Artworks by Kathy Carney

I  started painting landscapes when I moved to Sonoma County. I live in an area of landscapes with distant views of the mountains. I have spent years learning about light, color and creating the effect of far distance.
My art has been described as surreal realism. My paintings are realistic in that they are a study of the effect of light and structure in landscapes or the figure. They follow the logic of realistic art, but there is always a dreamlike quality to the places and events.  My art moves back and forth between reality and a dream.
The inspiration for my reef paintings came from talks with my son who has a degree in ecology and marine life. The reef fish are stunning in their beauty of color and design; painting them is like painting magical creatures. 
I have been holding a figure drawing group in my studio and as a result I have been drawing as much as I paint. Sometimes the model will assume a pose which remind me of an archetypal figure. I later will turn these poses into large, finished drawings. There is usually an implied narrative which results in the process.
The most meaningful way of living my life is to love my family and friends and then be an artist. We moved our home and studios to Tucson, Arizona. I am now exploring  and painting the Sonoran desert. The sky seems endless and the saguaros are my new landscapes.