
	Kate Black in the News Kate Black - Fusing Colors & Careers Sonoma Woman Creates by Rhoann Ponseti Click here to download a pdf file of this article. Like a dutiful daughter Dr. Kate E. Black (known as "Katie") tried to not only listen to the advice given by her parents, but to follow it. Katie's father was a doctor. Her mother was an artist. Those two disciplines are found in equal measure in their daughter's dreams and life. Father, a pathologist, told her not to go into medicine because it foreshadowed a life ruled by bureaucrats. "My art historian mother, on the other hand, told me not to go into art because I'd never make a living," she explains of her dual passions and careers. From her light-filled Santa Rosa Art Studio, Black's predilection for art shows up in the hundreds of brilliant jewel-toned pieces of fused-glass art she has created. Katie is filled with love and excitement about her art, which evolved from her original passion for ceramics, to glass blowing, and finally to fusing, when she discovered the ease of using smaller kilns versus the challenge of blown glass with its three-furnace process. Following the advice of both parents, Katie became a doctor and an artist. Creative genius by night, Dr. Black is a successful anesthesiologist by day. She has sculpted a flexible career, giving her the time and resources to pursue her artistic passion. "Our house was filled with a huge art collection. I was surrounded by art my whole life. I started working in clay in high school, and through college when I got involved in blowing glass. I was juggling ceramics, glass, and painting with a degree in Psychology. I really am a split personality! I went to grad school in Psychology for two years before deciding to go to med school." Explaining her life choices, Katie says, "I thought psychology would be easier than medicine. I was trying to do everything while avoiding a major life decision—that being art. It was a struggle of confidence—am I able to do this? When I became bored, I upped the ante, went back as a post-graduate at Columbia, went to pre-med, then medical school." The duties of school, career, and family caused Katie to put art aside. "I put my art in a closet for 20 years while I went to med school, settled in as a physician, had a kid, took on all those responsibilities. Then my girlfriend called and said there is this new glass form you can do from a home studio. I flew to LA, went to a master glass fuser's class and fell in love with this medium and have never stopped—I have a huge inventory of this stuff!" Joshua, Kate's son, is 14, and another important part of her rich life. "Having a studio at home is very valuable because I can do my work at night when he is in bed. He takes priority over my work and my art." Black's approach to creating glass is like painting, in a way. "My pieces come to me. I don't plan. I make the analogy to Mozart in that he couldn't write the notes down fast enough. It's a very rapid, collage process that just jumps out of me—I never know what is going to happen. Like cooking, it's a total meditative process. If I go too long without doing it, my edges get ruffled." Dr. Black sees a future for herself as an artist working on collaborative commissions with architects, interior designers, and other creative types. "I want to launch myself as a glass artist—just really rev it up." She has had shows in many locations and donates to local auctions. Her work can by seen at many Sonoma County venues, and anytime at SOURCE Design Referral & Gallery in downtown Santa Rosa, a collaborative of architects, designers, and artists.

Kate Black - Glass Fusion Artist

Kate Black in the News

Kate Black - Fusing Colors & Careers
Sonoma Woman Creates
by Rhoann Ponseti

Click here to download a pdf file of this article.

Like a dutiful daughter Dr. Kate E. Black (known as "Katie") tried to not only listen to the advice given by her parents, but to follow it. Katie's father was a doctor. Her mother was an artist. Those two disciplines are found in equal measure in their daughter's dreams and life. Father, a pathologist, told her not to go into medicine because it foreshadowed a life ruled by bureaucrats. "My art historian mother, on the other hand, told me not to go into art because I'd never make a living," she explains of her dual passions and careers.

From her light-filled Santa Rosa Art Studio, Black's predilection for art shows up in the hundreds of brilliant jewel-toned pieces of fused-glass art she has created. Katie is filled with love and excitement about her art, which evolved from her original passion for ceramics, to glass blowing, and finally to fusing, when she discovered the ease of using smaller kilns versus the challenge of blown glass with its three-furnace process.

Following the advice of both parents, Katie became a doctor and an artist. Creative genius by night, Dr. Black is a successful anesthesiologist by day. She has sculpted a flexible career, giving her the time and resources to pursue her artistic passion. "Our house was filled with a huge art collection. I was surrounded by art my whole life. I started working in clay in high school, and through college when I got involved in blowing glass. I was juggling ceramics, glass, and painting with a degree in Psychology. I really am a split personality! I went to grad school in Psychology for two years before deciding to go to med school."

Explaining her life choices, Katie says, "I thought psychology would be easier than medicine. I was trying to do everything while avoiding a major life decision—that being art. It was a struggle of confidence—am I able to do this? When I became bored, I upped the ante, went back as a post-graduate at Columbia, went to pre-med, then medical school."

The duties of school, career, and family caused Katie to put art aside. "I put my art in a closet for 20 years while I went to med school, settled in as a physician, had a kid, took on all those responsibilities. Then my girlfriend called and said there is this new glass form you can do from a home studio. I flew to LA, went to a master glass fuser's class and fell in love with this medium and have never stopped—I have a huge inventory of this stuff!" Joshua, Kate's son, is 14, and another important part of her rich life. "Having a studio at home is very valuable because I can do my work at night when he is in bed. He takes priority over my work and my art."

Black's approach to creating glass is like painting, in a way. "My pieces come to me. I don't plan. I make the analogy to Mozart in that he couldn't write the notes down fast enough. It's a very rapid, collage process that just jumps out of me—I never know what is going to happen. Like cooking, it's a total meditative process. If I go too long without doing it, my edges get ruffled."

Dr. Black sees a future for herself as an artist working on collaborative commissions with architects, interior designers, and other creative types. "I want to launch myself as a glass artist—just really rev it up." She has had shows in many locations and donates to local auctions. Her work can by seen at many Sonoma County venues, and anytime at SOURCE Design Referral & Gallery in downtown Santa Rosa, a collaborative of architects, designers, and artists.