I knew when I met Kathy that she was a talented artist. Curt told me that Aunt Kathy portraits' were really beautiful and that she was commissioned to paint portraits of people all across the nation. I knew she had paintings displayed in the Mississipi Old Capitol Museum, paintings of famous people like the Choctaw warrior, Pushmataha, and the eccentric Mad Potter of Biloxi, George Ohr. I knew she had been recently commissioned to paint a Federal District Court Judge for the new Federal Court Building, and had last weekend just unveiled a painting of Natchez native and Author, Richard Wright. I've even been lucky enough to visit her studio, where I just stood in wonder gazing at her latest work in progress. You know, peering at a piece of art with that feeling that you're in a special place, and you stand still and whisper in hopes you won't have to leave.
So you can imagine our delight when Kathy asked our daughter, Mollie, to pose for a painting. Kathy had a specific image in her mind of a little girl in a winter coat and we were so honored that she thought of Mollie. Kathy and I began searching for the perfect coat and bonnet, and finally found the perfect one online at a boutique in the United Kingdom, and the payment was made to a bank in Paris. What an exciting story to tell Mollie one day about the coat she is wearing in the painting, so I was saved the reciept for her baby book.
Later we learned that the portrait would be on display in an exhibit, "People and Places: Oil Portaits and Landscapes by Kathy Roche' Buchanan", presented by the Greenville Arts Council. So we loaded up the children and headed off to the Delta, in hopes of gathering with family to support Kathy and seeing her gallery collection. Wow. I was stunned at her collection of paintings that hung on the walls. Kathy is simply gifted beyond belief.
Frankly, I don't know enough about art to comment on all her techniques, I can only write about what I felt as I looked at her work. I was amazed as I looked around the room, and understood how Kathy pours herself into her paintings. Each portrait was such a jewel beyond value. I looked into the faces and imagined these paintings as they are hung in homes across the nation. Some were of people I recognized, paintings of family members throughout the years. Paintings that would be treasured and handed down in families throughout generations. I understand this pride the Buchanan family feels towards Kathy and her talent. I feel it myself. She is so beautiful inside and out, but even more, she has such a pure beauty that flows from her hands as she paints. What a gift she has, the ability to capture certain attributes and qualities of a person that might not have shown in just a simple photograph! Kathy deserves this tribute, and based on the public reaction she recieved from gallery guests that night and since, this recognition goes far beyond just our family.
