Artist Profile for Kay Robbins

When I was young my Granny Burleson showed me how to make leaf hats using the large leaves from what we called bean trees. We would snap off short pieces of twigs to use as pins and fashion a wide-brimmed sun hat with the leaves. To trim these millenary creations we gathered all sorts of wildflowers and various vegetation. No two were ever alike. Our leaf hats were certainly worthy of any Easter Parade....

When the weather did not permit us to forage for leaves and wildflowers Granny helped me to make “cloth pictures.” She would cut an old sheet into pieces about twelve inches square. With crayons as my medium I would create my masterpieces on the cloth. These were almost always boats with bright colored sails. When I was finished with my art Granny would put the piece between two layers of waxed paper and then iron it to set the image. Thus the seeds of my career as a maritime artist were sewn.

Born in a small southern town with a heritage of talented, yet unheralded master craftsmen and artists, Kay Almond Robbins is an emerging artist with a quest for individuality. From life's physical and emotional traumas, and perhaps from the depths of her Native American Cherokee lineage, comes a passion and strength that is reflected in the vibrancy of her work.

Kay has recently emerged as an artist, having begun her art career late in life. Her rapidly evolving style is evident in paintings which become ever more complex while reaching for simplicity. Months of research and experimentation have resulted in a process using gouache and ink that compliments her natural landscapes, working marine vessels, and weathered faces.

An award winning self-taught artist, Kay seldom searches outside her southern coastal area for the subjects of her art.

Publications

The Artist’s Magazine
April, 1999

Film Credits

Summer Catch
Warner Bros. Feature Film
2000

Professional Associations

President
ARTFaces | ARTPlaces, Inc.
1999-2001

Artist Member
American Society of Marine Artists

Exhibiting Member
Wilmington Art Association
Associated Artists of Southport
Arts Council of the Lower Cape Fear

Associate Member
The International Artist Society