By Michele Malinchak
Artists typically rely on the right side of the brain that deals with intuition and creativity. The more analytical left brain is oriented towards logic and reason. Kathie Jankauskas is a paradox in that both sides of her brain work in harmony. A self-proclaimed math-geek and former civil engineer, she’s also a skilled website designer/developer, graphic designer and a fine artist.
She’s been painting in oils since 2009, depicting a range of subjects including animals, landscapes, still life and abstracts. Her style of modern impressionism is characterized by bold, loose brushstrokes and vivid colors. “I can’t help it,” she said, “I just like bright colors.”
She still recalls the excitement of opening a new box of crayons as a kid, with 64 colors and endless possibilities. “I know that Crayola smell of crayons,” she said.” She gets the same feeling when she paints today.
Kathie mixes all of her colors and is especially fond of purple madder. Her painting process begins by sketching her subject with purple or raw umber onto canvas, linen or gessoed board. She paints alla prima or wet-on-wet and attempts to finish a painting in one or two sittings. “I love the depth of color and energy that oils bring to the canvas,” she said.
She likes to play with texture and color by incorporating collage in some of her work. Colored tissue paper is arranged onto the board or canvas and glued in place with Mod Podge® and then painted over. Sometimes even a decorative paper bag with an interesting pattern becomes part of the background. She uses this technique in the cardinal painting pictured here in which you can see the raised texture in the background.
Kathie loves to garden and collects flowers from her yard to use in her paintings. Next to flowers, she enjoys painting animals. “I like to catch their expressions and personalities,” she said. She especially likes cows for their faces and bulky, angular bodies. “And like all animals their ears are so expressive!” she said. Her animal paintings are all done from photos while her landscapes are painted both on site and from photos she’s taken. If she’s working directly from a photo, she’ll often use Photoshop to alter it.
In addition to representational art, she has experimented with abstract painting. Through a process called paint pouring, she applies liquid pigment to the canvas and then later paints over it. “You come up with color combos that you wouldn’t have thought of otherwise,” she said.
Kathie was born in Hartford, CT and grew up in the town of Wethersfield. She recalls drawing a lot as a kid and had a sketchbook full of dogs. “My parents got me a subscription to Dog Fancy magazine and I don’t think I ever read them, but drew pictures from all the photos.”
When she was 11 she attended art camp where she learned a variety of different techniques. She still has her camp sketchbook and two of the watercolors she painted there. Though the scenes have changed over time, “I’d like to recreate those two paintings as seen from today,” she said.
Kathie’s father taught high school biology and her mother was a computer programmer and math major. Kathie also excelled at math but her creative side led her to also take art classes in high school and college. She attended Lafayette College in Easton, PA and graduated in 1982 with a civil engineering degree.
She landed a job at Stone & Webster in Cherry Hill, NJ where her first boss, Narenda Amin, happened to be an accomplished artist. He worked in a variety of mediums including oils, pastel, stained glass, sculpture, ceramics, watercolor and pen and ink. Each year he would organize the Stone & Webster Employee Art Show and encouraged Kathie to submit her artwork. Narenda remained a good friend, mentor and inspiration up until his death.
Years later when he moved in with his son, he gave Kathie his oil paints which she uses along with her own. “That way he’s still with me while I’m painting,” she said.
She moved to Langhorne, PA when she married and left her job as a civil engineer in 1988 to raise her son and twin girls. Longing to return to her own artistic roots, she took watercolor classes from Fairless Hills artist Alice Seufert.
She also attended evening classes in illustration and Photoshop at Bucks County Community College in Newtown, PA. A teacher there encouraged her to put her illustrations on the computer which eventually led her to pursue graphic art and design. In 2004 she earned a certificate in graphic design and created the KJan Studio which serves small businesses in the greater Philadelphia area. In addition to website design/development, Kathie creates marketing material including logos, business cards, brochures and illustrations. “Designing websites is the perfect combination of math and creativity,” she said.
Kathie has been awarded several graphics awards including first place in Advertising Illustration at Phillustration 2010 from the Philadelphia Sketch Club.
In addition to graphic design, she continued to focus on developing her fine art and studied with several artists including Pat Martin, Trisha Vergis, Tracy Everly, George and Emily Thompson and Mashiul Chowdhruy. From these classes she met other artists whom she painted with plein air for several years. The group of eight became known as The Painter’s Collective of which Kathie is a member. They still paint together on occasion and show their work at The Art Colony Gallery at Prallsville Mills, Stockton, NJ.
Kathie is a member of the Phillips’ Mill Community Association and has shown her work at the juried Art Exhibition at Phillips’ Mill for several years. Each year she also designs the show catalog, sets up the entry system and is responsible for putting the art online. In addition to the fall juried exhibition, she also works on the Mill Members Art Show & Sale and Youth Art Exhibition.
She’s also a member of Artists of Yardley and the Kittery Art Association in Kittery, ME, where her sister has a home. Kathie enjoys travel and has painted scenes from her trips to Maine as well as Ireland.
Contemporary artists she admires include Carol Marine, Colin Page and Janine Dunn Wade. She also holds past artists Van Gogh and Monet in high regard.
Kathie now lives in Yardley, PA with her husband, Joe. Their home overlooks a pond and she enjoys observing all the wildlife that passes by, some of which she’s able to capture in her paintings. She also does commissioned pieces and works from photos or real life.
Some of her paintings have been made into greeting cards which are sold at the Commonplace Reader in Yardley, Canal Frame-Crafts Gallery in Washington Crossing, Kittery Art Association and The Shops at Cape Meddick, ME.
Her greeting cards have stickers on the back that read, “Share a little art to brighten someone’s day.” Whether it’s a vase of fresh cut flowers, cows in a field or cardinals in a tree, there’s a joyfulness to Kathie’s work. “Art has many moods,” she said. “I just want people to be happy when they look at my paintings.”
Kathie’s work is available on her website: www.kathiejankauskas.com, at Canal Frame-Crafts Gallery, located at 1093 General Greene Road, Washington Crossing, PA; 215-493-3660; www.canalframe.com. Also at Kittery Art Association, Kittery, ME and The Art Colony Gallery at Prallsville Mills, Stockton, NJ. Her graphic design website is www.kjanstudio.com.
Michele Malinchak is a freelance writer who has a degree in art and enjoys oil painting.