| behind the brush |
Animals in Art
A new collection of vibrant pet portraits will be on display with the Animal Kingdom
exhibit at the Steffen Thomas Museum of Art this summer.
SUMMER 2021 | LAKE OCONEE LIVING 15
but become beloved members of the family.
What better way to memorialize treasured pets
than having a painted portrait of them created?
Artist Katharine Wibell, a 32-year-old Morgan
County native who has spent the last seven
years in New Orleans, paints special portraits
of pets for her clients, creating a one-of-a-kind
keepsake for families for forever.
“Animals have always been my subject matter
and painting pets is one of my favorite things to
do,” says Wibell. “I love turning photographic
images into vibrant, colorful works of art. Pets
are part of the family. They deserve to be treated
as such and what better way than to have a
painting of them hung in your home?”
Wibell, who is moving back to Morgan County
this summer, will be selling some of her artwork
at the Steffen Thomas Museum of Art in
Buckhead later this summer when the museum
debuts its new Animal Kingdom exhibit.
“It’s a family-friendly exhibit which will
showcase Steffen Thomas’s animal art,” explains
Wibell. “I am one of two contemporary animal
artists to be featured in their Museum Shop
where several of my pet portraits and other wild
animal art will be on display.”
The new exhibit is set to open on July 22, after
Wibell settles back into her hometown to find
A
STORY BY TIA LYNN IVEY
Animal lovers everywhere know
that pets are not just furry friends
to care for,
Katherine Wibell
creates colorful
portraits using
reverse glass painting
techniques, a process
that involves painting
a mirror image in
layers on the glass.
Her work will be on
display at the Steffen
Thomas Museum
of Art this summer.
She is one of two
contemporary animal
artists to have their
works displayed in
the exhibit ‘Animal
Kingdom,’ opening
July 22.