"Kathryn's paintings probe for a sense of things beneath the surface. Her Italian Heritage informs and infuses her sense of form, her rich, yet muted sense of color. She is the only portrait artist I love."
- Beverly Cassell, MFA, Painter, Founder of the Artist Conference Network.

Kathryn Donatelli has been known to take creative risks to give the finished piece the element of surprise, such as nailing a pair of vintage roller skates to a self portrait to drive home a point. Whether she is painting on hand-prepared plastered canvases or on the traditional stretched linen, a life force inflames the figures.
With bold determination Kathryn takes the portrait beyond Likeness, reaching into the depths of the Character and Soul of the sitter. Notice how she turns an unforgiving surface of cheesecloth on panel into an heirloom treasure, the subject floating in a mist of heaven's clouds. Specializing in uncommon textures and creating commissioned portraits that enchant and captivate, is what separates Donatelli's work from the many traditional portrait artists working today.