We had the good fortune of connecting with Katharine Burton and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Katharine, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I was raised in the Texas Panhandle. My mother borrowed fine art prints from the local library and hung them in our dining room, rotating artists and telling us about the paintings. We frequently drove to Taos and Santa Fe, New Mexico to look at art. I began taking art lessons in middle school, continuing through high school, then studied fine arts at the University of Texas in Austin.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
The bold colors in my paintings are a defining feature. The clarity of the air and colors where I paint, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona, are unique. The arid climates make landscapes and nature crisp and brilliant, which I strive to translate to my canvases. Making time for art during my years working and raising a family was challenging, but I always managed to entwine art into my life. Community art centers provided quality and affordable classes. Universities offered informal art classes in the evenings.
Two art instructors gave bits of advice that influence me still. “Don’t wait until you feel like painting. Show up in your studio every day, pick up a brush and paint. Inspiration will follow.”
“Nature gives us permission as painters to be outrageous.” The sky really is that blue, the leaves a riot of colors.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
The high mountains of Colorado are awe inspiring, the beauty unsurpassed. The colors in New Mexico are unique, like no other place I have traveled, and the multicultural experience is so enriching. The red rock formations in Utah are otherworldly. The Sonoran desert of Arizona is uniquely beautiful. These places are in my soul, and I would like to share the experience with others.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I was influenced early on by a close friend of my mother’s, watercolorist Josie Wyatt. Her paintings of scenes in New Mexico, the landscape and culture, mesmerized me. I wanted to achieve the same level of beauty in my paintings.

Instagram: katharine.e.burton

Facebook: Kitty Novak Burton

Other: katharine.e.burton@gmail.com

Image Credits
Katharine Burton

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutColorado is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.