Kathleen Trenchard was walking on the University of Mary Washington campus early one morning when something caught her eye next to Melchers Hall. The giant cedar tree bathed in sunlight soon became the subject of her first piece for her Topics in Painting course.
“In the class, we were focusing on our personal canon and how we wanted to grow as an artist,” said Kathleen, who captured the evergreen in a photo and amplified the colors before bringing it to life on canvas with vibrant blue, red, green, and gold oil paint and pigment powder. “It was an exercise to push myself in ways that are not normal for me.”
After decades as a self-taught artist and military spouse, Kathleen is pursuing a Bachelor of Liberal Studies degree in studio art at Mary Washington – and earning recognition for her work in the process. Her painting, “On the Way to Class,” spent several months hanging in Brompton, home to UMW President Troy Paino and wife Kelly. The piece also graces the cover of the 2023-24 Fiscal Year Endowment Report, recently published by the Office of University Advancement and the UMW Foundation.
Kathleen was also selected from over 600 professional artists from New Jersey to South Carolina to have her work displayed in the Mid-Atlantic New Painting Biennial exhibit. The oil painting of her husband, “Terry,” and more than 70 other works – including those by Mary Washington alumni Heidi Reszies ’86, Emma Knight ’92, and Jasper Drilling ’22 – were on view in the UMW Galleries throughout much of the fall semester.
“I didn’t realize the caliber of artists who were considered, so I was really surprised to find out I was the only current UMW student with a painting in the show,” Kathleen said. “It was such an incredible honor.”
A Pennsylvania native, Kathleen briefly moved to Fredericksburg almost two decades ago with her husband, a Marine who was stationed at Quantico. After stints across the country and abroad, her family returned to Virginia, where she began helping their children explore their college options. She soon realized that she wanted to go back to school herself.
“I had always done art as a hobby, but it was never something I thought about doing professionally,” said Kathleen, who immersed herself in courses in painting, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, woodworking, and art history. “It’s good to know you can just follow a dream and see where it takes you.”
She also began a museum studies minor, which she’s completing under the mentorship of Professor of Historic Preservation Cristina Turdean and UMW Galleries Director Tracy Stonestreet.
“Kathleen is an incredibly motivated and thoughtful student,” Tracy said. “Her interest in art is evident in her work across campus and the community. She has a unique painting style – both realistic and stylized, with a great sense of color.”
Kathleen has also volunteered as a docent at the nearby Marine Corps Museum. This spring, she’s an intern with the museum’s artist-in-residence, Kristopher Battles. “I’ll help him train young Marines to become combat artists, so they can make a visual record for the history of the Marine Corps,” she said.
She plans to continue working there after she graduates. In the meantime, she’s creating a series that depicts the UMW instructors who have made an impact on her and her education.
“I wanted to gift each of my professors a portrait to thank them for their dedication to my artistic goals,” said Kathleen, who learned to loosen her brush strokes and explored new color choices with the series. “What I have learned from them has been invaluable to me and my journey.”
– Article by Assistant Director of Advancement Communications Jill Graziano Laiacona ’04
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