BIOGRAPHY
Kathy Thomas
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
P.O. BOX 71 QUEENSTON
ONTARIO CANADA L0S 1L0
289-271-7787
~ SHADES OF GREY ~
My fervour for pencil sketches and pen and ink drawings has only begun. Before being rescued by art and golf, We retired our upholstery workroom of 33 years.
I have always been an artist (self-taught) and never without a sketchbook. Art maps began as a way to blend my lifelong passion for historic buildings, walking trails and my sketch journal.
ARTIST PROCESS
To create these illustrated maps, I sit at a drafting table with reference materials, pencils, ink and tracing paper to sketch the concepts and reference points. A footprint is created of the essential area, then sections are detailed and assembled with electronic art software. The results harmonize the original pen & ink artwork with electronic techniques, to produce these old map styled illustrations that trace our modern streets and cultural heritage.
WHY MAPS
As an artist, I love the way cartographers created old maps. The proportion size of the geography in relation to the decorative objects are often artistically exaggerated. For example, a ship on the ocean might be drawn at twice the size of a mountain on the coastline.
WHY BIRD'S-EYE VIEW MAP
Bird’s eye views, also known as panoramic maps, were popular ways of depicting towns and cities in during the late nineteenth century. They were usually prepared for local businesses, chambers of commerce, as a way to boost civic pride and to encourage commercial growth. Currently you can find most anything on an electronic device with a map app. So, my objective was to create non-commercial map to encourage everyone to recognize the resourceful and cultural value of what is just outside our doors and down our streets. That history is not only found in a museum, it’s all around us waiting to be rediscovered.
Thank you to my husband Greg, who has to put up with the many sketches cluttering the dining room table, and picking me up on some trail a long way from home while doing research.
Every time we trace the past we give more meaning to the present. Kathy Thomas