Evolving In the Spirit of Exploration and Spontaneity: An Interview with Artist Katherine Bourdon

Savvy Painter Podcast with Antrese Wood

If you were to sum up your creative career in a phrase or theme, what would it be? Has your style evolved over the years in little ways or in large shifts? If you are one of those artists that like to experiment and likes to play around and maybe feels like you are bouncing around a bit and dipping your paintbrush into many different genres of art, this is an episode for you!

I am thrilled to introduce you to my talented guest, Katherine Bourdon. Katherine describes her work as “Constantly evolving in the spirit of exploration and spontaneity.” As an artist and a musician, Katherine thinks subconsciously in terms of sound quality with each painting. The visual and auditory senses are intertwined into a single experience as she perceives the sound as color and form, and vise versa.

Join me for this conversation as Katherine opens up about how she got started as an artist, the challenges she has faced in her career, the habits that have helped her succeed, what it’s like as an artist with Synesthesia, and so much more!

All over the place

If someone were to describe your artwork or your style as “All over the place.” Would you take that as a compliment or something different? How would you respond in the moment? When she heard someone describe her artwork as “All over the place,” Katherine didn’t miss a beat - was quick to explain that her biggest passion is, “Finding rhythm, pattern, and color in whatever the subject is.” Don’t be afraid to stand boldly in your vision of your artwork! It was so refreshing to hear Katherine confidently state exactly what she is trying to accomplish with her art as she invites her fellow artists to do the same.

Music and visual art explored through Synesthesia

If you’ve been around the Savvy Painter community for very long, you’ve heard me mention my fascination with artists and individuals who experience Synesthesia. Katherine Bourdon was kind enough to open up about her journey as an artist who embraces Synesthesia in her artwork.

Synesthesia is a neurological condition in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway (for example, hearing) leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway (such as vision). Simply put, when one sense is activated, another unrelated sense is activated at the same time.

I was curious to find out about the connection between music and visual art that Katherine experiences - she says that she noticed it very early on when her mother would play music at the piano. Katherine would eventually come to describe her ability as “Hearing colors,” as she started to notice the difference between individual composers like Bach and Beethoven. What can you learn from Katherine’s journey? Make sure to check out the images of her artwork located at the end of this post!

Outline of This Episode

• [0:05] I introduce my guest, Katherine Bourdon.
• [6:00] How Katherine got started as an artist.
• [8:30] Early family influences.
• [11:00] The connection between music and visual art explored through Synesthesia.
• [20:00] Searching for style and incorporating exploration in painting.
• [27:30] How Katherine learned to paint and the impact that art history had on her.
• [29:30] Getting back into the studio after some time away.
• [33:30] Healthy habits that work for Katherine.
• [39:00] Challenging moments from Katherine’s career.
• [41:00] Katherine talks about her dream project.
• [44:00] Tips for emerging artists.
• [47:30] The future of art and art sales.

Other artists mentioned on this episode

• Johann Sebastian Bach
• Ludwig van Beethoven
• Henri Matisse
• Mark Bradford

Resources Mentioned on this episode

• katherinebourdon.com
• Kate Bourdon (@katebourdon) • Instagram

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