A visit to the University of Tennessee led watercolorist Kate McCullough back to art
It seems buildings can make a first impression as strongly as people can. Because the first time Kate McCullough laid eyes on the Art and Architecture building on the University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville, she knew. It was time to get back to art.
A Buffalo native, Kate spent her career in interior design, working in healthcare settings after she and her husband moved to the west coast of Florida. After the cold of upstate New York and the heat of Florida, she says they chose to be “halfbacks,” settling in Knoxville 28 years ago. She did some interior design work here as well. Until that visit to the UT art school.
“It hit me like a brick,” Kate says after exploring the school’s gallery. “I had to do this again.” She had taken some art classes as a student in the early ‘70s, but the “this” she refers to became primarily watercolor and pottery classes at UT. Eventually the pottery fell away, and Kate has been painting watercolors for about 20 years.
Her subjects run the gamut, though she says she especially enjoys painting cityscapes and still lifes. She loves her medium’s translucence. “I love the softness of it, the way you can see through layers of color to the paper.”
Kate is a member and prior president of the Knoxville Watercolor Society, a member of the Art Market Gallery downtown, and an instructor at the Oak Ridge Art Center. She also paints with a group at Westminster Presbyterian Church most Thursdays. And she shows her work as a member of the Tennessee Watercolor Society as well.
Still, she prefers to paint in solitude. “I like it when it’s me and my art. When you’re with other people, you end up talking. It’s hard to focus.” Though sometimes her husband, Roy, joins her in their West Knoxville home studio. He paints in oils. “Turns out oil and water do mix,” she quips.
You can learn more about Kate McCullough’s art on her website katemcculloughwaterart.weebly.com. You can also find her work on display at Art Market Gallery.