Work samples

  • Nature's Son
    Nature's Son
    This 12"x16" watercolor painting depicts the free spirit of a child in nature. Being as one with the natural environment and lost in a day dream. The background was created using plastic wrap to create various interesting forms that were then painted into to develop the foliage.
  • Pheasent's Next Meal
    Pheasent's Next Meal
    A pheasant scratches the ground looking for it's next meal. Blue underpainting in this watercolor piece makes the image glow while various techniques give texture and life to the bird's feathers.
  • IMG_0412.jpg
    IMG_0412.jpg
    Fee Fi Fo Fum was inspired by Jack and the Beanstalk as depicted at Clark's Farm in Clarksville, Maryland. The plein air event also showcased sunflowers.The giant's feet are in view above the many sunflowers as he climbs down the beanstalk in search of Jack who is hiding while holding the golden goose in the lower right corner of the piece.
  • Within Reach
    Within Reach
    This 10'x14' watercolor shows a girl overlayed by a fence. The orbs represent opportunity. These opportunities may disappear or float away before she is able to reach and take hold of them.

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About Katherine

Howard County  
Katherine Wah has exhibited watercolors and mixed media art in  non juried shows in Howard County area since 2019. After completing college, her focus had been on family and her career in special education. She began studying watercolor and mixed media at the Howard County Center for the Arts and continues to study drawing and watercolor. Her art focuses on her past and present experiences and is influenced by nature. She communicates ideas while experimenting with process… more
View Katherine's Resume
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Seeing Spots

Often we see only bits of the world at a time. This project of 10"x10" pieces shows the world in circles and asks the viewer to focus on the details of a garden, put shapes together to see someone trekking uphill or make connections to better understand the world.

  • In the Garden
    In the Garden

    The garden contains a myriad of life. The viewer is asked to take in the beauty in each circle and connect one to another to see the full garden scene.

  • Trekking Uphill
    Trekking Uphill

    Trekking in the woods can be an arduous task. In this 10"x10" piece the hiker is depicted at three different points in the journey. The background used a stamp of the globe while the circles on which the trekker is watercolor painted are covered with bits of maps. 

  • Connections
    Connections

    This piece encourages the viewer to make connections using color, lines and stenciled areas. Each circle can be interpreted separately or in relation to the others in this 10"x10" mixed media piece.

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    • Thoughts Internal

    Images of people convey the complicated life of thoughts that are individual but bring us together as people who strive to understand others of different backgrounds and experiences. We can never truly understand the experiences and feelings of others, but through my art I look to get the viewer to understand what another might think or believe. We all have the desire to be purposeful, fulfilled and happy in our individual lives but we should look to enrich our lives by listening to others and striving to understand other perspectives. 
    • Nature's Son
      Nature's Son
      This 12"x16" watercolor painting depicts the free spirit of a child in nature. Being as one with the natural environment and lost in a day dream. The background was created using plastic wrap to create various interesting forms that were then painted into to develop the foliage.
    • Brave Ajiza
      Brave Ajiza
      Ajiza means brave. This 12"x16" mixed media piece was created using watercolor and handmade paper added in both her clothing and background. Many children in the Middle East have had to be brave in the face of the many adverities that they have had to experience.
    • Within Reach
      Within Reach
      This 10'x14' watercolor shows a girl overlayed by a fence. The orbs represent opportunity. These opportunities may disappear or float away before she is able to reach and take hold of them.
    • Commonality
      Commonality
      Watercolor 10"x14"depicting solidarity and commonality of two African American women working for change and moving forward while holding on to their identities.
    • ADA_30.jpg
      ADA_30.jpg
      People experiencing disability has been seen as less than, locked away and marginalized. ADA gives the keys to each of us to see every one of us as part of the whole of our community.This 18"x24"water media piece was developed as 2020 marks the 30th Anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a civil rights law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability. The Howard County Department of Community Resources and Services and the Howard County Commission on Disabilities invited artists to mark this milestone anniversary.
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    • Members of the Kingdom

    Members of the animal kingdom are facinating because their differences are so vast.  Living in a great variety of environments from ocean to air, they possess different attributes and have roles to play.  The may be a predator in one situation or the prey in another. Their shapes, form and colors vary from each animal making each unique and a challenge to capture.
    • On Alert
      On Alert
      The fox turns looking and listening intensely for the source of the sound. He is on alert for predators and prey alike.
    • Pheasent's Next Meal
      Pheasent's Next Meal
      A pheasant scratches the ground looking for it's next meal. Blue underpainting in this watercolor piece makes the image glow while various techniques give texture and life to the bird's feathers.
    • The Sentry
      The Sentry
      The owl, the sentry of the forest, sits high above watching over the frigid scene. Blues and purples depict the cold while a brightening in the sky tells of the coming morning casting muted shadows from the trees on the the snowy forest floor.
    • Gambel's Quail
      Gambel's Quail
      A Gambel's Quail sits observing his surroundings in this 9"x12" watercolor.
    • In the Pasture
      In the Pasture
      A shepherd mix looks expectantly toward the gazebo set in the pasture in this 9"x12" watercolor.
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    • Faces

    These projects work to convey the emotions involved in living. Each of us experience life differently but can also exxperience it through the faces and emotions of others. We empathize and sympathize with others which connects us as humans.  
    • Niko
      Niko
      Niko wearing his shapka hat, looks on at the first snow of the season in this 4x6: mixed media watercolor/
    • Snow 1
      Snow 1
      The snow swirls in blues, purples and silver of winter in this 4x6" mixed media watercolor.
    • Serena
      Serena
      The sparkle of blowing snowflakes into the air is like making a winter wish.
    • Marcus
      Marcus
      Delighted by the snow, his smile can not be contained in this 4x6" mixed media watercolor..
    • Janine
      Janine
      Janine gazes up as the snow floats in the air in this 4x6' mixed media watercolor.
    • Rebecca
      Rebecca
      Rebecca enjoys the quiet that a blanket of snow brings in this 4x6" mixed media watercolor.
    • Mae
      Mae
      Mae's head is tipped back and eyes closed in her attempt to catch snowflakes on her tongue in this 4x6" mixed media watercolor piece.
    • Snow 2
      Snow 2
      Snowflakes glisten and shine as the sun reflects off on them in this 4x6" mixed media watercolor.
    • IMG_0428.jpg
      IMG_0428.jpg
      This mixed media watercolor work shows how each of us enjoys the first "big" snow of the winter differently but this joy unites us. The 4x6" individual pieces are shown through the window panes as the observer joins in.
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    • Fanciful Gardens

    Gardens are a place of wonder! The colors, shapes and scent of the flowers, animals and earth can capture the imagination or set it free especially after a brief Spring rain. The light in a garden can reveal things previuosly unseen if the observer is willing to stop and rest for a moment and let the garden in.
    • IMG_0412.jpg
      IMG_0412.jpg
      Fee Fi Fo Fum was inspired by Jack and the Beanstalk as depicted at Clark's Farm in Clarksville, Maryland. The plein air event also showcased sunflowers.The giant's feet are in view above the many sunflowers as he climbs down the beanstalk in search of Jack who is hiding while holding the golden goose in the lower right corner of the piece.
    • In the Pasture
      In the Pasture
      A shepherd mix looks expectantly toward the gazebo set in the pasture in this 9"x12" watercolor.
    • Gambel's Quail
      Gambel's Quail
      A Gambel's Quail sits observing his surroundings in this 9"x12" watercolor.
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    • Life in Miniature

    Miniatures have been a way for me to experiment with different processes and "find" images to bring out of these "experiments" to develop into finished pieces of art. Working in small scale, has given me permission to risk something new and then commit to the ideas and beauty found within each. Each miniature painting varies depending on my focus and thought process on a given day. This allows me to stretch and incorporate my own internal thoughts and feelings and hopefully connect to the viewer.
    • Promised Land
      Promised Land
      This 4"x6" mixed media piece is created using watercolor and handmade paper depicts a landscape reminiscent of the Middle East.
    • Encircling Snow
      Encircling Snow
      Snow and wind are the focus in this 4"X6" miniature winter artwork. It was created in mixed media including watercolor colored paper and silver stamping.
    • Blue Cabin
      Blue Cabin
      The blue cabin is nestled into the pines in the 4"x6" piece. It was created using cool winter watercolors and layered pieces of water colored paper.
    • Forest Guardian
      Forest Guardian
      The Forest Guardian is the protector of the winter forest. She is created on a watercolor background and given form using mixed media.
    • Summer Harvest
      Summer Harvest
      This 4"x6" mixed media piece depicts the ending of summer and arrival of harvest season. summer and Autumn mix. It was created using warm golden tones of Autumn watercolor in the background and the waining colors of Summer mixed media in the foreground.
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    • Out of the Box

    Boxes can take many forms, shapes and sizes and have many purposes. I have taken wooden boxes and transformed them with a variety of subjects. Most have come from recycled cigar boxes and become items of beauty.
    • All That Jazz.jpg
      All That Jazz.jpg
      This jazz themed box is made from a recycled cigar box. It depicts musicians and a jazz singer using multimedia techniques and intricate hand cut designs and patterns.
    • Softly Searching
      Softly Searching
      The sly fox is softly searching for it's prey from a bold blue and yellow design. The pattern gives motion and feeling to the environment.
    • Hoo Goes There?
      Hoo Goes There?
      Recycled cigar box showing a watchful owl painted in watercolor with tree branches extending and carved into the lid around the image. There are woodland animals "hidden" on each side of the box.
    • Winter Scape
      Winter Scape
      This winter box combines collage and white, blue and purple acrylic paint for a frosty feeling in this winter scape.
    • Sea Glider.jpg
      Sea Glider.jpg
      Green and blue sea turtle gliding smoothly underwater on a recycled cigar box. Each side is cover with the mixed media ocean scene.
    • Rodeo Cowboy
      Rodeo Cowboy
      This western themed recycled cigar box shows a cowboy on a bucking bronco silhouette, hand painted with a bandana pattern silhouette and a collaged landscape with western stars.
    • Mighty Oak
      Mighty Oak
      The art on this cigar box was incorporated with the collaged images I added. The fall colors evoke the Autumn season and the box is lined with a coordinating olive plaid fabric.
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