Katherine Van Horne 

Katie Van Horne is a celebrated painter of both her native California landscape and the human form. Katie is most known, however, for painting portraits. Her commissions range from drawings of infants and children, to doing formal sittings of heads of institutions. She has also done a number of personal, informal and reflective compositions of her clients and their children. Katie's talent in capturing character extends to animals as well; Katie has done a number of portraits of beloved family dogs and horses.

Hundreds of Bay Area families treasure portraits and landscapes by Katie. Her commissions have also taken her to Southern California, the Northwest, Northeast, Midwest, Washington, D.C., Florida and internationally to paint. Katie currently lives in Ojai, California and is a member of The Ojai Studio Artists Association.

For most of her portraits, Katie uses the combined media of watercolor and pastel, but her love of the directness and myriad possibilities in illuminating both the figure and landscapes have led her to work in both simple, clean dry-point etchings and various dynamic abstract monotype printmaking techniques. Gesture-washes of the figure or landscape are hallmarks of her work. Sculpture is also a favorite medium, bringing new dimensions and opportunities to represent her subjects. Each discipline or practice informs and revitalizes the others, helping to keep attention fresh and to stay attuned to the subject matter at hand.