About the Artist
Growing up on a small farm in Iowa, Kathleen developed a hands-on appreciation for animals and nature, and was drawing animals from a very young age. Kathleen’s passion for depicting animals in her art has continued throughout her life. She practices self-directed study and experimentation in her pursuit of artistic growth; her work blends classical realism techniques with impressionism.
Kathleen became well known for painting dogs, starting with her little Rat Terrier, Cloud, and then her Greyhounds, Sephy, Train, and Lenny. They became her muse - their physical beauty and expressiveness were an endless source of inspiration and fascination for her work. She has also found a new source of inspiration in her gorgeous female Doberman, Sage.
Kathleen and her husband, (Forged in Fire champion, Jason Coy), live in the beautiful Ozarks of Southern Missouri, where they create art and raise beef cattle using regenerative farming practices on their ranch.
Artist’s Statement
I strive for realism in my work, with abstract and impressionistic elements to lend a surreal feeling to the moment I’m capturing. By heightening the senses, art gives these moments the potential to become even more real. While I do paint other subjects, I have a special fondness for painting dogs. I paint dogs because they’re beautiful to me, sighthounds especially so. I paint dogs hoping in my own small way to thank them for being so wonderful, for loving us, and to celebrate the joy they bring to our lives. In them I see our best qualities. Looking at a dog, we can see our own bravery, our own loyalty, our own uninhibited joy, our own unconditional love. I paint to honor the partnership and bond we’ve formed with them over millennia. I’m never painting, ‘just a dog.’
What is it about my greyhounds that inspires me so? The soft eyes, the arch and turn of the neck, a ballet with every step. A flash of sunlight and shadow, incomprehensible power beneath the stillness, a heart as big as all the world. A feeling that you’re living with the most perfect creatures on earth. Laughter and love, the rush of the wind and the open air. I savor each of these moments every day. My dogs make me a better person. Through them, I release my beauty into the world..
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• American Impressionist Society, Signature member
• Oil Painters of America, Associate member
2026
• Oil Painters of America, 2026 National Salon, winner - Gold Medal
• Second Place, Oil Painters of America, Summer Online Showcase
• American Impressionist Society, Small Works Showcase Exhibition
• Oil Painters of America, 2026 National Exhibition
• American Impressionist Society, 27th Annual National Exhibition
2025
• First Place, Animal and Wildlife category, The Artist's Magazine's 41st Annual Competition
• Oil Painters of America, 2025 National Exhibition
• Oil Painters of America, 2025 Eastern Regional Exhibition
2024
• American Impressionist Society, Small Works Showcase Exhibition
2023
• American Impressionist Society, 24th Annual National Exhibition
• Third Place, Oil Painters of America, Summer Online Showcase
2022
• American Impressionist Society, Small Works Showcase Exhibition
• American Impressionist Society, 23rd Annual National Exhibition, Winner - FASO Award of Distinction
2021
• American Impressionist Society, Small Works Showcase Exhibition
• Oil Painters of America, Eastern Regionals Exhibition
2020
• First Place, Oil Painters of America, Summer Online Showcase
• American Impressionist Society, Small Works Showcase Exhibition
2019
• 6 Inch Squared Show, Randy Higbee Gallery, 2nd place Collector’s Choice Award
• Oil Painters of America, Western Regional Exhibition
• American Impressionist Society, Small Works Showcase
• American Women Artists, Looking West: An Exhibition Highlighting Works from American Women Artists
• Southwest Art Magazine article - Artists to Watch, March/April 2019 issue
2018
• American Impressionist Society, Small Works Showcase
• American Impressionist Society, 2018 National Exhibition
• Oil Painters of America Summer Online Showcase, third place award
• Oil Painters of America Fall Online Showcase, honorable mention
2017
• American Impressionist Society, Inaugural Small Works Showcase
• Oil Painters of America, 2017 National Exhibition
• 6 Inch Squared show, Randy Higbee Gallery
2016
• American Impressionist Society, 2016 National Exhibition
• Oil Painters of America, 2016 Salon Show of Traditional Oils - Award of Excellence
• 6 Inch Squared show, Randy Higbee Gallery
2015
• American Impressionist Society, 2015 National Exhibition - Honorable Mention
• 6 Inch Squared show, Randy Higbee Gallery
2014
• 6 Inch Squared show, Randy Higbee Gallery.
• Urban Beauty show, Randy Higbee Gallery.
• Cover art, Good Fruit Grower magazine. May 15 issue.
• Painting, “Late November” in The Fault in our Stars movie.
• Feature - The Art Room, February 1
• Missouri Valley Impressionists Society, 3rd Annual Juried Show
2013
• 6 Inch Squared show, Gallery Award winner. Randy Higbee Gallery
• Missouri Valley Impressionists Society, American Vistas show. Honorable Mention
• Reigning Cats and Dogs, Wayne Art Center, Wayne, PA.
2012
• 6 Inch Squared show, Randy Higbee Gallery
• Winner - First Place, Edward Hopper House, Small Matters of Great Importance
