My nature narrative paintings are inspired by the romance of vintage Chinoiserie, layered with pattern, botanicals, color and hidden motifs. We live in a 110-year-old Bainbridge Island home built with barnacled beach rock and weathered grey shingles. The old fir floorboards of our home, milled from the surrounding trees, remind me on a daily basis of the love and gentle patina of time—the sound and scent of the forest. With their decay and rebirth, they send their message to my art as I explore how the fresh beauty of the “new” evolves, over time, into something far more interesting and dramatic. Worn surfaces and distressed textures combine to create a sense of something soft and lovely and familiar; but yet, I feel the need to add a bold swath of color to add the modern and unexpected. It’s a resting place for the eye, a welcome peaceful voice as something reinvented emerges: gentle old meets dynamic new.

Exhibitions & Galleries

530 Burns Gallery, Sarasota, Florida
Anne Irwin Fine Art, Atlanta, Georgia
Bainbirdge Island Museum of Art, Spring 2017 Exhibition: Revering Nature
Gallery Orange, New Orleans
Kaller Fine Arts, Washington, DC and New York
Museo Gallery, Langley, Washington
Pacini Lubel, Seattle, Washington
Roby King Galleries, Bainbridge Island, Washington

Selected Public Art

Group Health, Seattle, Washington
Island Hospital, Anacortes, Washington
Swedish Medical Center, Seattle, Washington
Swedish Medical Center, Issaquah, Washington

Publications & Blogs

VIE Magazine, February & October 2019
Luxe Interiors + Design magazine, Pacific Northwest Edition, “Style Maker,” Q2 2013
Better Homes & Gardens, May 2013
Seattle Magazine, March 2011
Casas & Mas, Mexico’s premier interior design magazine, March 2011
Maison Française magazine, Turkey, September 2010
Ocean Home, online design magazine, October 2010
Flowerona, London-based, flower-inspired blog
Eiseman Color Blog, Lee Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute
Nest by Tamara, one of HGTV’s favorite interior design blogs
Ovando, New York City Floral and Event Designer’s blog

Collaborations

Artwork for luxury cosmetic brand Cle de Peau Beaute (Shiseido): “Nuit de Chine” limited edition 2017 Holiday Collection

Representation

Kathe Fraga is represented in Bainbridge Island and Park City, Utah by JGO Galleries, in Sarasota, Florida by 530 Burns Gallery, on Martha’s Vineyard by Nikki Sedacca Gallery, and in Lake Forest Park, Washington by Red Sky Gallery.

Please email Kathe if you’d like to be on her mailing list.