At Daddy's Feet

When I was young my dad started a tradition of reading to the family after dinner. We read Lord of the Rings, The Yearling (tear-jerker), Where the Red Fern Grows (serious tear-jerker), The Education of Little Tree, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Huckleberry Finn, Watership Down, and the Book of Virtues, to name a few.

I didn’t appreciate it then, but the times I spent on the living room floor listening to my dad have become some of my most cherished memories. The books we read shaped my experiences and have added richness and meaning to life. During this time, my dad instilled in me a love for reading that I have carried with me to this day.

Our family reading time deepened our bonds-we laughed, cried, and learned life lessons together, whether we were reading about talking rabbits, or hobbits, or a little boy being taught the ways of life by his Cherokee grandpa. In an age of T.V. and social media, these moments stand out as simple and rich; all we needed were the books, my dad's voice, and an imagination. Nothing fancy.

I feel privileged to help people cultivate deeper and more meaningful experiences with their children through my art, the same way these books did for me and my family. Each portrait is a testament of love between and parent and child, one that I hope adds richness to their relationship.  I encourage and promote family values because at the end of the day that's what life is all about- love and togetherness.

Art-Making Memories

By Kate Bradley  January 20 2014, 8:07 AM One of the ways I say thank you to my collectors for their patronage is to invite them and their kids over to my private studio for an art lesson. I enjoy this time catching up with my clients and it's one of the ways I support my mission, to help people celebrate their family relationships through my art. I am honored to help my collectors create memories with their kids and do something special for them.

My own parents put me in art classes as a kid, so I appreciate the importance of cultivating creativity at a young age. It had a huge impact in my life. As my mom told me the other day, she never wasted a penny on the lessons and supplies she bought for me. My sister's guitar, on the other hand, is a different story.

I hosted two lessons in my studio this past December. One was for my friend and collector, Ale, and her adorable boys, Sam and Noah. You can see their portraits here.

We had hot cocoa and I showed them how to draw self-portraits.

Then I had the Bush twins and their cousin, Caroline, over for more advanced studies. Our lesson was centered on complimentary colors which we expressed through a still life drawing.

Creating a Legacy

By Kate Bradley  January 10 2014, 8:43 AM Several years ago I painted oil portraits of twin girls, Jane and Nellie, daughters of Ben and Lauren.

In a year I will paint a portrait of their third daughter, Molly. Their mom is one of my favorite clients and she and her husband are big supporters of the local art community.

This past summer, Lauren and her friends over to my studio for a play-date with their daughters. While they were here, she saw one of the charcoal portraits I was working on and loved it. So  I suggested to Ben that he surprise Lauren with charcoals of the girls for Christmas. The twins are older now so their looks have changed, and I knew Lauren would love to capture them at this new time in their lives. I also knew she would love to have a portrait of Molly. And because charcoal is so different from oil, she won't feel like she's getting duplicate portraits.

And what husband doesn't want to score some major points with his wife?

It's fascinating for me as an artist to see my subjects change so quickly in such a short amount of time. I loved capturing the girls at this new stage in their lives, when they have come into their own a little bit more. That's why I offer to patrons my Legacy Collection, which includes three portraits of children at different stages in their lives.

These commissions were done completely as a Christmas surprise for Lauren. Normally if someone wants to give portraits a a surprise, I suggest buying a gift card because most moms want to be a part of the process. But because these were small head portraits, and because I had worked with the family before, I felt comfortable suggesting them as a surprise.

Three boys, Three personalities

By Kate Bradley 3 January 2014, 8:45 AM Yesterday I had TRIPLETS Cannon, Tanner and Walter to my studio to sit for me for three full-length oil portraits I'm working on. I like to start each commission this way, spending some one-on-one time with each boy to study them and ask questions. It's like a "mini-interview." My goal is to get to know my subjects on a personal level so I can create a portrait that speaks to the individuality of each child. Then I can start to generate ideas for the different elements of the piece. I also love the idea of not only capturing the boys' likeness at five years of age, but also the things they were interested in at the time.

As I'm sketching I like to make notes, often focusing on one or two features that stand out and try to quickly capture those. ("quickly" being the operative word as little boys have nano-second attention spans)

All three boys love playing sports with their dad and to swim. They're "water babies," as mom Deede puts it. They each have blond hair and blue eyes, with similar but distinct features.

My impression of Cannon was that he was funny, but with a serious side. He volunteered to go first for the sitting. Walter is contemplative and serious, clearly the leader of the group. And Tanner just made me smile. He was very sweet and talkative.

Louise decided it was her turn.

A Different Kind of Family

By Kate Bradley 19 December 2014, 8:45 AM As I talk about my mission to help people celebrate their family relationships through my art, Streets Ministries comes to mind.  Over the past few years my mom and I have mentored a thirteen-year-old girl named Jasmine through Streets.

I’ve talked about how the children I paint know that they are valued. They don’t wonder if their parents love them. The kids at Streets are different. They don’t typically get their portraits painted. These kids come from rough neighborhoods. A lot of them, Jasmine included, have little to no relationships with their fathers. Some of them don’t even know who they are.

Streets is a family for these kids. It encourages them, empowers them, and points them towards their one true hope- Jesus Christ. As Streets puts it, they “meet them on their own turf.” If it weren’t for Streets, these kids would probably drop out of high school. Streets lets them know they are loved, valued, and were created with a purpose.

You think when you sign up to volunteer at Streets that you will be the benefactor. Then you meet kids who are more joyful than you in spite of their circumstances, and then you are the one who gets blessed.

On days when I'm feeling sorry for myself, God will use Jasmine to show me my sin. When I pick her up, she’ll come bounding out of her house, skipping, with a huge smile on her face, and it will hit me just how selfish I am. Here is someone who is poor in the world, goes to a rough school in a rough neighborhood, doesn’t talk to her dad, yet is joyful. Always happy. That’s when I  thank the Lord that he uses the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.

I talk about family a lot in my business, and Streets is a different kind of family. The work they do there is very precious and important. And I’m so happy I can be a part of it.