moved to create

by Kastle Waserman

artist Kate Lindsey finds home and inspiration in Santa Fe

WE’RE NOT ALWAYS BORN in the place where we belong. That was the case for artist Kate Lindsey. Growing up in Arkansas, she knew she was destined to be an artist when a painting she did at the age of four was selected for a juried art show.

“I was in kindergarten, and they picked one of my little paintings from my class, and it was in this big show,” she says. “I remember being at the opening and seeing my picture hanging on the wall.”

As she grew up, Lindsey’s desire to be an artist persisted, but her parents had concerns about how she’d make a living and didn’t want her to go far from home for college. “I didn’t have many options. I ended up going to the University of Central Arkansas, about thirty miles from where I grew up,” she says. “That was as far as I could get. I graduated with a degree in studio fine arts.”

She says she dabbled in clay, printmaking and various mediums. She was determined to make it as an artist, working on her own pieces while holding down jobs in arts-related professions such as graphic design and photography. But it wasn’t until she decided to take a vacation that her true fate would be determined.

“In 2007, I got the opportunity to take my first vacation by myself. I went to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and I just fell in love. It felt like I belonged,” she says. It took another eight years for Lindsey to relocate, waiting until 2015 after her son went away for college and her parents passed on.

She moved to the outskirts of Santa Fe, where she could see the mountains, wildlife and big sky, which inspired her artwork of whimsical, colorful landscapes with animals covered in a tapestry of botanicals trotting carefree across the canvas. Her current style came about after a coyote inspired her to cut loose.

“I named her Missy, and this coyote made her rounds through my yard every morning,” Lindsey says. “I decided that I would just play and paint her as something fun just for me. It turned out so cool that I had to show it off. I posted it on Instagram, and everyone loved it, so I kept going. It just feels natural with this happy kind of style.”

Lindsey says while she has worked primarily in acrylic and mixed-media painting as well as photography, health issues over the past few years— including back surgery, a bout with cancer and a broken foot—left her without the stamina to stand for long periods. So, she took up painting on an iPad, opening up a new world.

“I can use different brushes that simulate oil paint, pastel, charcoal— any kind of medium you can imagine. I can mix different mediums together or combine my photography with the painting,” she says. “It’s so much fun. I feel like I’m more expressive and spontaneous with it.” She then sends the work to a local printer that makes archival prints on heavyweight fine art paper, plus a Colorado printer that prints and ships her work.

Lindsey says no matter what medium she uses, she loves being an artist and having the ability to express herself: “There are so many feelings I can’t express with words that I feel I can express with painting. And if someone else sees it and either gets that same feeling or other feelings from it, I feel I’ve done a good job.”

See more of Kate Lindsey’s art at klindsey.com