Kathy Beekman

Kathy Beekman was born in Evanston, Illinois, in April 1971. She is the first of four children of Edward Morris and Mary Lou (Thieme) Morris. She spent the first four years of her life in Illinois before moving with her family to Fort Wayne, Indiana. There her childhood days were filled by playing outdoors in the woods, playing games of hide and seek on her thickly foliaged property, and spending an endless amount of time drawing, coloring and daydreaming. Both her father and mother were educators in schools as were four of her aunts and an uncle.[1]

Beekman remembers knowing that she was an artist at the age of four and was often introduced by her parents as their daughter “the artist”. While in grade school, her mother approached a professor of fine art to see if it would be a good idea to initiate art lessons for Kathy. The woman suggested that Kathy be encouraged to continue with art on her own and that her talent would naturally develop. A high school art teacher continued to encourage her through her years of secondary school and suggested that she apply for an art scholarship to what is now Siena Heights University, Michigan. She received a first place art scholarship and attended the University for four years. Their undergraduate art program at the time approached education in a similar manner to that of a graduate program; very little direction was given to the students as it was up to them to explore possibilities and exhaust ideas.[1] This style of critical thinking led Beekman to develop her own artistic style.

She graduated from Siena Heights University in 1993 with honors and a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Her first jobs after college were working for a small picture framing business and for the Fort Wayne Civic Theatre, where she painted 200-foot-wide backdrops, one of which was televised on the program Good Morning America. She was also the props mistress which involved the managing, sourcing and collecting of props. Beekman then returned to school attending Indiana Purdue University of Fort Wayne where she concentrated in Archaeology.[2] There she met her future husband Chris Beekman, an archaeologist, and the two were married in 1999.

In 2000, Beekman lived in Jalisco, Mexico, and worked alongside her husband on his archaeological project.[3] She excavated in the field and rendered project artifact illustrations. It was while on this particular project that she began to build her first significant body of artwork since graduating from college[4]

Beekman has a painting style she can call her own. She never took a pastel painting workshop or lesson and so never exposed herself to the opportunity of “copying” another artist's painting style. Her contemporary style has been compared to that of Edward Hopper.[5] Highly stylized barnscapes have proven to be a favorite among art collectors. These colorful barnscapes have been described as: nostalgic, moody, atmospheric, spacious, haunting, beautiful, dreamy and familiar.[6][7]

Beekman does not use soft pastel in a traditional manner; rather than using the soft pastel stick to draw, she paints with it. At least fifty percent of each painting is finger-painted. Her favorite tool is her right pinky finger. Early in her career she used a variety of colored printmaking paper on which to paint. After just a few years, she turned to a black printmaking paper which she has since used exclusively as her “canvas”.

• Official website