Kate Starling is developing an unusual painting style that is capturing attention throughout the West. Her work recently won awards at several regional competitions including the Carmel Art Festival and the Plein Air Festival in Tucson. One of her paintings was accepted in the prestigious Oil Painters of America National Exhibition held in Palm Desert, California. Throughout her life, Kate's interest has been outdoors. She has worked as a consulting geologist in California, a cook on Grand Canyon river trips (where she met her husband), a firefighter in a national park and as a naturalist in Alaska. Climbing a mountain to merely contemplate nature was never sufficient, though. "I always needed something to do once I got where I was going," she says.

So, Kate developed an interest in drawing and printmaking and then enrolled in an oil-painting class that changed her life. Exploring this new passion, she pursued a Masters of Fine Arts at the university of Oregon and her artistic interests became focused.

When Starling's first child was born, Kate knew that oil painting would command her free time and that she would have to get out of the house to have any. Thus began the balancing act between role of mother and artist. After their second child was born, Kate's husband helped set up a routine of arriving home in the afternoon to play "Mr. Mom" allowing Kate to make the transition from Mom to artist for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Rather than relying on photographs, Kate prefers to paint outdoors, remaining true to her lifelong love of the natural elements. It is style known as plein air painting. Her palette has always been simple, the colors bold, and the brush strokes confident and decisive.