| Although I have had virtually no formal training, I have always been an artist. As a child I made women’s hats out of newspapers. As a teenager, I made my own greeting cards and won art contests. In college I took three drawing classes, where I learned the joys of pastels and proceeded to create them on demand for my friends. But then I had to make a living. I got a Ph.D. in English and taught literature and writing for thirty years. I have published several scholarly books and one collection of poetry, The Dead Are So Disappointing. During my tenure as a professor of English, my flower gardens were my artistic outlet. After suffering a terrible bout of depression, I resumed my drawing and painting in 2000.
In 2004, I retired early in order to pursue this passion. In 2007, I opened my own studio in Old Town (Lansing, MI), where you can visit me and see my art. I am as comfortable using my left brain as using my right brain. Both emotions and ideas drive me to create. I am both a poet and an artist. I love the meaning and sound of words, the tactile sense of pushing acrylics around with palette knives and making funky constructions out of found objects, high heels and Barbie dolls. I love the feel of pen and pencil on paper and the smoothness of oil on canvas. My interests know no boundaries: I love equally numbers and poetry, philosophy and flowers, logic and emotion, the history of science and the history of art. All of these myriad interests find their way into my work. I want to make you think and to make you laugh. I want to bring you pleasure and remind you of the pain that others feel. Above all, I want you to take notice of the world we live in.
Katherine Fishburn |
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