Alva Review-Courier -

Growing up in central Montana and visiting her grandparents' ranch left an indelible imprint on Kathryn Leitner's creativity. From childhood she was interested in art, starting with graphite and moving into colored pencils and oils. She credits the encouragement and support of her family and her high school art teacher with keeping her artistic interest alive.

From Montana, Leitner moved to California where she attended four years of high school. When her grandfather died, her grandmother sold the Montana ranch and moved to Oklahoma. That drew Leitner to Oklahoma as well. She's lived in this state for almost 30 years now.

Leitner says Bob Faust of Okarche "helped me get started in oils." Then she moved on to oil painting and life drawing classes with Dennis Parker of Oklahoma City. Along the way she's attended workshops and training with various artists.

Located outside Kingfisher, Leitner says she's near enough to make frequent visits to the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Art Museum in Oklahoma City. There she can "study good art" and seek inspiration.

She says of her focus on western art, "I enjoy that lifestyle. I like to feature the families of the rural ranching community."

Although she enjoys using oils, Leitner finds herself returning to colored pencils to express her ideas. "I like the detail I can achieve with that," she says.

Leitner's work is on display at the Graceful Arts Gallery in downtown Alva during August where you can learn more about her and how to contact her. For more about Leitner, check her website at http://www.kathrynleitnerwesternart.com.