June 18, 2020
By Ryah Cooley
An old piece of jewelry.
Keys.
The tiny pitcher for the coffee creamer.
That old necklace.
Seemingly, all these things have nothing in common.
But to Kathie Sinor, these are all potential art supplies.
Sinor, who works in assemblage, is currently showing some of her art as part of the Color Me Red show, which features the works of artists from the Paso Robles Art Association, at Studios on the Park.
"My work is more unusual because there aren't a lot of people doing assemblage," Sinor said. "You reuse commonplace items, and you can do all kinds of [art] with them."
Sinor may take a mold, a sugar bowl, or raggedly clothes to create figurines, like the ladies featured in Color Me Red.
This one has a little silver crown; that one has a cheery red rose on her bonnet.
"I like the shape of them, so I collect them and I play with them," Sinor said of her found art supplies. "It's mostly finding the objects and putting them to play with when you sit down to work."
While you'll only see touches of red in Sinor's work, she does take the show's theme to heart.
"It could be red with anger," she said. "It could be the color red. I'm a red hat lady, so I put a little red rose on her hat."
Sinor is referring to the Red Hat Ladies Society, a national organization dedicated to female friendship.
Describing her work as eclectic, Sinor has always had an affinity for making three-dimensional art. In the past, she created pottery, sculptures, and shadow boxes themed around Dia de los Muertos.
Sinor said she draws inspiration for her work from nature and by putting interesting shapes together. She said that she hopes viewers of her work take away a feeling of whimsy, "the feeling that everyday things can be art if you look at them with an artistic eye." Δ
Arts Writer Ryah Cooley is seeing red. Contact her at rcooley@newtimesslo.com.
On display
Color Me Red will show at Studios on the Park in Paso Robles through July 31. Visit studiosonthepark.org for more information.
