TORONTO — Katherine Dolgy Ludwig has come a long way from her first drawings, on the cardboard from her father’s laundered shirts.
Katherine Dolgy Ludwig poses with one of her paintings. [Laura Fixman photo]
Katherine Dolgy Ludwig poses with one of her paintings. [Laura Fixman photo]
TORONTO — Katherine Dolgy Ludwig has come a long way from her first drawings, on the cardboard from her father’s laundered shirts.
A Torontonian, she’s now part of the international art scene, having exhibited her paintings in shows in the United States and in London, England, as well as in Canada, over the past eight years.
Her latest Toronto show, PaintingFlowerLanguage, runs at the Pearl Gallery in Holy Blossom Temple until July 10.
Dolgy Ludwig has become an artist with a distinct style that she feels people will recognize.
“I have been painting so long that something’s taken over that’s uniquely mine,” she said.
She said she decided to feature watercolour paintings of flowers at Holy Blossom because the show would then be appropriate for all viewers, from small children to older adults. She also wanted to exhibit paintings that are a part of her life, and she thought that showing watercolours of flowers fit with the temple’s name.
“The flower is always beautiful,” Dolgy Ludwig said, “It doesn’t matter what’s in the room around it.”
She said that her process of painting watercolours is an uncommon one. She starts with what she feels is the most interesting part of the painting and adds whatever she’s thinking about as she works. She uses thick lines and doesn’t draw what she’s going to do beforehand.
“I like my paintings to be really free,” she said. “I don’t do a lot of pre-planning.”
Dolgy Ludwig waited until her four children were old enough to be self-sufficient to begin painting professionally. She travels frequently to New York and London to participate in shows. She said that travelling wouldn’t have been possible when her children were younger.
“If I didn’t put 110 per cent into painting, I couldn’t have made it a full career,” she added.
She said she has painted subjects that she feels other artist might ignore. She painted U.S. soldiers for an exhibit at the Pentagon because she felt that was how she could help them. She painted police officers in London, England, and Playboy bunnies in Las Vegas, because she felt they were misunderstood people.
“It was all about showing that they’re real people with real lives,” Dolgy Ludwig said.
She sees her paintings as a way of expressing the concept of tikkun olam, because she can give back to the community through her painting. She likes the fact that her paintings have a lasting impact on people, and she thinks that is a good way to reach out to the world.
“I like that peoples’ children will grow up with my paintings and remember them,” she said.
When painting portraits, she often doesn’t like to have her subjects formally posed. She prefers to have them in their natural environment, to bring some life to their paintings, she said. She brings her Spiderman painting case when she does portraits because she feels that it puts her subjects at ease.
A series of paintings she did in New York featured dozens of people of various races and religions. She painted sixth-grade classes in public schools and religious groups including a convent of nuns and worshipping Hindus, Orthodox Jews and Arab Muslims. She hopes that people from the three faiths realize that they have a lot in common when they view these paintings. With every exhibit, Dolgy Ludwig hopes that she can help bring different people together, she said.
“It’s all about a sense of community,” Dolgy Ludwig said. “I also have to remember what I believe is important to paint.”
When she attended the Ontario College of Art and Design, she was told many times that flowers and children are not “important” subjects. This was a lesson she had to ignore because she feels that these subjects put the most life into her paintings, she said.
“Whether it’s flowers or children, you’re always going to feel something,” she said.
Dolgy Ludwig counts many people and places among her inspirations. She said that she still continues to apply what she learned from many of her teachers, including the late Canadian artists, Goodridge Roberts and Graham Coughtry. She added that Holy Blossom was a big inspiration to her while she attended. She is happy that her children are still involved in the Hebrew school there.
“I chose Holy Blossom because they have the best teachers in the city,” she said. “I wanted my children to like going to Hebrew school.”
Although most of her paintings are for shows and take about three weeks to complete, sometimes Dolgy Ludwig is inspired when she doesn’t have a show, and finishes one faster. She finds that these often end up being among some of her best paintings.
“Sometimes you get an idea and you just want to make a painting for fun,” she said.
For more information about Dolgy Ludwig, visit www.katherinedolgyludwig.com.
