Kathy Tollenaere
Kathy Tollenaere, of Fairfield, Iowa, is married with two grown children and six grandchildren. She was born and raised “on the farm” in Northern (north-central) Iowa near Clear Lake and Mason City, and was privileged to stay home while her children were elementary school-age. She retired a few years ago after teaching second grade in the Fairfield public school system for fourteen years.
Some of her favorite activities have been singing (especially in the church choir), landscaping and flower gardening, quilting, and many other artistic pursuits, especially drawing. Drawing with colored pencils has turned into an “affair of the heart and soul.” She has concentrated on using a couple of different brands of colored pencils, each of which has its own merits.
Kathy especially enjoys drawing birds (what a variety there are!), small mammals, and anything else that appeals to her. Yes, she does paint, occasionally with watercolor and acrylics. Presently, though, she enjoys the detail afforded to her through the colored pencils.
She had a showing in 2018 at the Fairfield Iowa Art Association. During the past several years, she has shown a few pieces in the Art Association Membership Show. Many pieces were shown for two months in a venue in Fairfield (2024), in Ashland, NE (2025), and the Josie Harper Hospice House in Omaha, NE (July through August of 2025). Her artwork is also being shown in Fonda and at Buena Vista Regional Medical Center, during the months of October, November and December.