For full-time artist Kathy Sigle, the love of Western lifestyle and art began at an early age. From her childhood days spent moving across the country with her family to eventually settling in South Dakota, Kathy’s life has been richly influenced by her surroundings. The ranch life, a connection to animals, and her mother’s encouragement led her to a lifelong pursuit of capturing the essence of the West in her paintings.
In this conversation, Kathy opens up about her journey, from her earliest days as an artist to the unique creative process she’s developed for her work. She shares the inspirations drawn from her time spent on real working ranches, the value of connecting with her audience, and the pride she takes in preserving the Western way of life through her art. Read on to discover Kathy’s passion for her craft and the stories behind her remarkable watercolor creations.
Can you tell our audience a little more about yourself?
The first ten years of my life were spent moving across the country due to my dad’s job. He was an engineer, and his employment took him to California, Colorado, Wyoming, and Argentina. While in South America, my mom took an art class with an old master oil painter, and I was her model for those portrait classes. That was my first real recollection of my mom’s painting. When we transferred back to the States, we moved to South Dakota, where we stayed for the next 17 years. It was during that time when my mom took a watercolor class and fell in love with the medium. She told me, “You’ve got to try watercolor!” (Prior to this, I had been doing graphite work.) We had a one-on-one watercolor lesson together, and that’s all it took. I was hooked, too! For the past 36 years, I have been a full-time watercolor artist.
You mentioned you grew up with horses and spent time visiting your grandparents’ farm and around “Bessie,” the milk cow. How has that shaped your perspective or inspiration for your art?
When we moved to South Dakota, my parents bought some land, and we raised horses. I had also grown up around my grandparent’s place where they had a milk cow, chickens, and Herefords. All of this influenced my love for the ranch life and the desire to paint it. If I can create from real-life experiences, I feel the final painting will connect better with those who actually live that lifestyle. There’s nothing better than when a seasoned cowboy or cowgirl comes up to my painting and says something like, “There’s a lot of cow paintings out there that are really bad, and you’ve got it right.” or “You’ve got the tack correct on that horse.” That is wonderful validation for me because they know their stuff.
Growing up, did you always want to be an artist? Expanding on that, what did the beginning of your art career look like?
The desire to draw has always been in me. I remember when I was quite small and being content with a pencil and paper, I won my first art contest at the age of 6. It was a coloring contest for a free movie pass. That was a thrill to win! As I prepared for college, my dad asked me what I wanted to do for a career, and I said, “All I ever wanted to be was an Artist.” He, being an engineer and very logically minded, responded, “But what do you want to do to make money?” He never discouraged me from artistic things but also wanted to guide me to make sensible choices. I think he would be proud today to see how far I’ve come as an Artist. I went on to college, pursuing a degree in commercial art (known as graphic design today). Once I was married and started having children, I stayed home full-time. I only had time to paint during nap times, so as soon as I lay the kids down, I would paint. I didn’t do laundry, I didn’t answer the phone, I simply painted. I started going to small local art shows and have worked my way through several shows and venues through the years.
How do you decide on the subject of your pieces?
I think an Artist is greatly influenced by what they live around. Animals, and especially ranch animals, greatly interested me. I like to go out and get my own reference material whenever possible. I have spent countless hours on the real working ranches taking photos. I am also friends with some photographers who have access to wild horses, which inspire me greatly. We live near Custer State Park, which has a large herd of Bison, and these all provide a wealth of inspiration for future paintings. I also have a long list of commission pieces to work on.
What does your creative process look like for one of your pieces?
When I’m back in the studio, after I’ve been out on location, I’ll pour through the photos I took. Quite often several images will stand out as the chosen ones to paint. I then put them in a “to be painted” file so I have quick, easy access to them. Oftentimes, I’ll draw the scene out on tracing paper where I can erase, cut, and move animals around until I achieve the desired composition. Then I draw it onto my painting surface and start painting. Since I work in watercolor, it takes several thin glazes/layers of paint to achieve a final color. Such as, a ‘black’ horse may have several layers of purple, burnt sienna, cobalt blue, and Paynes grey to achieve the ‘black’ color. This thin layering of colors provides luminosity as well as much more life than a plain black color would.
As an artist, why do you think it’s important to share and represent the Western way of life?
I feel the authentic Western lifestyle is slipping away. As population and corporations encroach onto ranch land, there will be fewer working cowboys, and that lifestyle will greatly change.
Is there anything else regarding your work that you want to share with our audience?
When someone walks into my art booth at a show and is moved to tears because it speaks to them, then I know I’m on the right track. Or when I’m told stories of how someone’s Grandpa used to drive a team and pull the hay wagon or that they used to have a favorite horse that looked just like my painting, and a big smile spreads across their face because of the memories that brought, then I know I have succeeded.
Kathy will have her artwork in booth #1201 at Cowboy Christmas, Las Vegas Convention Center, 2024, and would love for everyone to stop by. Her work can also be seen on Facebook and Instagram: Kathy Sigle Art or on her website: www.kathysigleart.com.
