Kathie Wheeler views the world through the eyes of an artist. Her desire to create was nurtured early on. Kathie was born in 1962 and was raised in the Chicago area. As a young woman she studied at the American Academy of Art where she won the prestigious Union Art League Scholarship Competition, then worked as a freelance commercial artist and portrait artist.

Kathie creates remarkable landscapes and portraits and works primarily with a rich oil palette and also enjoys pastels and drawing in conte, charcoal, pencil and ink. She paints plein air throughout the year as well as working in the studio. She has shown he work in several local and national shows over the course of the past ten years. In 2001, Kathie was a finalist in the Artist Magazine Portrait Competition, and in 2006 won the Founder's Award at the Art Center of Estes Park "Lines into Shapes" show. Most recently, she won best of show in the First Annual Paintout in Redwing, Minnesota.

As a child, Kathie was drawn to the spirit of the Hudson River School of Artists and the American impressionists who took to the field and woods with their sketchbooks and paints to record the beauty of their surroundings. Her paintings reflect the experience of her life in the valley in the way that only someone who has lived and worked the land here can. "I try to put the feeling or emotion I see in a place or person on the canvas. My hope is that the viewer can take some of that away with them."