In May of 2016 Katherine and her husband Martyn made the bold decision to relocate their small farm, Apifera, from Oregon to mid coast Maine. What a journey, complete with new born piglets, grumpy pigs, donkeys, cats and dogs and one llama...and a lot of goats.
The Maine farm has a small flock of fiber sheep, chickens, elder cats and the remaining Misfits -a menagerie of elders and special needs farm animals-Kunekune pigs and donkeys and one horse. And a llama. And one Rabbit. Oh, and the smallest Apiferians, an adopted bunch of Zebra finches. Oh heavens, and the White Dogs, and labs and pug.
Katherine began her art career in 1997 as an illustrator in her old homeland of Minneapolis. In 2002 she moved to Portland, Oregon from an internal calling for change, and met her next door neighbor, who shared the same last name. They married a year later and moved to what why became Apifera. Then in 2016, another calling, from the East, and wings guided them to Bremen, Maine where they live near the ocean bay on 30 acres in a 1760 house full of stories.
Katherine's art and career continued to expand and evolve and she began doing more gallery painting, and writing. Her first book was "Creative Illustration Workshop", and she later went on to write two illustrated memoirs, "Misfits of Love" {Healing Conversations in the Barnyard} and "Donkey Dream {A Love Story of Pie & Farm}. Her paintings are showcased at Sundance.
Katherine's work as always been emotive. Her work seems to touch a chord in people dealing with loss or change, but is always hopeful. Her style was once described as "naively elegant". While she majored in ceramics, she is a self taught painter. She prefers to paint on pine board, but also works on found papers and canvas. Her earlier work combined word and collage with acrylic, but her recent work is much more abstract in nature with figurative elements, packed with internal symbols. She is also known for her use of color. Even when painting from the loss of a loved person or animal, her work emits hope and calm.
She considers Apifera a healing place, both for herself and guests. She is not trained in any kind of healing work, but has been inviting people to commune with her animals for years. Her earlier workshops were based on silent sessions with her donkeys, combined with drawing. Her paintings are often inspired by loss and letting go.
She wants her workshops at the farm to open people up to their own internal symbols and messages that will help them explore from the inside out. By involving animals in some of the exercises, students will be engaging with possible messages they might not have had otherwise. The animals also are healing influences on people, and open them up. The painting sessions are for all levels and will begin with self exploration through abstract painting, and then move onto a more finished piece.
When a person leaves a workshop at Apifera, Katherine hopes they will feel stronger, calmer and very hopeful.
See her art and photography at her site >
Read her full show and press history
Read stories at the main blog >
Contact Katherine >
