Kathleen Frank, a Santa Fe landscape artist, was raised in Northern California. Family
travels exposed her to a diversity of cultures and artistic styles. She earned a BA in Fine
Art/Design from San Jose State University and Certification in Art Education.
In Colorado, Frank taught art and studied woodcarving. A printmaking program at
Pennsylvania State University led to a Master of Arts degree. She co-founded the
Printmakers Studio Workshop of Central Pennsylvania. During this time Frank taught
printmaking and costume design at The Greer School.
She began a gradual shift to painting. Frank was a founding member of the Farmland
Preservation Artists of Central Pennsylvania. Frank painted the land around her – the
farms of Pennsylvania, California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains by the family vacation home,
the Marin County scenery of her childhood between the mountains and the sea and now the
colorful, uniquely rugged landscapes of New Mexico. She travels throughout the
Southwest, photographing vistas for future paintings, catching light and pattern, a glimmer
of logic, in all the strangeness and beauty.
Publications have featured her work in articles/cover art, including Southwest Art,
Western Art Collector, Cowgirl magazine and The Santa Fe Travel Insider. She has had
numerous exhibitions, including Jane Hamilton Fine Art, Desert Caballeros Western
Museum, La Posada de Santa Fe, Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts and the
Susquehanna Art Museum.
Her work is in the collections of the Desert Caballeros Western Museum, Wickenburg,
Arizona and the Pattee and Paterno Library, Pennsylvania State University, College Park,
Pennsylvania.

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.

https://www.kathleenfrankart.com