Dawson Shares Her Love of Art and Johnson County

The paintings of Johnson County Center for the Arts' artist Kathy Dawson are known for their amazing detail and design. Dawson's work has been featured at the Center for the Arts since its opening in 2017 and she has been one its most accomplished artists. Asked how she became interested in creating art Kathy said, "I first started painting about 23 years ago in oils. I found a teacher at Woolworth Walk in Asheville, N.C., named Lorelle Bacon, that had classes that were affordable. I took classes for maybe 6 months and then my husband and I moved to Mountain City." Kathy is known to work in multiple mediums but a lot of viewers focus on her scratchboard pieces. Asked how she was introduced to the medium she explained, "it was after we moved to Mountain City that Lorelle came here and did two or three workshops. During the last workshop she had here, I did my very first scratchboard, it was of a wolf. It was so exciting for me!" After Lorelle's workshops in Mountain City, Kathy went to Asheville to visit, "she showed me a scratchboard that she had done of a Native American woman, of course it was not in color and I loved it," Kathy said. "That is when I told her, I want to learn to do that type of art. I am old school and there is still something about black and white art that I love. It makes me think of purely simpler times." Asked which of the different mediums Kathy prefers to work in now she said, "I guess I would have to say scratchboard is my favorite in doing fur and feathered pieces, but I have a love for watercolor. Watercolor would be my next favorite. It depends on my thought process for the day as to whether I will go to scratchboard or watercolor or even oils. Watercolor takes more planning and some days I am not a planner. I just want to jump in with both feet and just paint." "If I was going to take up a new medium," Kathy added, "it would definitely be pastels in landscape painting. The colors are so vibrant and pure! If I could ever master pastels in a landscape it would probably then be my favorite." Kathy and her husband have resided in Johnson County for 21 years. "We had looked at a lot of places," Kathy said, "God definitely had a hand in bringing us back to Johnson County several times and that was it. Everything we were looking for, low key living, friendly and beautiful! Can't imagine ever living anywhere else now. We are so blessed, this is home." To see more of Kathy Dawson's pieces visit the Johnson County Center for the Arts' Gallery on Main at 129 W. Main St. Mountain City, Tenn. Cutlines: 02 A scratchboard image of a red-breasted nuthatch done by Kathy Dawson. 03 An image of a little boy fishing on scratchboard by artist Kathy Dawson. 04 Kathy Dawson works in oil during the 2025 Johnson County Center for the Arts Garden Tour & Plein Air event. 05 Dawson works on the Center for the Arts first Community Mural in 2017. The mural represents the 1925 Mountain City Fiddlers Convention participants.