I needed a biographical summary of my life as an artist for a new gallery in Temecula's Wine Country that will be selling paintings from my newest series, Journey Into Intimacy ( pictured below) and so I spent some time this week writing it. I also had some very helpful guidance from an excellent (but expensive) book called Accelerating on the Curves by Katharine T. Carter & Associates. I've decided to make my fine art website a bit more personal, so I've added a photo of myself (taken at the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena) and attempted through my writing to enlighten my readers about some formative experiences and influences that helped shape my work. Knowing me, I'll be tweaking this ALOT but for now, this is what I've written. Enjoy! If you want to read my entire bio (it's quite long!) then please click the website link above.
Kathy Crabbe ~ Bio
Born 1965 in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, Kathy Crabbe lives and works in Temecula, California.
Kathy took an interest in art while very young in a family that encouraged the exploration of every medium. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from Queen’s University in 1988 and a Graphic Design Diploma from St. Lawrence College in 1992. Of particular importance to her vision as an artist was her study of the female form and women’s studies.
In 1993 Kathy moved to Laguna Beach, California where she painted the LuLu in Laguna Series, paintings on silk which she exhibited at the Sawdust Art Festival for seven years. She brought to her art a playful sense of humour and an expressive use of colour, which has remained at the core of her work throughout her career.
After moving to Temecula, California in 2000 Crabbe started to paint exclusively with her non dominant left hand and created the Lefty Series, a collection of humorously titled cartoon characters. She also wrote poetry and created a series of zines and chapbooks based upon the Lefties which were exhibited at museums and libraries around the world.
In 2008 Kathy started a series of acrylic, abstract paintings, a Journey into Intimacy. She studied printmaking at Palomar College, bought an etching press and is making monoprints and etchings for the BodyPrint Healing Series. Crabbe also became a Creative Soul Guide and teacher of the popular eClass, Awaken Your Divine Feminine Soul at the Wise Woman University. The intuitive process has informed Crabbe’s work and life from the beginning.
I create simply for the love of becoming; like a talisman I mark my space, my canvas, the paper with my body, my marks and colours, not to say ‘look at me’, but as a holy act to awaken love, intimacy and healing – to become whole, not fragmented, to feel it all I paint all emotions; fear and love. I also paint bird imagery to free myself, to fly, to be free. I paint to regain my soul and the soul of my people that has been lost, repackaged and sold to the god of commerce.