HI, I'M KATHRYN DAVIES

I’ve been a creative person for as long as I can remember. As a little girl, I loved to draw and paint, and my mother would gift me paint by numbers kits. I was always amazed that just by following the numbers, something beautiful would appear. That sense of wonder never left me.

Over the years, creativity showed up in different ways, sewing, photography, different kinds of projects. But it was painting that finally claimed me for good.

My real introduction to abstract art came through a painting by my former grandfather-in-law, Harold Christopher Davies, a remarkable American abstract expressionist. One of his paintings from his Inverness Series hung in my former in-laws' home, and every time I passed it, it stopped me in my tracks. That was the moment I understood what abstract art could do, and I never looked at painting the same way again.

Painting became my anchor in an unexpected way. When I was diagnosed with melanoma, surgery left me mostly off my feet for a while. I picked up a brush to fill the time, and something clicked. I couldn't stop. I still can't. Looking back, I think painting found me exactly when I needed it.

I work in acrylics and mixed media, using pencils, crayons, charcoal, and whatever else wants to show up in a piece. All professional grade, because the work deserves it. My work is abstract, and my style is rooted in the world I grew up in. A fifth generation Floridian, I was raised on a small family farm, and those landscapes live in my paintings whether I plan it or not. The earthy tones, the bright wild flowers, the ponds and lakes and rivers, and the ocean and gulf that wrap around my beloved Old Florida. These colors feel like home.

You'll find blue in every single painting I make, even when you can't see it. It's always there, somewhere in the layers. Pink is there too. Pink is the girly side of me, and I make sure it shows up even when it's tucked quietly beneath the surface.

Painting makes me happy. It lifts my mood and quiets my anxiety. My hope is that the joy I feel while creating gets stored in the work itself, and when my paintings find a home, they release a little of that energy into the room. I want you to smile every time you walk past one.

You can find my original paintings for sale at the Artisans of Mount Dora gallery in Mount Dora, Florida, and directly through my website at kathryndavies.com. I'm always working on something new, so if you don't see exactly what you're looking for, feel free to reach out. I'd love for one of them to find a place in your home.