FEATHERS AND FUR

WEB 1 OCT this is what we got
I am Kathryn DeMarco. I am an artist living and working in Durham, NC.  My dog, Rosemary Petunia, and my cats, Ted Talks and Charlotte Schyler Ruth, are my studio assistants and sometimes models.   And Sheena of the Jungle, a tortie with tortitude, has just joined our household.  My partner is Andrew Lonon, an excellent sculptor and computer programmer.  See Andrew’s work here: http://www.rillworks.com/ 

My medium is collage and my focus is portraiture. I love figurative painting and sculpture and drawing.

All of my work is realistic portraits of animals, people, and myself all made out of cut paper, a little paint and glue and lots of skill and imagination.  Enjoy!  

WORKING METHOD

The cut and paste technique is a process that I started experimenting with in college. I have worked to perfect and enjoy this method ever since. The process of choosing colors and textures and then applying them to a detailed drawing slows me down and allows me to think about the composition.

Each painting takes many steps (and bottles of wine and hours of music) to complete. First, I make a small pen and ink sketch to visualize the composition. Then I do a full size charcoal drawing with as much tonal detail as possible. I work from photographs and life. Next, I begin to paint! I try to work from the background to the foreground, but sometimes the figure or animal is too fascinating to leave in charcoal. I rifle through my huge box of paper, magazines and fabrics to “fill in” the color. If I cannot find the color I am looking for, I paint paper with acrylic paint to achieve the color that I need. The “color” is then glued onto the drawing.

Black and white collages cause a little more mental struggle. Many times I find the perfect piece of paper for a certain section and flip it to apply the gel medium and, gosh darn it, the back has an equally intriguing image for another section!

I use 100% acid free rag paper and acrylic gel medium. All papers used in the collage are as stable as possible. The paintings are finished with a UV Protecting Self Leveling Gel.