Where ART Lives Magazine Volume 2 Number 3 | Page 65
Kathryn Marlin
During those years, my artwork was mostly for children ages Pre-K thru middle school and I
found that I enjoyed drawing or painting many other animals besides horses. I got
well-acquainted with my ink pens and I relish highly detailed art. My contacts &
employers expanded until I ended up working for companies such as Penny Publishing,
Harcourt Achieve, Scholastic, Mc-Graw Hill, Carson-Dellosa, and Childcraft Education
among many others. In additon, I did some private commissioned art for Ducks
Unlimited of Iowa. I added Adobe Photoshop into my arsenal of tools, thanks to a forwardthinking art director in Cincinnati, Ohio. I license out my artwork, having puzzles published
through White Mountain puzzles and adult coloring books published through Action
Publishing in Grand Junction, CO, which is what I work on now and love creating and
inking these highly detailed coloring pages. My books are “Garden Paths”, “Forest Trails”,
and a compilation of both, “Garden Path and Forest Trails”. I’m working on new adult
coloring books for Action, an enchantment and fantasy series.
I entered a different sideline of art a few years back. My husband had a holey, torn up gray
t-shirt he kept wearing and after each washing, with my sense of humor and a black marker,
I would add a t-shirt-shaped tombstone here, a “please bury this shirt” there, eventually
filling the shirt with art. My plan was that he’d quit wearing it and throw it away. He, of
course, was enjoying seeing what I would add next and as a result, it became the inspiration
for a small t-shirt company that we developed catering to the hunting world. My gnarly skull
art was born. We’ve kept this business small, yet managed to sell out of some lines of t-shirts
when we go to shows. Art should always be fun, and our t-shirt business is a good example
of that. Do we still have that raggedy shirt? Sure do!
All that I have done is so varied, from a fun imaginative children’s maze to a pet with
meticulously drawn hair to incredibly detailed inked adult coloring pages, I get excited with
every new piece. I always have ongoing sketches of art that I want to do, and if I’m away
from my artwork, you can bet that I’m thinking about it. Everything around me inspires me!
I am what I do – I’m an artist and will always be an artist. I hope you enjoyed reading about
my art journey, seeing some examples of what I’ve accomplished, and I hope that you’ll
follow along with me as I continue this wonderful life’s trek.
Facebook: Artsy Tales
Instagram: @artsytales
Twitter: @
katmarlindraws
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