Kathy Strauss

Background: With a background in design and a certification as a Creatively Fit Coach, Kathy has been in the creative industry for over 40 years. She found her creative voice with her camera and uses it to tell stories for personal branding, commercial clients & families. Fine art is her “release”, using her camera to show the world how she sees it & her mixed media work – a tapping into the universal energy that surrounds us. She was a founding artist at the Workhouse Arts Center and President of the Arches Gallery Artists in Lorton, VA & currently serves on the Board of Directors with the Seacoast Artists Guild in Myrtle Beach, SC. She is passionate about the arts and contributing to the community that she now calls home. Influences: Everything that surrounds us on a daily basis influences Kathy’s artwork. The camera is an extension of how Kathy sees the world. She aims to connect her images to the viewer—showing a right brainer’s view of the world. From a simple blade of grass, a stark looking building, creating a visual personal brand for a person or company—to the laughing smiles of a family— she captures beauty with her lens. Her personal/creative philosophy is, “I know my job is done when my client looks at their photos & they see their story”. As a mixed media artist, she creates her pieces by tapping into the energy that surrounds us. Whether it’s a painting of a beloved pet or creating a doodle for one of her coloring books—she creates with the flow. As a Creatively Fit Coach she shares her artist’s view of life through workshops where her students learn how to tap into their innate creativity & enthusiasm for life. Being an author: She created & published her first coloring book in 2017. It was a vision that she held for years—but never did anything with it. It wasn’t until she got a little push from a friend who had seen her doodling at board meeting & told her that she should create a coloring book. Ever since that meeting, to the time she hit “publish”—she’s been creating new pieces that she knows will be a series. "All my life I have been doodling some sort of drawing. I’ve always been in the creative world—but never really did anything that was “for me”. Yes, I spent most of my career as a graphic designer and now a professional photographer—but, I have to admit that I am most at peace when I am doing my fine art photography and yes, my doodles. As the years past, I finally got the courage to pick up a paintbrush again to create paintings that I consider good enough to put in the gallery where I show my work. That being said, I my camera is my go to creating tool and of course—my doodles.... Kathy Strauss" Artistic philosophy & statement: “Live life, love life, paint life, create life! I love showing people that as humans, we are innately creative & everyone’s an artist. I love sharing my passion of creativity, taking pictures, telling stories, and giving back. I’m an artist, photographer… I am a visual storyteller”. Have you ever walked by a scene & what you see takes your breath away? You remember these images in your dreams, they might be clear, they might be small & slightly out of focus… but for some reason it sticks with you… you feel it’s energy… it makes you feel good. I try to capture this energy in each piece I create—allowing the viewer to feel. My design background actually comes to life in my artwork. I compose my photographs with precision and harmony—sensitive to graphic composition, repetition, color, rhythm, reflection, pattern and aesthetics—always look at what makes the scene spark. My doodle art comes from my heart—I never know where the piece is going to take me, I allow it to vibrate as I create it and when it’s finished, it always amazes me. I enjoy seeing how my heART connects to the piece. But, no matter what I shoot or create, I always see the balance and composition between the elements. . . . Is it the graphic design influence . . . or a natural appeal for composition? . . .