Today we’d like to introduce you to Kathy Kovala.
Hi Kathy, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Kathy Kovala and I am a 85-year old watercolor artist and instructor. I have worked as an artist since 1965. I started teaching for Nicolet College in Rhinelander Wisconsin as a Rosemaling instructor and continued to teach for their community outreach program for 20 years. I also was able to take classes at Dillman’s Bay Resort in Lac Du Flambeau, considered a watercolor haven. I moved to the Brainerd Lakes Area in Minnesota in 2013. It was there that I changed to watercolor from oil paints. I was actively teaching on my own by just putting in advertising in the local papers. I joined the local Crosslake Art Club and participated in local art shows and tourist events with initial success. My husband was a big fly fisherman and we traveled to Big Sky, Montana for 30 years. While he fished, I was painting whatever the store owners wanted me to paint, local scenery, the horseback riding, whitewater rafting, bridge jumping and so on. I was asked in 2002 to paint a series of eight scenes for the Yellowstone Club, including the main lodge which was under construction. It was after that commission that my husband noted “maybe we ought to get you a studio!“ I now live and teach in the Twin Cities suburbs and winter and teach on the Hawaiian Island of Kauai.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I have lived and worked in many communities and have developed many good friends and taught many students in my lifetime – which excites me as I feel I have left a legacy of painters who needed me and I needed them.
Mostly the struggle is that in every community I have started with just a few students and it was hard to make a niche for me in some communities who had their “favorite” artists already. I have found especially in Kauai where I have been teaching for more than 30 years, that the locals are not ready to accept a “mainland” artist who might be interfering with the local who is trying to succeed themselves. I must admit that this year, in particular, I had a wonderful reception. I was lucky to get many new young painters to join me and several painters from 15 or more years ago showed up with renewed interest!
Also, selling art can be difficult. When budgets get tight, creative things like artwork are one of the first things to get cut.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a fine art watercolor painter and instructor. I specialize in a technique-based learning method which makes it easier for students to grasp the way watercolor paint works. It is called “rock and roll” by my students or gravitational painting.
It uses minimum of brush strokes and a lot of melding colors by ‘rocking and rolling’ them into the watercolor paper. I learned this technique from a teacher in the Upper Peninsula named Nita Engle. Nita never did anything but landscapes when I knew her. I took that technique and do most everything with that method. It gives no brush marks and the colors are fresh and vibrant! I especially like to do flowers, landscapes and do not like to do the same thing twice.
I am most proud of painting for the Lone Mountain Club in Big Sky Montana. They found me while looking for an artist who painted the mountain scenes and tourist spots. They then brought me to Big Sky for an extended period to paint their resort and paint a Christmas Card for them. This was a “great gig” for a small-town Wisconsin girl at that time.
I think that my students in Kauai know that I have trained with many other artists and I have one Hawaiian born student that addressed me as her “Kumu”. Kumu means being a wise, valued teacher, a new title for me!
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
I can say that I have been painting for a long time. Many of my mentors have been accomplished teachers found at places like Dillman Resort in Lac Du Flambeau, WI. I also love to travel and so I pursued chances to go around the country and the world to take classes. Just recently I was asked by a Croatian Travel and Art Company called Slimalicka to do a 10-day watercolor tour and I took 10 students with me. At this age, I was so tickled to be able to market, manage and teach a tour and enjoy it to the fullest.
Stores like Bluff Country Coop, Emperors Emporium, and The Hungry Moose; museums like the Maritime Marine Museum, Red Wing Art Center and the Winona History Center; and restaurants like JO2 Natural Cuisine deserve much credit, as these places display and sell my originals and prints.
My family is also very much involved in supporting me. My husband passed away 5 years ago, but when he was alive he “toted and barged” my artwork to shows and fairs, he watched my stand and sold my paintings and cards, and he traveled with me to interesting locations – all inspirational. My 5 children now help me continue to paint, travel and teach! Even my grandchildren and great grandchildren support me. My grandson has my artwork displayed in his new retail shop in Duluth called Jack Pine Vintage.
Pricing:
- Online store lists pricing for each item
Contact Info:
- Website: https://KathyKovala.com
- Facebook: Kathy Kovala Artist/Instructor
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nolqdal931A&t=38s
