500 piece puzzle Blue Heron in Tall Grass by Katherine Dunlap

Katherine Dunlap’s images pull you in slowly, catching your eye with vivid colors, but they’re more than pretty. Your eye flicks around the edges of each image, zooming in and out as it takes in pattern and composition. Like “Blue Heron in Tall Grass” (2021, flashe on canvas, 24x30 inches), they’re deceptively simple, with care applied to each stroke, each dot on a feather, a mountain, a ripple of water, or vein on a fern. Dunlap paints in acryla gouache and flashe, both of which give her work a matte finish. She says, “They make the painting look more like velvet.” In other words, they have the soft feeling of what she refers to as “idealized memories.” Not all of her paintings suggest narratives, but some of them do. She says, “I like the idea that my paintings are documenting the ordinary moments but the colors and foliage remind us of the positive feeling that goes along with these experiences.” Her images feel both general and specific, real and not real, calling to mind vintage paint by numbers and oilcloth prints in their palettes.

Katherine is sensitive to the ways in which our natural environment shapes first-person experience. She is not only interested in the physical and aesthetic details of our surroundings, but our emotional response to their presence. Whether it be an idealized memory associated with a specific location or an instinctive reaction to a natural space, her work seeks to marry the physical and emotional forms of her environment.

Born in Gainesville, Georgia, Dunlap attended the University of Georgia, where she received a bachelor of fine arts in painting and drawing before moving to Charleston, South Carolina, where she currently lives and works. Her work has been exhibited and featured in publications including Oxford American, The Art Mag, Charleston Magazine, Skirt Magazine and Post and Courier. 

• 500 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle
• Finished Puzzle Size: 19.25 x 26.625 inches
• Quality ESKA blueboard backing
• Matte Finish to reduce glare
• Recommended Age: 13+ Years