Kathleen Frank

Kathleen Frank is a Sante Fe artist who paints the Western landscape in vibrant hues, capturing light and pattern in complex terrains. Career highlights include: numerous museum and gallery exhibitions; High Desert Museum’s Curator’s Choice Award; Art in Embassies/U.S. State Department selection Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; work in permanent collections; and features in numerous fine art publications.

Artist’s Statement

Having been an art teacher, woodcarver and a printmaker in my formative years, I emerged as a painter, joyously overwhelmed by color and searching for pattern. Color and pattern are everywhere, but the seeing and interpretation of them are different for each of us. Pattern in nature is primal to me—which fuels my desire to find a glimmer of logic in vastly complicated, confusing and tumbled landscapes. I do also seek out the vibrant hues in landscapes. 

My oil paintings begin with a saturated red orange backdrop. This is overlaid with the main imagery, applied with distinct brushstrokes of brilliant color. Hints of the red background peek through like a woodcut, creating subtle impact without drawing attention away from the primary subjects.  

Several times a year I travel throughout the Southwest, hiking and photographing vistas for future paintings. The goal is to catch the light and design in these scenes in all its strangeness and beauty. It is a lofty goal, but I find when the quest is shepherded with paint and brush it is a delightfully daunting adventure.