Artist Spotlight: Kate Harkins has been a member artist of Columbia City Gallery since 2006(!!) and is part of our fabulous Installation Committee.

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Favorite Seattle restaurant and/or bar. What’s your favorite item on their menu? 

·       Harry’s Fine Foods. Whatever they have going is good. I tend more toward the vegetables but really I eat anything but mussels and tripe. I like Harry’s atmosphere, especially in the garden. 

Favorite Seattle neighborhood 

·       Why choose!?! I live in Capitol Hill and like the urban feel. I can walk anywhere. I love the whole 98118. It is like the neighborhood I grew up in in Philadelphia. It has a strong community, which is wonderful. I like to go out in Georgetown.

Favorite Pacific NW hike 

·       I love Seahurst Park in Burien, Tiger Mountain and Chuckanut Mountain, so I can eat oysters after the hike. 

Favorite Seattle park

·       Discovery Park for a hike or Volunteer Park for a view or the Sculpture Garden for picnics

Favorite beach/waterfront spot 

·       Discovery park

Favorite seasonal Seattle activity/event 

·       Seattle Art Fair

Favorite style of house 

·       Mid Century Modern

Favorite Seattle movie theater

·       Cinerama, SIFF

Favorite museum/galleries (aside from CCG!) that gets your creative juices flowing 

·       TK Building, Foster White, Wa Na Wari

What is your secret/hidden/useless talent? 

·       I am a decent cook. My husband says he is the one who really understands the link between my painting and my cooking (experimental, no recipes)

Who would play you in the movie of your life? 

·       Ruth Gordon

What was your first concert? Best concert? 

·       First concert was Deep Purple, best concert was the Joni Mithchell concert I missed because my mom wouldn’t let me go because I was sick. Though it was fun when we teenagers hung out with Bonnie Raitt’s band after the show.

What are your go-to comfort foods? 

·       Popcorn!

Are you an avid collector of anything? 

·       I am a thrift store shopper. I have too many clothes. I love fabric. An alternate vocation for me would have been fabric anthropologist.

Where is the coolest place you traveled? 

·       Morocco was pretty amazing. It was tiring in a way since it was so culturally different that it took some consideration to understand what we were experiencing but that is part of the point of travel I think. Where would you most want to travel to? I want to go to Porto Portugal. And Cambodia.

What is something that always makes you smile? 

·       When fate has a sense of humor and it takes me a minute to see it. Sappy or animal posts on Instagram. My children are so funny.

What is your favorite random fact? 

·       Seahorse dads giving birth. 

What is your go-to karaoke song? 

·       None. Fundraiser: Pay Kate to stop singing. 

What emoji do you use most often? 

·       Lots. Thumbs up, gritted teeth, laughing.

What is the best Halloween costume you ever wore? 

·       Ice cream seller with mustache, age 9? The cones were from the L’eggs pantyhose containers.

What book changed your life? 

·       Harriet the Spy. She kind of kept herself company in her loneliness. 

What is the last book you read? 

·       The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste

What is the last TV show you binge-watched? 

·       The Great

What TV shows are you watching right now? 

·       The Black Spot, Happy Valley, Drops of God

What is the best advice you ever received? 

·       Don’t personalize things

What is the worst advice you ever received? 

·       Change the background color on a painting

Favorite studio tool? 

·       Q-tip

Favorite artists? 

·       Henry Taylor, Chantal Joffe

Favorite color palette/color combo? 

·       Yikes, everything. I will say that the addition of an odd color as a foil is fun. Like a weird beige in a landscape.

Where are you from and how does that affect your work? 

·       I grew up in Philadelphia. I learned to operate with lots of heart and expect everything to be a bit broken, but for that to be an opportunity.

Who are your biggest artistic influences? 

·       Henry Taylor, Chantal Joffe, Diebenkorn, Alice Neel

What is your favorite medium, and why? 

·       Acrylic, because I can come back after it dries, add something new and wipe that off with what I made previously remaining. But I love everything. I once used lipstick in a painting. I use spray paint, ink, nail polish, pencil and paint pens

Where do you find inspiration? 

·       Instagram has awesome artwork that is very inspiring. But is it fun that when I am stuck on a painting and I leave the studio I see the solution in surprising places like a billboard or a tree or the way the light looks outside.

When is your favorite time of day to create? 

·       After an early lunch. 

What motivates you to create? 

·       Seeing beautiful art, seeing a photo of someone, seeing someone’s face or pose in real life, TV, movies. I feel more complete when I am making something. 

How do you define success as an artist? 

·       If I like the work I make.

Does your art practice help you in other areas of your life? 

·       Lol it gives me compassion for myself and others trying and trying again at something.

How has your style changed over time? 

·       Yes. When I first made work my abstracts were really about fear of painting something recognizable, worrying it would look awful. Now I try to stay within my style and not “fix” the painting.

Instagram: @kateharkinsstudio
Facebook: @kateharkins