Vermont : A Love Story
The quiet twinkle of Kathleen Kolb , her welcoming manner , is similar to the feel of her work . No loud blare , but an inviting kindness . Everyone speaks of Kolb , in terms of her talent and draftsmanship , but also her intense work ethic , her respect for others , her gentle good humor , and a give-and-take collaborative spirit .
Sarah Freeman , Director of Exhibitions at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center spoke of Kathleen ’ s work :
“ Kolb ’ s paintings show a different side of the Vermont landscape than we usually see . The real Vermont . Not the perfect red barn with the Holstein cows . Something different . It feels very genuine to the experience of being here in Vermont .” These aren ’ t traditional landscapes , not the bucolic , pastoral scenes of rolling hills . They ’ re working landscapes . They ’ re domestic . They ’ re agricultural . Some are of the logging and forestry industries .
A lot of her landscapes have domestic exteriors — houses with toys in the snow , barns with tools and working implements , clothes hanging on the line .
A barn is a real thing . It ’ s a place that houses serious work . One of the other things about her work that I find the most striking is how she captures winter light . Light on the snow . That luminous quality that she gets , that sets her apart .”
Kolb reminisced , “ When I first came to Vermont , we would drive up from Providence and arrive in the evening . I remember seeing a scene , one of the few people in town who still had farming animals . It just touched me . He was moving around in the barn . At that point , I could feel the cold and the lights and the hills . I could see some sign of life and I put that into the painting . That evening light has remained an important , enduring part of my work .”
In her book A Farm of Her Own , Kolb ( with writer Natalie Kinsey-Warnock ), pays tribute to an earlier , simpler time ; gathering eggs , canning , gardening , haying .
30 VERMONT MAGAZINE