Today we’d like to introduce you to Kate Loughlin.
Hi Kate, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
People always ask me “what made you decide to be an artist” but the way I see it, that was never my decision. It’s more like art chose me and I’ve just been developing it. When I was a kid, I’d much rather draw than read or write. To make sure I got my reading assignments done in grade school, my mom would read and tell me to draw what I saw while she did. If I wasn’t playing, I was creating.
One year I injured my knee during basketball season, and I wasn’t being as active that summer, so my aunt bought me a beading kit from Micheals when I was about 12. I always had an entrepreneurial spirit so of course I was going to try and find a way to sell my creations. At first, I was selling $5 earrings at church but then we started to look for a bigger market and Durham didn’t have one at the time, so my mom actually gathered several artists together and founded the Durham Craft Market 20 years ago to give me a place to sell my jewelry. Back then, it was just beads on a string but since then I’ve expanded my knowledge taking small workshops here and there over the years and transitioned into becoming a metalsmith. Currently, I work a lot with wax carving and casting and have developed my own home studio where I’ve just completed my first collection. During that time though, I never stopped drawing and painting, my first love.
I actually ended up going to school for art at Meredith College where Mr. Cameron Johnson first taught me how to work with oils. At the same time, I had fallen in love with Art History and studied abroad in Italy to experience firsthand the paintings and sculptures of the Renaissance that primarily inspired me. I was blown away by the detail, brought to tears even. To think about someone having the patience and dedication to recreate life and raw emotion from scratch, from a vision. In a fast-paced society that is mostly led by technology, I am drawn to slow, handmade detailed work. To this day, I still strive to narrow the gap between what my mind envisions and what my hands create. There is always something more to learn.
Currently, I am taking commissions for larger scale paintings and murals, in commercial spaces or private residencies. My most recent mural can be visited at Nerra Restaurant in Downtown Durham.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I think that the most challenging thing for me as an artist is to not be boxed in by societal expectations. To make a career out of something you love is sensitive but worth the risk. Some days, I feel like I need to choose between painting and jewelry to be successful in one field. Then other days I remember, art is the field. The work has become seasonal and cyclical in a way that allows me to develop both skills. I’ve sort of trained myself on how to set up systems that optimize my routines. It’s still a work in progress, but a work that I’m going to keep doing!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
In my work, I specialize in capturing the light. I love high contrast that showcases the form of a piece, and how light can change the way an object looks from certain angles. In Jewelry, that can look like carving with tools that create more texture and volume giving a sculptural effect. In painting, you will often see me incorporate my signature light beam in the piece. It’s what I believe we’re here to do, reflect the light in each other.
What matters most to you?
What matters most to me is being authentic and showing up as yourself. I think the most important thing about being an artist is taking care of yourself mentally and physically so that you can create the work that you’re called to do. We are really just the vehicles for the work. Getting in alignment allows us to receive the messages that we’re meant to put out in the world.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://kateloughlin.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kateloughlinart/
