1/9/14 Mary Katherine Carlson Dies in California

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Mary Katherine Carlson Dies in California

[1]Artist Mary Katherine Carlson, known as Kathy Carlson, died onDec. 26 in Oak Park, California, just shortly after she had beendiagnosed with liver cancer. She was 74 years old. She and herhusband, William Carlson, made St. Thomas their home from1993-2008. During one of their many summer sailing trips to theVirgin Islands from the east coast, she applied to teach math atAntilles School. After two years of teaching, she concluded her 25-year teaching career.Kathy then returned to her first love, painting. She had studied lifedrawing and painting at the Arts Student League in New York andat the University of Buffalo before she earned a masters degreeand pursued her career in teaching math. Throughout life wherever

she went she sketched, and she began painting from the sketches she had completed on theannual sailing trips. She became recognized for her way of capturing a way of life that haspassed in the Virgin Islands, but it is a way of that is still lived down the island chain. She firstdisplayed her paintings at the St. Thomas Yacht Club and then at Sunny Caribbean Art Gallery inTortola. In St. Thomas, Kathy began showing at Mango Tango Art Gallery and participating in theCaribbean Color Exhibitions. In 2004, she enjoyed a solo exhibition at Devonish Art Gallery inAnguilla. In St. Croix, she exhibited at the Good Hope shows and at the St. Croix LandmarksMuseum Store, Design Works. After she moved to California, she returned for shows in theVirgin Islands. She mastered many styles; each style found collectors who appreciated hertalent.Kathy praised Tom St. Vincent di Coi for his guidance in painting. While she enjoyed working instudio space with W.B. Thompson, Brian Murphy and Amanda Arguello, she once commentedthat artists must discover alone. “It’s a solitary journey, but a rewarding one.” The Carlsons rented for a time in California but eagerly looked forward to buying their ownhome. That endeavor in the thriving area in which they chose to live took over three years. Tocelebrate their new home, Kathy spent her last summer landscaping to put in a magnificentgarden. When she painted floral compositions, each work brought form, texture and colortogether with her signature luminosity. She delighted in using the same ideas of coherentstructure in designing and planting the most spectacular garden in the neighborhood.She and her husband moved to California so they could be near her daughter and her twogranddaughters. She considered her contribution to educating students in mathematicssignificant and her recognition as a fine artist satisfying, but nothing was more important to herthan family. She relished her experience of being both a great wife and mother, and of being anextraordinary grandmother. She observed that family relationships became more important asshe aged, enriching life better than any accomplishment.

1/9/14 Mary Katherine Carlson Dies in California

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Survivors include her husband, William Carlson; her daughter, Nancy Lee; and her twogranddaughters: Elizabeth and Madaline Lee. She leaves behind several brothers and sisters,including her youngest sister, Margaret Miller, with whom she shared a special bond. She will bemissed by numerous friends in the art world including Amanda Arguello, Jane Coombes, MelMcCuddin, Brian Murphy, W. B. Thompson and Dana Wylder. She is survived by the manystudents she taught to appreciate and to master mathematics.Correspondence may be sent to Mr. William Carlson, 304 St. Thomas Drive, Oak Park, CA91377.

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