Kathy Schmitt: July 2026 Featured Artist

Art and the life sciences were Kathy Schmitt’s major interests for as long as she could remember. Her mother, a late-in-life oil painter and one of the earliest members of HVAA, always encouraged her daughter in her artwork, but advised her not to make a career of it as there was no money in it. Instead, Kathy pursued her other interest, the biological sciences, eventually earning a Master’s degree in Medical Technology from Cal State Dominguez Hills.

Kathy had little formal art training and did not take up art again until she was nearing retirement from her job as a Clinical Laboratory Scientist at Hemet Hospital. Her daughter gifted her a watercolor set and brush one year after hearing her say she’d like to start painting again. That, Kathy laughed, forced her hand.

Kathy worked strictly in watercolor, gouache, and the occasional collage for nearly 10 years before branching out to acrylics, pastels, and casein (a water-based medium she had used in junior college). Kathy has been active in HVAA for more than 20 years.