We had the good fortune of connecting with Kathy OConner and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Kathy, what’s one piece of conventional advice that you disagree with?
The old advice of creating a business and marketing plan. Now in some businesses, especially if you’re going to get financing, it’s required. But there’s another approach to starting a business that is more organic. One that trusts the natural unfoldment of your idea. And the right people and the right connections show up. You just need to be conscious and aware. Steve Jobs had a vision. And no business plan.
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.
Starting with traditional life drawing training at the American Academy of Art in Chicago, I developed my passion for creating expressive works. The Academy promoted a very disciplined art practice deferring to great masters (all men) like Nicolai Fechin and John Singer Sargent.I’m talking 4 hours a day of life drawing, and another four hours of art fundamentals. This gave me a strong basis for my art in drawing, composition.
However, there wasn’t much tolerance (at that time) for expressionist and abstract work. For me, that came much later. In school, I met my ex-husband, artist Kang Cho. His skills as a representational artist sent his career soaring, while I supported him. He was a hard act to follow and I found myself settling for a somewhat satisfying corporate career. Like many women, I allowed my art to take a back seat to raising and supporting my family.
Later, once my daughter was in college, I explored intuitive art with Viva Gold in Painting from the Source workshops. I found a new way of expressing myself through intuitive art. An exciting merging of representational and abstract concepts. From this work I developed my own workshop for children and adults, Paint Like Crazy. These expressionist art sessions allowed participants to paint from their own feelings and subconscious associations. A marvelous stress reliever without the pressure of creating something “good.” The Lakewood Cultural Center in Colorado hosted my workshops for a year as part of its curriculum.
Depending on what else was going on in my life, I’ve painted, explored different media, took workshops, and had a few shows, commissions, teaching and mural work.
In December, 2021, I had the very clear realization that it was now or never to become the artist I was always meant to be. Now I have returned to my passion for expressive art using acrylic mixed media with a focus on expressing emotions linked to music.
My life experience gives me a wealth of inspiration to express the emotions of living a full life. Love and loss, grief and joy—-for myself and others. This is my mission now: to capture those emotions which cannot be defined by representational art in an authentic and unique way.
Music is a well-established memory trigger. Nothing defines us like the music of our youth. A study published by Music & Science discovered that music that was in the charts during one’s adolescence was not only rated as more familiar, but was also associated with more autobiographical memories. Often songs will inspire my work, which you may recognize in the titles of my work. Other times, I will complete a painting and I’m surprised it represents the emotion of an “oldie but goodie” and the memories it triggers.
What I’ve learned along the way is that art is not in the eye of the beholder. Art is in the eye of the creator. That doesn’t mean you have to like everything. I’ve found that those who say, “oh, I could have done that..”haven’t. The creative process-especially abstract art—is full of problems to solve, communication, color theory, composition and emotion. It takes a lot of courage to step up to the canvas. Most people don’t.
Picasso said, “The chief enemy of creativity is good sense.” Should I have just kept painting and drawing in my 30s and 40s and scrapped the corporate job? Maybe, but I think not. It gave me tons of experiences to tap into now and express through painting and mixed media. Priorities shift as life unfolds and this gives us a wealth of subject matter that perhaps, now is the best time to express it through art. It’s hard to write a love story if you’ve never been in love.
Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I love that the city still has some small family businesses. We would start out with an espresso and Italian lobster tail pastry from Dolce Sicilia in Wheat Ridge. Denver has lots of hot spots but I’m a west side woman, so I would head up to Red Rocks to take in the view followed by a rooftop lunch at the Morrison Inn. If we’re lucky there will be some live music there.
No Denver visit is complete without a trip to Meow Wolf. You just can’t take it in in one visit. So many hidden corners and details to see.
I’m lucky enough to live in downtown Lakewood where we have a thriving cultural center with enticing musical and stage productions. Top that off with an ice cream sundae at Magill’s. At Christmas time, you must see Camp Christmas, Lonnie Hanzon’s artistic spin on holiday bling at Lakewood Heritage Center sponsored by the DCPA.
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
The Colorado Chapter of the Women’s Caucus for the Arts. Through this organization I was reacquainted with artist Carrie MaKenna, and introduced to public art sculptor Annette Coleman. Both of these women were instrumental in supporting the launch of my artwork in 2022 in the Denver area. I was restarting my art career without a roadmap, and these women provided much needed and candid counsel and connections. With a deep love of the creative process these women encouraged me and steered me clear of all the inner chatter, “it’s too late, you’re too old, not enough experience, etc etc.”
Website: Www.kathyoart.com
Instagram: @kathyoart
Image Credits
Rick Finbow