Biography
I grew up surrounded by diverse paintings of varying quality, and a few wonderful portraits. The portraits came with stories: who the people were, what happened in their lives. I loved to look at these single images as I heard the stories.One fall, when I was a child, my parents gave a big party. In preparation for the event they had their porch enclosed with plywood, then hired a cartoonist from the city’s paper to illustrate a scene of happy guests singing, dancing, talking and laughing. It was all done in black, white and values of gray. I thought it was wonderful. The idea of creating a party on walls remains with me.
My paintings are personal constructions. Hopefully they are engaging, amusing and comfortable.
I was at the Museum School in Boston in the early 1970’s and worked for a B.A. in Art History at the Massachusetts College of Art in the mid 90’s.
The majority of my work is commissioned.
Katharine Bell, 1995