Charleston Living Magazine Nov-Dec 2021

BUZZ | ART SEEN
The Watercolor Wanderer
Kate Kvasnicka finds freedom through brushstrokes
By LIESEL SCHMIDT
Tstaid about Katherine Kvasnicka’s
paintings, no tight lines that suggest
a need for perfection or realism. Instead,
there’s a looseness, a freedom and sense of
whimsy that shows that Kvasnicka doesn’t
There’s nothing stuffy or
subscribe to the strict expectations of so
many professional painters.
Instead, she lets her paintbrush dance
over the paper, allowing the paint to take its
own path to create something that is a joy
to look at.
“Watercolors are, hands down, my favorite
medium to work with,” she says. “I
love how they can’t be totally controlled or
manipulated. In an instant, pigment can hop,
skip, and run across the paper without any
warning. It’s a dialogue and a dance, and the
colors bleed and sing together. Wet areas
will always flow to other wet areas, and the
process is a living organism right before your
eyes on paper—until it eventually dries.”
She adds, “As an artist, this is a true
authentic expression. There can’t be any hesitancy
in painting with watercolors, and it is
the closest thing to magic that I have experienced.
I also love to mix in ink and acrylic
for texture—and sometimes a surprising pop
Kate Kvasnicka
of gold leaf that winks at you in just the right
light.”
Growing up, Kvasnicka was an only
child, so art was a way to entertain herself.
“My grandmother would say, ‘Kate, go
paint the view,’ so I’d paint what I saw: the
overlook from our mountain house in Caesars
Head or the beach in Sullivans Island.
When she brought flowers home, she always
said that they would live longer if I painted
them,” Kvasnicka says. “My earliest recognition
was when I won awards for my artwork
PHOTO ANNA LOUISE CECIL
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