About the Artist

 Kathy Poitras was born into an artist family.  Her father, commercial and portrait artist, and charismatic, bigger than life,  professional gambler,  Joe Mallin, was an inspiration to her.  She and her siblings, all artists today, were not raised in a middle class environment.  Kathy has many stories to tell about her early years. 

At a very young age.  She would accompany her Dad to his work sites and watch him paint huge murals. She studied everything he did.  By the time Kathy started Kindergarten she already knew what she wanted to be. When it came to art, she was also a bit of a rebel.  If the teacher said paint the ball red, she would have paint the ball red, and blue with stars on it. 

Kathy was so immersed in her own imagination that she barely made it out of kindergarten. She was always busily imagining a magical world around her. She romanticized just about everything she saw.  

Though she knew she was an artist, there were many barriers to her actually getting to the place she needed to be, to accomplish this. 

When Kathy was fourteen, she fell in love.  By the time she was nineteen, she had two children.  Her relationship with her husband didn’t last, and she moved to Manhattan, where she ran an inner city daycare.  This made it possible to care for her own children, and work at the same time. She did this until 1986. 

In 1986 illness forced her to stop working, and she went to Vancouver BC to be close to her family. 

It was in Vancouver BC that she became intensely interested in pursuing her art. A friend had given her an abundance of art supplies, knowing of her interest.  Her first paintings were very naïve and emotional.

Here a some samples of her early work. 

Joan  22 x 30 inches

Christmas Morning

Tommy, A Memorial

Kathy’s paintings really illustrated what was going on in her life at that time. 

She felt joy from her creations, and started to promote her work. 

She had a successful art show in 1990 at Imagistics in Vancouver.  Her first painting sale was to well known Canadian artist Gathie Falk.   

In 1994 Kathy had her paintings in the Gaslite Gallery in Gastown, Vancouver BC. where she was the feature artist. 

Also, in 1994 Kathy married her fifth husband, and soul mate, Jack Poitras. 

With this union, Kathy’s art took on a whole new theme. Her paintings became a celebration of life and love. 

In 1998 Kathy had an art show at Gallery 1313 in Toronto, with artist Raymond Chow. 

Kathy has sold  through private viewings for many years in Vancouver BC.   She has sold over 300 original paintings and countless hand made art cards, and reproductions of her work.  

She is inspired by her own emotions and the beauty and joy she sees around her.

Her mediums include watercolor, acrylic, hand embroidery, beads and appliqué. 

To sum up, one of Kathy’s clients states: 

“I find your style whimsical, yet it has a strength that is projected in your strong use of color. There is an innocence that comes across, and I think this is a
reflection of your true nature. I also find there is an excitement that is perhaps due to the raw untrained techniques you have created without the supervision of  others. This makes your art a unique expression which comes from the heart. 

   The hand embroidered work is world class and I love the way it can translate as a painting or as textile art”  SM