Kathleen Anne (O'Donnell) Dugan/ A Short Bio
Upon turning 50, after years of working in the banking and mutual fund industries, Kathi Dugan (formerly Kathleen O'Donnell from Quincy Ma.) rediscovered her passion for painting. In earlier days (especially after winning a Boston Globe Gold Key Award during her Junior High years) she had often desired to pursue her gifting for art but, for one reason or another, the door to art had always managed to stay shut, closed against her.
It took the birth of grandchildren and the creation of handpainted designs on furniture for them, before Kathi decided that it was time to put her gifting to work. Naturally talented and a largely self taught artist, she adopted a "now or never" and "all or nothing" attitude toward her painting. This time, the desire found fullfillment.
In the year 2002 Kathi took several "boot camp" style, very high end faux finishing classes, as well as a weekend mural class. She learned "perspective" and "viewpoint", terms she had either not known, understood or had long since forgotten.
Seizing the moment, Kathi created her own business, Wonders On Walls (www.wondersonwalls.com) . She began to market her abilities in the South Shore and greater Boson area. Kathi was granted the opportunity to decorate many homes and businesses with beautiful murals and extraordinary faux finishes.
Soon, Kathi was collaborating with Wilkins Art Associates, in their efforts to bring healing through the arts. More than a dozen of her pieces were installed upon the walls of Children's Hospital Boston, hopefully lifting the spirits of a hospital bound child and transporting their mind temporarily to a beautiful and vibrant place beyond their surrounding walls
In 2005, now established in a studio of her own, Kathi began to create paintings from personal photographs in her free time, primarily of her grandchildren. She discovered that she enjoyed capturing fleeting moments and expressions and she often translated the characters into fantasy settings. Soon after public viewing of her pieces in the 4th Floor Artist's yearly Open Studios she began handling requests for human, pet and home portraits, as well as landscape scenes and illustrations. Meanwhile she continued to beautify homes with murals and custom finishes.
Kathi’s work has received mention in Cranberry Coastal, Home Gallery, South Shore Living and OnTray magazines, as well as featured spots on several local cable shows. Her "Norman-Rockwell-style" self portrait was featured on the 2014 Dec./Jan. cover of On Tray, along with a 2 page spread.
Her artwork has been displayed in many local Art Festivals and Gallery Shows, including Uforge, Plymouth Center for The Arts, Russell Gallery, North River, South Shore, Perkins Gallery at Striar, and Clemens Gallery, Hingham. Many area businesses, Peck's Flooring America, Craving's Cafe, Angels By The Sea and Brewed Awakening have enjoyed displaying her samples and paintings.
Kathi currently offers prints of her work on www.kathidugan.com and is slowly continuing to add items to her shops on Etsy (https://www.etsy.com/shop/theartsycat) and Zazzle (http://www.zazzle.com/kathi+dugan+gifts). Her goal this year is to carve out an online presence for her art, making her art work for her, beyond the sale of the original painting.