Katherine Hutson

Artist Statement

Katherine Hutson, watercolor artist, Scrabble, WV
While some artists love to cover their pristine white canvas with color, I love to preserve the light as much as possible. I feel that my paintings are a collaborative effort between me and the Spirit World. My more abstract paintings are the ones where I let the paint take the lead. I begin by allowing the paint to flow into the water and suggest a vision of the painting. I spend a lot of time looking at the outcome and envisioning what comes next before I begin to paint.

My landscapes are now influenced by my surroundings in Scrabble,WV where I live encircled by 17 acres of woods. I am most influenced by the way the light interacts with the plants and trees. Past childhood trips across the country from California to Virginia to visit family included visits to National Parks, such as Yellowstone and Yosemite. I am still strongly influenced by these images. As an adult, I was honored to be invited to participate in the Lakota Sundance Ceremony for 25 years and spent several weeks per year driving to South Dakota and camping on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. I am now happily residing in the land of my Appalachian ancestors surrounded by the plants and animals my kinfolk would recognize.

As a mixed-heritage, Indigenous American (Cherokee, European, African and Persian) I truly believe that the earth is our Mother and we are all related; not just all humans, but all animals, plants, rocks, as well. I feel that the Sea is an integral part of our Mother Earth; one that is often overlooked by us land dwellers. The plants and creatures of the ocean are as beautiful and mysterious to me as Outer Space, a subject that fascinates and inspires me, that I have yet to master.