Katherine Bates

Katherine Bates studied art as a child in Kentucky but turned to other pursuits for many years until her son, then a toddler, asked her to paint with him. That reopened a world of color and form that has kept her enchanted for nearly 20 years.

She began painting exclusively in watercolor in the early 1990s. She finds it fascinating to watch objects emerge as colors flow together. This, plus the surprises that await her as the paint hits the paper, gives her the impetus to try to master this notoriously difficult medium.

After taking several courses sponsored by the Ridgewood Community School, Ms. Bates enrolled in watercolor classes taught by Joel Popadics at the Ridgewood Art Institute. His prismatic palette and his emphasis on painting accurate light effects have helped mold her style.

Whether the subject be a still life, a landscape, or one of her beloved flowers, she tries to capture that elusive moment when light and color intersect to describe the form. She works primarily from digital photographs, and her camera is almost always at hand, whether at home in Ridgewood or on trips in the United States and abroad.

Her paintings, many of which are in private collections, have been accepted to the Ridgewood Art Institute's Juried Regional Show, the Garden State Watercolor Associates Juried Show and the Woodstock School of Art Regional Show. Her paintings have also been exhibited at the Kurth Cottage Gallery of The Valley Hospital, Ridgewood, NJ. She serves on the Board of the Ridgewood Art Institute. She is also an Associate of the New Jersey Watercolor Society and of the Garden State Watercolor Society.