Kathleen Dunphy’s rapid success in the competitive art world was predicted when American Artist Magazine recognized her as one of the Top Ten Emerging Artists in 1998, just 2 years after she had closed her floral design business to devote herself full time to painting. She is one of those rare people who have true passion, dedication, and a gift for transposing nature’s beauty to the canvas.

Kathleen’s early art education included workshops by Kevin MacPherson and Dan Gerhartz. In 2000, Kathleen was awarded a full scholarship at the prestigious Academy of Art College in San Francisco, where she was mentored by artists such as Craig Nelson and Brian Blood. She maintains strong ties to the Academy, where she has been offered a faculty appointment and participates in the annual Alumni Auction. Further study with Scott Christensen and T. Allen Lawson helped hone her skills and refine her own unique style of painting.

In 2003, Kathleen designed and built her own studio in the Sierra Nevada foothills of Northern California, where the pristine setting of her new home provides endless inspiration for her work. Kathleen’s landscape paintings can now be found in galleries from coast to coast. Her honors are considerable and include important juried shows in California, Texas, Georgia, Arizona, and Maine; Best of Show from the American Impressionist Society; an Award of Excellence from the Oil Painters of America; six California Art Club Gold Medal Shows; seven magazine articles including being featured in Southwest Art’s plein air issue in 2009; the Federal Duck Stamp Competition; Birds in Art; Arts for the Parks; Grand Prize at the Acadia Invitational Exhibition in Bar Harbor, Maine; Best in Show in the American Impressionist Society 2008 Exhibit; and many others. In 2009, she was awarded signature status by both the American Impressionist Society and Laguna Plein Air Painters. Her highest honor to date came when she was selected by the Plein Air Painters of America as a guest artist for their upcoming exhibit in 2011. In just over a dozen years, she has earned an impressive and growing reputation with galleries, private collectors, and art magazines across the United States.

In the spirit of passing on the gifts of her artistic abilities, Kathleen began teaching in 2005 and is a much sought-after workshop instructor. Her engaging style of teaching and one-on-one instruction garners high accolades from her student artists. She has also served as a judge for several art competitions. While her current passion is still to paint nature every day and produce a limited number of high quality paintings, she is now working on a book about her process of developing a work of art from field study to finished studio painting.

A Dunphy painting is that exceptional piece that stops the collectors in their tracks. She is definitely an artist to watch.