 Artist Profile  |
| Although Kathy Wise a city girl for most of her growing up
years, she has always had a strong love for animals. When
she was a teenager, her family moved to a rural area in the
thumb area of Michigan. She fell in love with country living
almost instantly. Kathy credits her mother, who is also an artist,
for her interest in art. As a child, she busily sculpted animals out
of soap and later wood while her mother painted landscapes and
people. |
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High school and college art classes intensified her interest
in art and sculpture. A ceramics class in college where she added
sculpted clay animal figures to her pots led to the creation of many
other animal sculptures. Students were soon asking Kathy to create
animals for them. Kathy graduated with Magna Cum Laude with an
Associates Degree in Commercial Art. |
| Kathy's first animals were sculpted from low-fire ceramic clay. She started selling her sculptures at art fairs and shows. She made every breed of dog and many popular animals, all one-of-a-king originals. She worked out of her parent's home, with her mother working along side of her painting the glazes on each figure. Immediately store owners were asking Kathy to sell her delightful animal characters to them. Soon she was supplying over 70 stores including the Mole Hole, a nation wide chain of collectible gift stores. |
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In 1983, Gene Freedman (then President of Enesco Corp.) first saw Kathy's work in a Seattle gift shop. This man who launched Precious Moments saw potential in Kathy's art and contacted her to start the first of her many lines in the giftware industry. She has gone on to design animal figures and giftware for many other companies including , Westland, United Design, and Encore Group. Over the years, Kathy has designed and sculpted over one thousand different items in over forty lines that have been sold worldwide. |
| In the early 90's, Kathy sculpted realistic wildlife figures which were cast in bronze. At Detroit's Center for the Creative Arts, she learned the entire bronze casting process and did many molds, waxes, pours, finish grinding and patinas herself. She has had her bronzes displayed in art galleries in Scottsdale
AZ. and Michigan. Kathy has won awards with her Wildlife bronzes at several art shows including the International Blue Water Art Show. Kathy only takes special commission work in Bronze at this time. |
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In her art career, Kathy has worked in both two and
three dimensional media including clay, stone and wood.
She has designed and carved a full size carousel rocking
horse for her young daughter. Kathy has done many wall
hangings in wood and other materials. Having a background
in Commercial Art has helped in her two dimensional design
work. All photos, layouts and graphics on her web site and
catalogs are designed by Kathy. |
| Kathy first began designing Intarsia Patterns for her father-in-law (Phil MacDonald) over 13 years ago. When his customers would ask for a special dog breed or custom intarsia of their pet, he would ask Kathy to create the pattern. She started to market the patterns and found intarsia artists loved her designs. Go to the Customer Testimonial Page to read some of the wonderful comments from Intarsia woodworkers. She offers the greatest variety of dog breed intarsia patterns found anywhere. |
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With Kathy's knowledge and background in sculpting dogs, each pattern has a unique personality that is not found in any other intarsia patterns available in the marketplace.New exciting patterns are being added every other month, see the Intarsia Catalog Page for the new additions . She has developed a beginner intarsia kit that is very unique and easy to use. In Fall of 2004, Scroll Saw Workshop (Fox Chapel Publishing) published the first article by Kathy featuring her Boston Terrier intarsia design and step by step instructions. |
She has been in every issue since then with over 25 articles to date. Some issues include a Bird Wreath, Calico Cat, Arabian Horse, Maple Leaf Picture Frame, Poinsettia Wreath, Turkey and many more. Kathy has been featured on 7 covers. She was asked to write a two part article for Wood Carving Illustrated on how to carve a Bulldog Bulletin Board. To see these articles, go to the In The News page. |
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Kathy has two wonderful intarsia books "Intarsia Woodworking Projects" and Intarsia Woodworking for Beginners . They are perfect for the woodworker just learning intarsia or for seasoned experts. She is currently working on her third book. Kathy accepts special commissions for her intarsia work, including murals and large wall pieces. |
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All copyrighted patterns are sold for the personal use of the purchaser.
The reproduction of any pattern for distribution is strictly prohibited.
Copyright 1999-2010 Kathy Wise Designs, Inc. |
