Kathe Drake is an award winning pastel and oil painter.  Like many artists, she has been creating art since childhood.  She graduated from the University of Minnesota with a minor in studio art.  After time spent working and childrearing, she furthered her studies at the Minnesota River School of Fine Art in Burnsville, where she also taught pastel painting for several years.  Her work is realistic and some of her pieces are very detailed and others more impressionistic. She works in all genres of painting, including still life, portrait, and landscape. She enjoys "plein air" painting for the sheer enjoyment of painting quickly outdoors. She also does figurative painting, working with a model on a regular basis.

Much of Kathe's work is created solely from life.  To her, this is a critical part of her working method.  She says that "it is impossible to judge nuances of color and value without having the subject you are painting in front of you."  Taking time to observe what she actually sees in terms of subtle shifts in color and value is an important part of what Kathe does.  She states that "there is no substitute for actually experiencing the reality of whatever you are painting so that you can view it close up as well as from a distance.  If you are painting people, you can become acquainted with them and observe subtle changes as they settle into a pose as well as determine key aspects of their character.  When painting outside, the feeling of the day (warm or cool,  sunny or cloudy, windy or calm) becomes incorporated into the painting."  When painting florals, Kathe must paint quickly before blossoms change or drop.  When she must use photo references, her experience painting from life helps her understand the information the camera fails to provide or misinterprets. Even commonplace objects gain significance when carefully viewed and incorporated into her still lifes.

Most importantly, Kathe feels incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to nurture and develop her painting skills.  Each painting presents its own unique challenges.  Each one has moments that can be very discouraging.  Ultimately, however, there is such joy in being able to paint every day that all the difficulites dissipate in the face of the ever present challenge of creating a new work of art.