“Life: People and Things” An Exhibition by Katherine S. Erickson

Meet Katherine

Katherine S. Erickson lives in Lansing, Michigan. Katherine completed her BA in Commercial Art at Doane College in Lincoln, Nebraska and was awarded a Master’s of Fine Art Degree with the Academy of Art in San Francisco in 2013. She served in the Army National Guard and the Army Reserve and retired in early 2017 at the rank of lieutenant colonel. She feels it is important to serve her nation and her contribution to the nation’s defense keeps her grounded.

As an artist, Katherine’s focus is in representational art. She works primarily in oil paint and also makes use of oil pastels, charcoal, mixed media and encaustics. She belongs to the Mid Michigan Art Guild and the Arts Council of Greater Lansing.

Katherine has diverse interests in life and this is reflected in her work. She is always looking for new challenges and is a lifelong learner. Katherine finds that her life’s path has taken her many different directions and has given her the chance to learn not to underestimate herself.

Artist Statement

This exhibit is of features portraits and still lifes. I enjoy imparting the personality of both people and objects. For a long time I felt that people were too much of a challenge and I did not enjoy drawing them. After taking further classes which forced me to draw and paint numerous people, I actually found that not only was a fairly good at it, but I also enjoyed having people as subjects. Trying to ensure that my subjects are in proper proportion is one challenge, giving them a personality is another.

With my still lifes, giving them personality is somewhat more of a challenge since they are inanimate objects. I put a lot of thought into the arrangement, lighting and selection of the objects.I don’t ever want to get to a point with my paintings where I have to explain all of the meaning to the observer. The paintings need to impart a story to the observer, whether or not it is the same story I was telling. We all have objects in our lives with a special meaning for us, it can change from person to person.My main goal is for the painting to have meaning.