Bio

Kathy Calhoun is a Richmond, Virginia USA based artist with two degrees in visual and studio arts with teacher licensure. (BS James Madison University, MIS-AR Virginia Commonwealth University) She has also lived, studied, and painted in Paris and New York City. Her work has won awards and can be found in private collections around the United States, in Europe and Canada as well as a few corporate collections. Kathy currently teaches education and studio classes around the state of Virginia at such places as the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Art League in Alexandria, Nimrod Hall Summer Program and Longwood University.

Teaching Philosophy

With her background in teacher training, Kathy is well known for being able to make complex concepts easily understandable. She has created a low stress, mini-version of the classical atelier approach to introduce the foundational design and compositional techniques needed for realism. Kathy's use of sequential thumbnail sketches as a planning strategy allows for faster student development and creates an accurate record of one’s own personal design strategies. Finally Kathy then encourages her students to discover which of these skills and/or techniques they want to emphasize, toss, or manipulate to express their unique voice.