An Artist With Connection to the Land

THE ARTIST
Kate Starling

FROM SCIENCE TO ART
“I was in my thirties and had gone back to school to work on a teaching certificate so I could teach high school earth science, and I decided to get a minor in art so I could teach that as well. When I took figure painting in my second year, from a very good teacher, I found I couldn’t think of anything else.”

A CURIOUS EYE
“I am curious about the natural world, and I like being outdoors. These traits led me to study geology, to work as a park ranger and, ultimately, to paint the landscape on-site. I think my curiosity about why things are the way they look, and a little knowledge, keeps me interested when painting becomes hard or tedious.”

LANDSCAPE AND LIGHT
“I live in southern Utah right outside of Zion National Park and could never run out of subject matter. It’s bright, and the air is usually dry, so there is a clarity to the landscape. It’s a part of my life—I can walk across my street and up a cliff and don’t see anybody for miles and miles. I’ve painted all over the West and beyond, but in the last few years I find I want to paint where I live. Something catches my eye. It’s usually the way the sun plays on a landform and a shadow is cast to define it.”

INVITING VIEWERS INTO THE PAINTING
“I want them to feel like they can get in there and walk around. I want it to be compelling enough that they stop and look, and then they keep looking because they feel there’s a connection there.”

NEXT
Starling is completing a series of paintings based on a recent trip to Arches National Park.