Statement And Biography
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Biography
Design and composition are main elements in Kathi Peter’s paintings. Whether she is portraying an equine or canine scene, a commissioned portrait or a local landscape of the Maine countryside where she lives and works, the play of light and shadow are important elements in the finished composition.
Categorized as an American Contemporary Realist, the combination of contrasting values, bright color and design heighten the emotion of the content of her works. A strong abstract element in her work is not achieved at the expense of its realistic detail.
She works in casein; a medium not often used by artists today. Casein, a milk based paint, became unpopular with most artists when acrylic paint was created. But Kathi prefers the matte finish that she achieves with the casein paint, as is evident in the major body of her recent works. Occasionally she might varnish a painting in casein, and the varnishing gives the dried casein painting an appearance of an oil painting. Casein does not need to be varnished, as it is an archival paint. Casein paintings that were done ions ago by the ancient Egyptians, are still in existence today. The decision to varnish or not depends on each painting, its support, and the atmosphere desired.
An artist who is not limited to casein, Kathi is also known for her watercolor works and papercut drawings.
Kathi and her husband now live in Morrill, Maine on a small horse farm. With a background in fashion illustration and commercial art garnered from Rome, Italy, she now devotes her talents to mostly equine and animal art.
Her artwork has been published in numerous national magazines, including "Equine Images"," Horses In Art", "Carriage Driving World", "Carriage Driving West", "Riding Magazine" and "The Country and Abroad", Polo Players Edition, Neurology Now and in several books; "The Essential Guide to Carriage" , “Equestrian Style -Home Design, Couture, and Collections from the Eclectic to the Elegant".
She is an elected Associate member of The American Academy of Equine Art and of Women Artists of the West.
When not creating artwork, Kathi relaxes by working in her perennial gardens and riding or driving their four horses.
Statement
I find beauty in the ordinary details of my daily life—horses running free, the reflection of the surrounding world in the blinkers of a driving horse, moonshine on a leather harness, the echo of sun on a chestnut bay, the lines of a tousled mane. In my gardens flowers, with their colors splash across my vision, the sun and shadows dancing on them. Wildlife crosses our fields in their everyday pursuit of existence. These pictures fill my mind and ask to be painted, sketched or cut. But more often than not, horses are my subject of choice..
And whether I work in transparent watercolor with delicate, luminous wash and fine line; in casein on canvas with thick impasto brush strokes in vivid colors; or in stark black and white cut paper; each work tells a story or invokes a memory of a scene or past experience and hopefully touches a heart.
Professional Memberships
The American Academy of Equine Art, Associate
Woman Artists of the West, Associate
National Society of Painters in Casein and Acrylic
American Watercolor Society
Equine Art Guild
Canine Art Guild
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