Meet the VBGB Artist
Katherine MoffettQ&A
When did the art bug bite?
It’s been biting me forever. I’ve always really loved designing things. I like the critical problem-solving and the practical application. As a kid I would draw and plan out imaginary towns and fashion lines and even fake ads for things. I chose to study design at the School of Visual Arts, but the foundation year was all about being immersed in the fine arts: drawing, painting, art history. The bug really bit then with all my wonderful teachers and I never forgot it. I worked in brand identity design and beauty packaging for a few years and then started painting in a studio on the weekends. Eventually I was able to transition into running my own studio where I draw, paint, and do design projects—it has been the dream.
Katherine Moffett
What was your first art love?
Baby me was totally entranced by children's book illustrations, claymation-animated movies, and this book that showed the decorations of Mary Engelbreit. She designed and created a whole world and applied her vision to every facet of her home and line of products. This must have been an influence on me!
What's your medium of choice?
Caran D’ache pencils, watercolors and inks. All very convenient to transport and clean up. Also I like the depth and translucency of the colors.
Picture Perfect: Veronica Swanson Beard, left, and Veronica Miele Beard, illustrated by Moffett
The fun and beauty of artistic expression comes from trusting the imperfection of your eye and your hand.
I was so fortunate, I grew up getting to visit the Kimbell Museum of Art in Fort Worth, Texas, pretty often. The building designed by Louis Kahn is just absolutely beautiful and remains one of my favorite buildings to this day. Anyway, many world class exhibitions came through. A Matisse-Picasso exhibit certainly stood out. I was very obsessed with Matisse’s simple pen drawings of oranges. I loved that such a funny drawing on a scrap of paper could be hanging in a museum being adored. It had such personality in its simplicity. It wasn’t about laboring over a dried-up paint palette, but it was about a stroke of observational beauty.
I return to my archive of inspiration. I collect postcards everywhere I go and, of course, tons of jpegs online. I also am an avid follower of The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. The tools of free-association writing and going on solo “artist dates” are essential for me and trigger major inspiration.
Get your hand moving any way possible and don't worry about refining the outcome at first. The fun and beauty of artistic expression comes from trusting the imperfection of your eye and your hand. Draw on the cocktail napkin.
I choose a go-to size of paper. Not only does it make storing artwork much simpler, not having to re-consider the paper every time eliminates a barrier to getting going. I also find it important to get paper that’s already been drawn on out of my eyeline. My studio must look like an empty void for me to feel the impulse to create something new!
Katherine Moffett's NYC Art Guide
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