A colorful holiday window painted with bells and “Season’s Greetings” at the Interact Club is a “thank you” from local artist Kathryn Welch to the organization for helping her get through a difficult time.
Welch has been creating artworks in the community and is now showing a collection of her drawings and paintings at the Moab Arts and Recreation Center (MARC) through Feb. 7. She’ll be at the MARC on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 1 to 2:30 p.m., for a meet and greet with visitors.
“Her pieces are really interesting,” MARC Arts and Special Events Manager Liz Holland said. “They almost look like drawings, but the vibrant colors she uses make them feel like a painting, too.”
Holland said Welch’s exhibit shows animals in an artistic light.
Welch, 67, said she feels grateful for the Interact Club’s assistance to secure housing and stability after a bout with mental illness that left her distraught and on the verge of homelessness.
“The Interact Club came to my rescue,” Welch said. “They got me housing and medical care. Interact was so important for my recovery.”
The Interact Club is a program by Four Corners Community Behavioral Health.
The assistance inspired Welch to name her exhibit “Not so Much a Struggle.”
Welch also decorates businesses’ windows for other holidays such as Halloween and Thanksgiving.
“She painted an autumn window for us for Halloween,” Interact Club Case Manager Cora Shonie said. “She has a lot of friends and peers here. She gets them involved. She’s done art classes for members.”
Included in the exhibit are a couple of portraits — one of John Lennon created in Prisma colors, and another acrylic painting of baseball player Casey Stengel — and an abstract piece called “Cosmic Butterflies.”
Paintings of lions, a snow leopard and other animals are a part of the exhibit.
“It’s been my heart’s desire to do a show at the MARC,” Welch said. “The paintings come from my heart. They are different subjects that represent the moods I’ve gone through.”
Welch said she looks for ways to expand upon her ideas by looking at professional photographs in nature magazines and calendars.
“The portraits I do are primarily from live settings,” she said.
Welch said she plans to set up her easel in the spring during Moab’s ArtWalk event each month.
“In the 1970s I did portraits for $7. There were long lines,” she said.
Welch has also been a professional signmaker in Moab. Years ago, she made signs for the public library and for Atlas Minerals. The paintings in the MARC exhibit are not for sale.
Welch, born in Boise, Idaho, grew up in Moab and graduated from Grand County High School. She moved back to Moab three years ago after living in Idaho for 20 years.
“I hope some of my school-mates come to see the exhibit,” she said.
Meet-and-greet with Kathryn Welch at the MARC
Where: Moab Arts and Recreation Center, 111 E. 100 North
When: Now through Feb. 7; Meet the artist on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1 to 2:30 p.m.
Information: Call 435-259-6272
“Her pieces are really interesting.”
