohio is at it’s prettiest. That way, we could sit on my deck, overlooking the field behind and enjoy being “out in the country.” We would definitely have to have a cookout.

We’d do a little tour of Alliance, seeing Glamorgan Castle and the beautiful University of Mount Union campus. A favorite lunch spot is the College Inn. The only sandwich I ever get is the “gobbler” because it’s so good (and a bit decadent). One day we might pick up Grinders.

Hopefully Carnation City Players would have a production going on. They do such a fantastic job, and every seat in the theater is a “good seat.”

I’d love to take them up to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. No one outside of NE Ohio seems to know we have a national park right here! We’d see Brandywine Falls and walk the canal trail through the Beaver Marsh. Then we’d have to get a snack and some fresh veggies to take home from Szalay’s Farm Market. If they have little ones with them, we’d take a ride on the CVNP scenic railroad.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?

My college friend and artist, Ed Cahill introduced me to plein air painting. Eric Rhoads is an entrepreneur who is behind a massive plein air movement, publishing Plein Air Magazine, Fine Art Connoisseur and an annual Plein Air Conference and Expo. I have learned so much from his programs.

Kelli Folsom, who establish Art Life School has been invaluable in my painting progress in the area of still life painting and more.

Most of all, my family supports and inspires me. My husband puts up with my creative messes, and helps lugs paintings to art festivals. My kids cheer me on, and my little grandsons make me smile!

Website: www.KathleenGrayFarthing.com

Instagram: @KathleenGrayFarthing

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kgfarthing/