Kathleen Parks Adkison

Artist Biography

Kathleen Parks Adkison, an innovative artist known for her unconventional painting techniques, was born in Beatrice, Nebraska in 1917. During her formative years, she moved with her family to Kearney, Nebraska before settling in Seattle, Washington at the age of 19. Her art studies began at the Cornish School (now Cornish College of the Arts) in Seattle from 1938 to 1942, where she studied under Leon Derbyshire. Her instruction was supplemented with additional private classes under artists Mark Tobey and Morris Graves. Notably, Adkison became Tobey’s first female student and his last living protégé. Her dedication to art education manifested through private lessons, teaching classes at the Seattle YMCA Art Department, and a teaching role at Washington State University Extension Service in Spokane from 1953 to 1962.

Adkison’s artistic talent extended beyond conventional techniques, as she abandoned traditional easels and brushes. In her basement studio, she employed methods of brushing, pooling, pouring, and dripping paint onto fully stretched and primed canvases set on the floors. This innovative approach defined her work, allowing a synthesis of nature-inspired childhood experiences with a focus on abstract qualities of line, shape, color, and texture.

Adkison’s prolific career featured over 40 solo exhibitions, including noteworthy showcases at the Frank Woessner Gallery in Seattle and the Cheney Cowles Museum in Spokane. Group exhibitions include venues such as the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Frye Art Museum, Whatcom Museum of History and Art, and the Seattle Art Museum. In 1962 she was one of eight women in the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair exhibition, Northwest Art Today. Her work is held in numerous public collections, including the Museum of Nebraska Art, New Britain Museum of American Art, Boise Art Museum, Butler Institute of American Art, and the Seattle Art Museum.