April 29, 2016
Interviewing Kathy Wiley in her living room
Where did you grow up? And what was your first exposure to art?
- I grew up in the D.C. area, and [my family] moved here after World War II, and then we spent three years in Salt Lake City when I was a young teenager, and then we came back here, so this area really is my home.
-The first exposure to art that I recall was my mother taking me to the National Gallery, and I was totally in love with with a painting by Manet called The Dead Toreador. I was seven, and it was the most fabulous foreshortening, which is extremely difficult to do. It’s hard to get it right, and it’s like any accurate drawing: it’s not impossible . . . you just have to learn how if you’re not born knowing. But that fascinated me for some reason, and my mother was a little worried about the macabre aspect, but I was interested in the way it was pictured lying on the floor with the point of view slightly above the body.
-And then I’ve always been interested in art. I went to Europe mostly on an art and architecture tour when I was in college. I wasn’t able to commit to it in college because I thought I should try to make a living, and I didn’t think art was going to do that.
-And where did you study?
-The University of Maryland, and I did some time at George Washington University too.
At what time did things come into focus in terms of your passion for art into a career?
-Well, I was living in France, my husband had been transferred there, and I was 28 or 29 I guess . . . I had a lot of time on my hands in Paris, and each administrative division had some sort of adult education program, so I checked this out and it was wonderful. You didn’t have to show a portfolio or anything, you just had to show up. I said that I wanted to learn how to paint, and they said “you’ll learn to draw first,” and so I went to this for two years and it was fabulous because it was really the best type of classical art education you could get, I thought, and I learned to draw. It took me two years like it took Van Gogh two years to learn how to draw. He wasn’t born knowing either. Unfortunately, I found out that you can then forget how to draw. So then I started painting on evenings and weekends, just playing around, and I started with water colors.
I know you had the one exhibit back in 2013 with the Foundry Gallery, but was that your first show?
-Well, my first solo show at the Foundry was in 2007, and then one in 2011, 2013, and now in 2016. So, most of my showing has been there although I’ve shown in group shows, regional things, like in Rockville, and at the Strathmore.
In terms of these shows starting in the 2000’s, was this the first time you were committing all of your time to art?
-Well I retired from my job in the government. I retired in 1998, and I decided to paint. I was going to write because I thought that’s what I wanted to do, but it turned out I wanted to paint and sculpt. I do a little sculpture.
Up until 1998 when you retired, did you find yourself doing art on the side?
-Yes, I was doing it all along. Weekends, holidays, evenings. I took a lot of workshops.
Did any of your pieces that you made during that time end up in any of your exhibits in the 2000’s?
-No. They usually want us to have recent work in show. It’s generally not supposed to be more than two years old.
What artists inspired your style?
-My favorites used to be people like Paul Klee. I used to love Pierre Bonnard. I used to be really fascinated by him. He would just go like this (*moves hand up and down, as if holding a paint brush*) and have trees. That was a big influence. Since I’ve moved to abstract, which was just maybe five or eight years ago, it was really Richard Diebenkorn who has been a big interest to me, I’ve always loved his work.
Could you tell us a little bit about the process of getting one’s work shown at a gallery in DC?
- You sign up for a show as soon as your previous show is over, and then you have to work really hard to get some decent work together. So around six weeks before your show you have to start publicizing, which involves getting your paintings photographed. Not all of the paintings have to be finished six weeks before the show, but it is better to have the majority of them already completed because six weeks is really not a long time. It’s also good to get them online, maybe put them on your Facebook page and Instagram to let people know. Generally, the work stays up in the gallery for a month, or a little over a month depending on the way the calendar is going.
Is there a requirement for how much work has to go in the show?
-It’s up to the artist. There are no requirements at all. Once you're a member, you have to be juried in, you get to decide what you put up on the walls. It’s sort of loose actually. I was juried in as a representational painter and then switched to abstract, and I thought, “someone’s going to say something”, but no they didn’t. I have around 18-20 pieces going in the show that vary in size. The biggest is four feet by five feet.
*referring to her experience at the Foundry*
I know you mentioned transitioning to the abstract style in the last eight or so years, but in previous shows did you ever have sculptures or other styles on display?
-I’ve done assemblage, using rusty metal. I love rusty metal for some reason. You go around to these junk shops and antique shops and they have tables full of rusty junk, and it’s really fun. Unfortunately, people are catching on and a lot of people are doing it.
How do you get all of the pieces to stay together?
-I only have one piece that is welded. Welding is a big deal. You have to have a whole set up if you’re going to do it yourself. The rest are held together with glue of various kinds. A lot of them are also balanced.
Have you had an exhibit committed to sculptures?
-I’ve had a lot of sculptures featured in painting shows that I’ve done in the past, but I’ve sort of stopped doing sculptures more recently. I just get into painting more, and I’m having a lot of fun with these paintings, and this focus seems to be going better.
Do you construct your own canvases?
-I just buy them at a local store or order them online. If I made them, I wouldn’t have time to get any paintings done because I’d be spending all my time stretching them and crafting them.
THANK YOU SO MUCH KATHY!
Be sure to check out Kathryn Wiley's solo show at the Foundry Gallery, which is located at 2118 8th St NW, Washington, DC 20001
Visuals of Kathy's work and more info on the show can be found at http://www.foundrygallery.org/exhibits-events/
Interviewing Kathy Wiley in her living room
Where did you grow up? And what was your first exposure to art?
- I grew up in the D.C. area, and [my family] moved here after World War II, and then we spent three years in Salt Lake City when I was a young teenager, and then we came back here, so this area really is my home.
-The first exposure to art that I recall was my mother taking me to the National Gallery, and I was totally in love with with a painting by Manet called The Dead Toreador. I was seven, and it was the most fabulous foreshortening, which is extremely difficult to do. It’s hard to get it right, and it’s like any accurate drawing: it’s not impossible . . . you just have to learn how if you’re not born knowing. But that fascinated me for some reason, and my mother was a little worried about the macabre aspect, but I was interested in the way it was pictured lying on the floor with the point of view slightly above the body.
-And then I’ve always been interested in art. I went to Europe mostly on an art and architecture tour when I was in college. I wasn’t able to commit to it in college because I thought I should try to make a living, and I didn’t think art was going to do that.
-And where did you study?
-The University of Maryland, and I did some time at George Washington University too.
At what time did things come into focus in terms of your passion for art into a career?
-Well, I was living in France, my husband had been transferred there, and I was 28 or 29 I guess . . . I had a lot of time on my hands in Paris, and each administrative division had some sort of adult education program, so I checked this out and it was wonderful. You didn’t have to show a portfolio or anything, you just had to show up. I said that I wanted to learn how to paint, and they said “you’ll learn to draw first,” and so I went to this for two years and it was fabulous because it was really the best type of classical art education you could get, I thought, and I learned to draw. It took me two years like it took Van Gogh two years to learn how to draw. He wasn’t born knowing either. Unfortunately, I found out that you can then forget how to draw. So then I started painting on evenings and weekends, just playing around, and I started with water colors.
I know you had the one exhibit back in 2013 with the Foundry Gallery, but was that your first show?
-Well, my first solo show at the Foundry was in 2007, and then one in 2011, 2013, and now in 2016. So, most of my showing has been there although I’ve shown in group shows, regional things, like in Rockville, and at the Strathmore.
In terms of these shows starting in the 2000’s, was this the first time you were committing all of your time to art?
-Well I retired from my job in the government. I retired in 1998, and I decided to paint. I was going to write because I thought that’s what I wanted to do, but it turned out I wanted to paint and sculpt. I do a little sculpture.
Up until 1998 when you retired, did you find yourself doing art on the side?
-Yes, I was doing it all along. Weekends, holidays, evenings. I took a lot of workshops.
Did any of your pieces that you made during that time end up in any of your exhibits in the 2000’s?
-No. They usually want us to have recent work in show. It’s generally not supposed to be more than two years old.
What artists inspired your style?
-My favorites used to be people like Paul Klee. I used to love Pierre Bonnard. I used to be really fascinated by him. He would just go like this (*moves hand up and down, as if holding a paint brush*) and have trees. That was a big influence. Since I’ve moved to abstract, which was just maybe five or eight years ago, it was really Richard Diebenkorn who has been a big interest to me, I’ve always loved his work.
Could you tell us a little bit about the process of getting one’s work shown at a gallery in DC?
- You sign up for a show as soon as your previous show is over, and then you have to work really hard to get some decent work together. So around six weeks before your show you have to start publicizing, which involves getting your paintings photographed. Not all of the paintings have to be finished six weeks before the show, but it is better to have the majority of them already completed because six weeks is really not a long time. It’s also good to get them online, maybe put them on your Facebook page and Instagram to let people know. Generally, the work stays up in the gallery for a month, or a little over a month depending on the way the calendar is going.
Is there a requirement for how much work has to go in the show?
-It’s up to the artist. There are no requirements at all. Once you're a member, you have to be juried in, you get to decide what you put up on the walls. It’s sort of loose actually. I was juried in as a representational painter and then switched to abstract, and I thought, “someone’s going to say something”, but no they didn’t. I have around 18-20 pieces going in the show that vary in size. The biggest is four feet by five feet.
*referring to her experience at the Foundry*
I know you mentioned transitioning to the abstract style in the last eight or so years, but in previous shows did you ever have sculptures or other styles on display?
-I’ve done assemblage, using rusty metal. I love rusty metal for some reason. You go around to these junk shops and antique shops and they have tables full of rusty junk, and it’s really fun. Unfortunately, people are catching on and a lot of people are doing it.
How do you get all of the pieces to stay together?
-I only have one piece that is welded. Welding is a big deal. You have to have a whole set up if you’re going to do it yourself. The rest are held together with glue of various kinds. A lot of them are also balanced.
Have you had an exhibit committed to sculptures?
-I’ve had a lot of sculptures featured in painting shows that I’ve done in the past, but I’ve sort of stopped doing sculptures more recently. I just get into painting more, and I’m having a lot of fun with these paintings, and this focus seems to be going better.
Do you construct your own canvases?
-I just buy them at a local store or order them online. If I made them, I wouldn’t have time to get any paintings done because I’d be spending all my time stretching them and crafting them.
THANK YOU SO MUCH KATHY!
Be sure to check out Kathryn Wiley's solo show at the Foundry Gallery, which is located at 2118 8th St NW, Washington, DC 20001
Visuals of Kathy's work and more info on the show can be found at http://www.foundrygallery.org/exhibits-events/