Garden sets stage for Batavia artist

I recently met Kathy and Haydon McPartland when I did a story on the Plain Dirt Gardeners' Garden Walk. The McPartlands' garden at their home on North Prairie Street was one of the featured gardens.

For the walk, Kathy had created whimsical characters from "Alice in Wonderland" to accent the lovely garden. Her garden was so beautiful that I asked her if she spent every minute of the day working in the garden.

"Oh no," she said. "I spend a lot of time working in my studio."

She then took me inside her home and up to her small studio in the back.

Beautiful scenes of gardens in a rainbow of colors filled the space. She showed me some of the homes she had painted and some of the commercial work she had done in Geneva.

Kathy painted quite bit before having a family. After raising her children, she returned to her first love --painting.

"I have always loved to paint," she said. "But I really believe that all of my experiences as a mother -- Cub Scout den mother, vacation Bible school leader, home-school teacher and grandmother -- prepared me for this. Who I am as an artist today is a part of who I was over the last few years as a mother."

All of those experiences helped Kathy in her business. Admittedly shy, she now has the confidence to converse with people and go out to take the necessary photos to paint their gardens or their homes.

She felt that she was influenced by her Geneva High School art teacher, Mrs. Churchill. Starting with her high school art, Kathy (nee Beardsley) developed a style that was recognizable by people in the community.

"I remember hearing someone say, 'Is that a Kathy Beardsley painting?'" she said. "Painting is my passion and my joy."

Part of Kathy's business is selling note cards with pictures of homes and gardens through the Paper Merchant in Geneva. But she enjoys doing the commission work with individual clients. Her paintings of homes and gardens are sold at a fraction of what other artists charge.

"Often people call me to do a painting of a home that someone is leaving," she said. "They want to give it as a gift to remember the many wonderful years spent there. It's a gift to be a part of that."

She can paint in the family dog or add a tree that was lost. The result is a lasting memory of your home with the special touches that make it more unique than a photograph.

"I know that this is the right time in my life to return to painting," said Kathy. "I will be driving past something or out for a walk and see things that I want to paint. The beauty of the Earth is all round us."