Creativity has many forms in Kat Morris’ life

Kat Morris spent a lot of time alone as a child. Her single mother often sent her by train to her grandmother’s house in a small town in Montana called Paradise.

When you look at the sensitive nature of her paintings and read the romantic flow of her writing, one might surmise that she found her own paradise in her creative expressions.

A writer, painter and quilt designer, Morris, 56, said she’s passionate about art and writing. “I love anything creative,” she said. She confesses that there’s a touch of sadness to her from her solitary childhood and that most of her stories will make a reader cry.

“In a writing class, another student described my work as a Monet painting,” she said. The reference is illustrated well in her story called “Angelina.” “… A resplendent waterfall cascaded down a rock face, pushed back into a narrow ravine, falling for at least a hundred feet before it plunged beneath the surface, tossing a fine mist into the air, breakers rushing over and around the boulders at the base of the cliff creating the tranquil sound of a bubbling brook.”

Morris writes short stories, poetry and children’s stories. “My children’s books are all based around one family and their friends at the turn of the century and their adventures and everyday life worries, solving problems, learning kindness, forgiveness along with helping and being responsible. Most of all to be a child right or wrong, everyone makes mistakes. I would say they would probably fall into an inspirational category.”

Morris’ paintings also have an inspirational feel from her portraits of celebrities and children to her renditions of wildlife. Though she has taken few classes, her natural talent and passion for recreating a moment in time and capturing a feeling shines through. She has painted in watercolor and acrylics but her main medium is pastels.

Though she has shown her work only at the Plains Public Library in Montana, a ribbon-earning display at Montana’s State Fair and a spot in the local Raw Space exhibit, word of mouth has earned her sales and commissions including the dozen portraits of rock stars she did for Classic Rock Casino.

She has also designed quilts for a quilt company and taught classes. Her business cards have photos of her work with the name of her specialty portraits business, Cattitudes.

Currently she works in customer service and spends her off hours painting and writing. She has three rooms dedicated to her artistic endeavors set up in her Spokane Valley home.

Three years ago she started a writing group that meets once a week. She hopes that her future includes the publication of some of her stories, the opportunity to illustrate a children’s book or her paintings to grace the cover of a greeting card. “I chase myself a lot,” she said, “I’m very busy creating.”