ABOUT BETSY KUHN
I was the youngest of three children, born in the Midwest United States to a military family that moved from place to place every four years or so.
In late childhood, four years were spent in postwar Europe, and I had the privilege of realizing that the world was large with great similarities, great differences, and many opportunities. Our family lived on the economy in both Germany and France.
From my earliest memories, it was the image rather than the words or sensations that captured and directed my energy to create.
During those early years, I enjoyed drawing….the line, the outline, positive and negative space….images mostly pertaining to the human form. My older sister was the designated artist in our little family, and my earliest memory is of being in my mother’s arms while my sister was sitting at a table drawing a three-dimensional image of the table on a piece of paper! In all probability, I was still not walking.
Thinking back on this incident, it is wondrous to me that I realized that she could do this magical act. My sister and I enjoyed many years in early childhood making puppet shows, creating the scenery for the shows, and gathering natural objects in the forest to decorate and stage these neighborhood events.
We were raised in a very traditional Catholic setting that surely informed many of our early drawings of angels, devils and spirits. These were alive and intense images that were with me in my waking day and in my dream life. It is likely that the restraint and the hidden nature of our family’s limits that catapulted me into my career as a family counselor. I have been particularly interested in Jungian psychology and the nature of the archetypal mind. My work with children and families was centered around images rather than words. Clients would actually tell me their stories by selecting objects and placing them in a Sandtray. In this way, they could tell me about their world and their stories.
What a natural precondition to be now fully claiming art as what I love to do! I love painting and drawing the New Mexico landscape because I love being out in it. I spend lots of time at Ghost Ranch, Georgia Okeefe’s home, and in Taos, New Mexico, where I recently completed a three month Artist Residency at the Wurlitzer Institute. As a painter, I am now continuously exploring both the inner and outer landscape of my life.
My background was in Counseling Psychology and Art Therapy with a BA in Fine Art and a Masters in Counseling Psychology. My career has been working with young children and families in school and private settings. I recently moved to Tesuque, New Mexico.
“From earliest memories it was the image, rather than words or even sensations, that captured and directed my energy to create. I explore color and value, often with an interest in landscape. I find life drawing classes the best training for whatever I am going to do next, whether still life, portraiture, the New Mexico landscape, or a series of seashells. I am most interested in ‘reporting back’ to the viewer my images – perhaps to enhance, expand, inform or confirm their own.”
RESUME OF BETSY KUHN
Webster University – Minor in Fine Art 1968
- New Mexico State Fair Fine Art Exhibition (6 times) with 3rd place pastel
- Harwood Art Center, Albuquerque, NM 12” x 12” show (5 years)
- Luna Project Artist Group
- NM Pastel Society Juried Shows
- San Isidro Church Art Show, Corrales, New Mexico
