After graduating with a BFA in Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Art and Design and studying commercial art at Pratt, Kathy started her career as a graphic artist and worked at the New York Public Interest Group for six years. She then worked as an editorial illustrator doing assignments for The New Yorker Magazine among others.

At the beginning of her career she was inspired by Edward Hopper, whose work she finds very intimate and mysterious. Particularly the way that the images draw you in, and the viewer becomes a voyeur. Another influence is the Italian Renaissance painter Piero della Francesca—an artist very intimate in his approach to painting and with an insider's view and attention to detail.


In her more recent work, Kathy continues to focus on details, painting meticulous backgrounds and drawing the viewer into the scene. While working on Wedding Pictures, a book about the obsessions captured in discussing relationships, faith, betrayal and clothes, Kathy developed a sensitivity for mystery and setting mood through the contrast between action and background. In Dialog No. 15, Helen and Ted discuss their daughter’s poor choice of wedding dress, while they stroll arm in arm past a beautiful window displaying the classic wedding dress. The painting lays bare the details the text keeps secret.