Off The Wall Magazine Q&A with Kim Case
4/1/2019
Maine. I am blessed to live in such a beautiful state. While it has provided endless visual inspiration, the values of my neighbors have been equally influential. People here have no patience for gimmicky art. It’s not that they don’t appreciate a good metaphor, but you’d better have the skill to back it up. It’s this appreciation for quality that has freed me from overthinking my work, and constantly pushed me to improve.
Inspiration. Literature, poetry especially, influences my work. If a painting can hold you like a good poem, move you to feel something a little different, inspire an emotion with a splash of color or mood, what more can we ask?
Medium. I paint with oils on canvas, and more recently on birch board. Oil paintings are the simply the most luminous. With careful glazing, the surface of a painting can appear to glow, even in the dimmest rooms.
Artist Hero. Winslow Homer, another Mainer, is a huge inspiration. His greatest work is psychological, yet beautiful. His pieces make you long for something you didn’t know you’d lost and are the happier for discovering it.
Studio. My studio is pretty humble. I work from home where I can be accessible to my family. My husband is currently building me a studio at the edge of a field on our property.
Where in Maine I live in Cape Elizabeth, not far from my parents, and with easy access to beaches and woodland walks.
Fun Fact. For 5 years I lived in Oregon—in the other Portland. It was fun to compare and contrast the East Coast to the West, but I missed the snow, and the endless rain was more moldy than moody.
Education. I attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. I’ve also been to numerous courses and workshops around the U.S. and Europe to hone my skills.
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