Kathe Fraga’s love and appreciation for all things rich in age and beauty is the result of years spent living in South America and Europe—experiences that deeply influenced her patinaed palette. Kathe has shown her work over the past ten years on Bainbridge Island and Whidbey Island and in Seattle and Atlanta.

Kathe’s work is shown by Pacini Lubel Gallery, Seattle; Museo Gallery, Langley, Whidbey Island; Roby King Galleries, Bainbridge Island, Washington; and Anne Irwin Fine Art in Atlanta. She is represented for publishing and licensing by Bentley Publishing Group.

She lives and paints on Bainbridge Island in a 100-year-old stone house by the sea.

The paintings in my “French Wallpaper Series” are intended to evoke the hand-painted, timeworn walls of a grand old Parisian mansion. Each piece resembles an aged decorative fresco panel adorned with birds and flowers, vines and leaves in a modern Chinoiserie style. I am inspired by the bright, colorful, fanciful imagery that made this unique style popular in the 17th and 18th century.

My art is influenced by the beauty and romance of old: vintage silky kimonos, hand-worked embroidery, lacquered little boxes, blocked wallpaper and panels from years ago, distressed with age, revealing a soft loveliness still…viewers see layered colors peeking out behind one another—pinks, blues, lavender—speckles of gold, a wisp of glitter. Look for a small shy heart. A nestle of lovebirds. A French phrase. Each piece meant to be seen as part of a larger scene that’s been hidden away…until now.

“Imagine you’re strolling down a fabulous old street in the heart of Paris and you spy a wonderful decades-old mansion, sooty with age and covered with gargoyles and window boxes overflowing with lavender, roses, honeysuckle. You stop to admire but then, out of the corner of your eye you see a big black wrecking ball about to smash the building down. ‘Noooo,’ you cry as you clutch your Lulu Guinness handbag and rush in, determined to save the age-old hand-decorated plastered panel walls.”

I create a frescoed canvas and paint with acrylic and graphite. Aging and distressing are part of my process. I finish my paintings with a lacquered coating.

November 2009: Solo Show, Museo Gallery, Langley, Washington
November 2009: Anne Irwin Fine Art - Erika Reade Show, Atlanta, Georgia
February 2010: Solo Show, Roby King Galleries, Bainbridge Island, Washington
April 2010: Pacini Lubel Gallery, Seattle, Washington
September 2010: Solo Show, Museo Gallery, Langley, Washington