1000 Words

Kath Schifano

1000 words

In Appreciation of my Inspirations

There are only two significant childhood art memories. First, my pink & orange art project lacked contrast on the elementary school bulletin board compared to my friend's brilliant yellow & black design. Second, if you carefully outline the shapes in a coloring book first, the picture is neater. Nothing artsy happened to me - no painters, museums, significant role models or art events. Educated in the Sputnik age, most creative pursuits in elementary school were substituted with mastering multiplication & division with binary & roman numerals. I grew up knowing that college followed high school, but I didn't know I had a choice.

A stern & disciplined high school art teacher taught me that I would master anything with enough effort; an 18x24 book of precise brush strokes to the right & the left document my slow progress. She had us copy art works exactly; by June I could. A few attempts at my own ideas, along with slight parental praise, supported my new goal to be artistic. Starting at Ladycliff College, & transfer to SUNY Fredonia exposed me to every possible subject & artistic media I could imagine. My Ceramics & Printmaking concentrations took advantage of every studio & event in the beautiful new New Brutalism art complex. Unfortunately, it was the time of Minimalist trends in art so I didn't have to learn to draw, yet I earned a great education, & could lead a discussion on the merits of the red splat in the corner of a white canvas.

I seized a graduate opportunity at University of Buffalo to win a Fulbright study fellowship in Ahmedabad, India. A visual journal of my travel around India & Nepal developed observation skills & drawing ability. Education on the road in Asia ended a few weeks early because of the India-Pakistan war. The group airlifted out of Bombay in a complete blackout, surrounded by anti-aircraft fire & falling flak lighting up the darkness. I had learned a lot about cottage industry crafts but more about myself; exposure to Moslem, Buddhist & Hindi beliefs & the red tape of British bureaucracy had given me global insights that still influence my thinking.

Life went on. I found myself teaching a second grade art class when a student asked me to draw a cow. This seven year old made me face the need to learn to see, remember & draw well from life. I put a long tail, udders & a cow bell on my best dog drawing to satisfy him, but I also created my first 'five year plan', began to carry a sketchbook & recorded what I saw with pen, pencil & watercolor. The transition from three-dimensional pottery making to creating on paper was harder than I expected, but I continued to create five-year plans for my own benefit, & stuck to the goals I set for myself.

Eventually, I had an easel but no creative sparks appeared to light my way. Walter Prochownik at UB encouraged me to experiment & work outside the lines, for this, I am eternally grateful. I started to work late into the night in our miniature 6'x8' studio/guestroom in Niagara Falls, exploring & enlarging natural items such as leaves & flowers in great detail. One day I tacked a giant BFK Rives onto the wall & sparks from the art muse appeared.

As Niagara Falls High School art teacher I had opportunities to visit colleges, talk to artists & critics & exhibit at galleries. I mastered mat cutting & color mixing. Between my art teacher career & desire to be an artist I was tired, but happy. Babs Damesimo introduced me to the magic qualities of colored pencils; we took a Gary Greene workshop together in Cleveland. Her color pencil work has the ethereal quality of a memory & I miss our artistic discussions over tea or wine. My artist friend & mentor Sharon B. Muldoon shared ideas & possibilities with me. Acting as a sounding board for my plans, she often listened to me solve my own problem & cheered me on to the finish. My desk calendar concept comes from her. Sharon also introduced me to plein air-by email from Florida- the headquarters for the worldwide International Plein Air Paintout is just across the Niagara River in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

Another personal milestone involved teaching college level Advanced Placement Studio Art. The students had so much to give & so much to learn, that I was challenged to keep up with them. My colleague, Rob Lynch, was an exciting addition to our critiques; I listened carefully & applied his advice to my work, & quoted his 'push the paint around' & 'activate the space' so often that the words became mine. I began the Rose Series to experience the rigorous challenge of a concentration for the AP students; this discipline of artistic structure helped me understand & plan what I would paint next. Leaving teaching, I was inspired to retire Kathy Schifano, the art teacher, to become Kath, the artist.

Never forgetting the lesson that I will learn anything when I try hard enough, I apply this information to guide my life & artwork. My family has supported & encouraged me; now I find time to paint with oils & pastels outdoors, all year long. Sharon Fundalinski encouraged me to schedule painting with her group, my family knows that Thursdays are reserved for the art muse & the spark of outdoors. We often paint together around western New York & I joined Niagara Frontier Plein Air Painters with Joan Shaw as well. I have been juried into the Buffalo-Niagara Art Association. Belonging to these groups brings me to paint in new places; Grand Island is so beautiful & rich in subject matter that I would not have to leave the island for ideas; their friendship brings me over the bridge. I really love to paint, & so it goes.

My paintings are a culmination of experiences & acquaintances & activities & I hope you enjoy & look forward to each day as I do.

[Now, a traditional bio presented in the third person]
Born Kathleen Marie Theiss in Brooklyn, middle child in a family of three, there were no family connections to any of the arts. Kath took advantage of college classes & courses to discover a variety of media. She acquired a NYS Art teaching certificate. Throughout her career as an art teacher she continued to develop her abilities through travel & study. She is involved with several plein air groups & prefers oil paints & soft pastels for her paintings. Her work can be found in private collections in eleven states, various juried shows, local galleries as well as her studio on Grand Island. Mrs. Schifano thanks her family for their patience & love.