Field Notes

Artist Bio: 

Kathleen Dawson studied Fine Arts at Queen’s University in Kingston followed by a Master of Fine Arts at Parsons School of Design in New York City. 

Kathleen established her first professional studio in Brooklyn where she created large scale, expressionistic oil paintings. Her early successes included selection in a juried show at Ecole de Beaux Art in Paris, and a solo show at The National Arts Club, New York. Her painting practice continued after she moved to Toronto where she has maintained studios in Parkdale’s Liberty Village and now, for over 10 years, in the Junction neighbourhood. Her work has evolved to the creation of more conceptual and contemplative paintings, drawings and mixed media works exploring her love of nature. 

Her work has been widely exhibited in both New York and Toronto and is held in numerous corporate and private collections.

Artist Statement:

Field Notes explores the beautiful environment of Amherst Island Ontario, where I spend summers with my family. These works combine careful observational drawings of local natural specimens with painterly rural and lakeside landscapes in my own unique style of scientific field notes. My career in museum education and love of botanical identification inspired this series. The ten large compositions on Mylar were divided into three themes: Earth, Wind, and Water; all essential elements of the island environment. Natural specimens, rhythmic gestures, and colour, define these symbolic themes. 

The concept of scientific notes is underscored in several pieces through methodically drawn lines depicting foolscap paper. As an educator, and life-long student, I have always loved the look and feel of old-school foolscap paper. 

The three mixed media collages incorporate -the traditional Japanese technique of fish printing, Gyotaku.  Ink is applied to the fish specimen, and then pressed onto paper. This technique has been used by Japanese fishermen to record their catches. I have practised this technique over many years, both in my own artwork and with my art students. Years of wonderful memories fishing with my father as a child are symbolized in my own fish prints on handmade Japanese papers and layered within these collages. 

Field Notes are my visual poems dedicated to the island I love. May these works speak to you and inspire you to see our beautiful Canadian landscape in a new way.