Mural & Mosaic Artist
The Artist
I cannot remember a time when I have not been creating art in some form or another. My earliest childhood memories consist of drawing, painting and craft projects. My first experience of mosaics was at my family's church in Oklahoma City. I remember as my parents were talking to their friends when we would leave each Sunday, I would get lost in my own little world as I trace the undulating lines of the smalti with my fingers, following the waves of color. I have always been drawn to glass in every form, the way light dances and reflects in it. When I was a teenager, I went to a Chihuly exhibit in Baltimore and it took my breath away. On the same trip, I went to my first bead shop and was in glass heaven. I bought as many blown glass pieces, millefiori and trade beads as I could afford. I started my own little jewelry business before I had even graduated high school and sold my pieces at craft shows and arts festivals all over the Oklahoma City/Edmond area. COLLEGE DAYS
When I started college, I began with a Fine Arts degree, but a little voice inside told me that being a "starving artist" would not be very practical. I took and Interior Design course and discovered that it was a good mix of art/creativity and math/codes, and I could satisfy my artsy side as well as my affinity for order and reason. After my second semester in the program, I went with my instructor and several other students to Italy for an art & architecture tour. It was amazing and I have not gotten rid of the travel bug since! I graduated in 1997 with a BA in Interior Design from the University of Central Oklahoma. A college internship lead to the first job of my career, designing very high end furniture for Troy Wesnidge, Inc, in Newcastle, OK. I still consider this as one of my favorite jobs. As a designer, we would hand draft each piece of furniture that was a custom request. I loved learning how all of the parts and pieces fit together. It was a very rewarding job in that we could go out to the shop and see each piece of furniture in various stages: being cut, carved, assembled, inlaid with specialty veneers and the many finish processes.
In 1998, I moved to Reno, NV to be near family. While I thought I was bored with design, a chance comment to a friend saying that I wanted to keep a foot in the door, led to a part time job as a computer draftsman for a local design firm. This in turn led to an incredible seven years with Kim Ciesynski and Spaces Design & Planning of Sparks, NV. We had the most amazing variety of projects, from casinos, to restaurants, healthcare, residential and multi-family housing, including the design, merchandising and installation coordination of over 100 model homes. We traveled all over the country to design conferences, workshops and trade shows. I worked as a designer, draftsman and project manager. We have been in various publications and won many awards including ASID and BANNer awards for our design. I helped Kim to build one of the most successful design firms in Northern Nevada. Check them out at www.spaces-design.com. I’M FINALLY A FULL TIME ARTIST! 
Artist statement/bio-
EARLY YEARS
In 1999, before I joined Spaces Design, I launched a mural and decorative painting business. Due to the flexible nature of my job at Spaces Design, I was able to nurture the business and in the fall of 2007, I became a full time artist. Over the years, I have painted everything from Cartoon-inspired children’s rooms, to Italian landscapes, underwater scenes, tropical rainforests, African savannahs, and detailed marble and wood graining. I love to paint and feel blessed every time I pick up a paint brush and know that I am able to do this for a living.
Although murals have made up the majority of my business, my true passion lies with mosaics. In my many travels abroad, I have always been immediately drawn to mosaics, whether it's Gaudi in Barcelona, the churches in Ravenna or the ruins in Pompeii. It's hard to explain how moving mosaics are to me-it goes to the very core of my being. I love to see how different artists express their art, with the melding of the vast variety and diversity of tessera, combining materials of various colors and textures. I get constant inspiration from seeing other's expressions of art. My favorite pieces are the ones with varying heights and textures. I am a very tactile person and I want other people to be drawn to my pieces of art and be compelled to touch then and look at theme from various angles to see how the light reflects off of the tiny surfaces, to get lost in the beauty of the intricacy. My first mosaics class was in Ravenna, Italy with Luciana Notturni (I had no idea of her renown when I signed up for the class, and on a personal note, she was delightful!). It was a week long course focusing on the ancient form of constructing smalti mosaics using the indirect method. I have subsequently taken courses at the Institute of Mosaic Art in Oakland, CA (fabulous and informative classes!), but otherwise am a self taught mosaic artist.
Contact Katie: katie@katismurals.com
