"He is the true enchanter
whose spell operates, not
upon the senses, but upon
the imagination and the heart."

Washington Irving


Artist Statement

"The colors of life are compounded by what can be done with nature's palette imagined and captured by the artist. Nature's palette is infinite. She's a sorceress, forever teasing us with her partly-revealed, partly hidden forms. Colors have to be courted. They give themselves only to those who love them."

"Nature is my endless inspiration. To be an artist of nature is to give oneself over to nature's sorcery. There is beauty and redemption all around us in nature. My aim is to capture the scenes that seduce my senses. What is most familiar to us we cease to be able to see. And that is where nature - at its most enchanting - hides."

"I prefer untrammeled small-frame landscapes - the small but thrilling scenes we are often too hurried to see. Each has a soul-enriching story to tell. My intent is to call forth the colors and the forms that capture my heart and imagination, to transform them into my offering to the viewer. I would wish the same sweet stimulation for those who encounter what I am after in my work."



Biographical sketch

Kate Thayer has always been an artist. From intricately designed clothing knitted from exotic yarns from around the world, to culinary artistry, to garden design, to watercolors, and finally to her beloved pastels. They have all had the same aim: to create sensory and spiritual experiences that are personal, provocative, and life-enriching.

A Wisconsinite, she has degrees from Marquette University and Wisconsin University, with considerable post-graduate education. Since then, her "classroom" has been the major galleries and museums around the globe, and the music, theater, and artistic expressions found only in other cultures. She is an accomplished and widely-recognized pastelist. She has presented her work in regional and national exhibitions, and has received both popular and critical awards for her work. She is affiliated with major pastel societies. She is a learner, forever pushing the boundaries of her craft and her art. Her work has been in one person and group shows in many of the galleries in the Southeast. A long-time student of master painters, she is recognized for her own exquisite voice in her paintings.

In a recent interview, she remarked, "Schooling and 'talent' have little to do with serious art. It takes discipline and dedication. I have chosen to have those in abundance. "