Local artist Kate Braun has been drawing for most of her life, but she has recently taken it a step further by displaying her work in tradeshows.
Braun, who grew up in Foxwarren, Manitoba, a small town about 350 kilometres west of Niverville, spent a lot of time drawing as a child.
“I’ve had no formal training but grew up in a family of artists,” she says. “We were always drawing in my family, to the point of running out of printer paper.”
In her earlier years, Braun would draw pictures of other artists’ work that she found interesting, but as she got older she realized that she wanted to create something of her own, perhaps something that would make an impression on another young artist.
“I’ve drawn a few tattoo designs for people, dabbled into realism, even a bit of painting,” Braun say of her art’s gradual evolution. “But I really found my style in incorporating nature into my work. I find nature to be peaceful. I feel connected to it. I’ve experimented with many different art types in the past few years, such as longboard designs, greeting cards, logo design, comics, and even a mural.”
Braun has had an interest in graphic design and is always looking for ways to grow her craft and challenge herself. Recently she has started dabbling on the iPad and creating web comics, an avenue she thinks she might not have otherwise discovered had she stuck to pen and paint. Still, she prefers the simplicity of ink and drawing in black and white.
In November, she attended the Southeast Lifestyles Expo in Île-des-Chênes, her first time displaying her art for public consumption.
“I was introduced to the trade show by John Falk, my old neighbour,” Braun says. “After talking to him, I decided to give it a try. It was something I had always thought of doing but hadn’t done yet. It was a whole new world for me, showing my art to people in person. I’ve done a couple others after that show as well.”
While she has enjoyed exploring these new avenues in her art, she admits that she’s not quite sure where it will take her in the future.
“Doing something big with my art has always sounded exciting to me,” she says. “But for me, the important part is to just be creating. It’s what I love to do, and I enjoy it most when I’m doing it for myself.”
