Kathryn M. "Kay" Hull

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Kathryn M. "Kay" Hull (American, 1923-1972) Western New York painter primarily known for her watercolor landscapes, scenes of barns & buildings, oil portraits and figurative works. She was born October 20, 1923 in Mt. Lebanon, PA (Allegheny County) to parents William Macurdy Bailey and Viola Betz Bailey, and she had a sister Anne Louise (Messersmith). After graduating from Syracuse University, College of Fine Arts with a BA in Fine Arts degree, she worked for a short time as fashion artist in Pittsburg, PA. She later took weekly art courses through local adult education programs where she discovered the technique of wet watercolor, which became her preferred method of working. She also studied with noted Buffalo artists Robert N. Blair, Catherine Koenig and James Vullo.

Kathryn Macurdy (née Bailey) married Minert “Miney” Edmund Hull, III (1922-1982), at her parents home on October 27, 1945 in Mt. Lebanon, PA. Kathryn and her husband built their home in Kenmore, NY, a suburb of Buffalo in 1945 and they raised three children. They moved to Orchard Park, NY in 1966 to a beautiful hillside area of tall pines and deep ravines in Orchard Hills, where thay had built their new home and where she discovered the inspiration that had driven her to paint in earnest. Her new home even featured a gallery where she could display her works, and her husband built the frames for her paintings.

She was a member of the Buffalo Society of Artists as well as the Williamsville & Kenmore Art Societies where she exhibited regularly and won prizes for her works. Kathryn passed away on August 24, 1972 and is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery along with her husband in Orchard Park, NY.

“…my prime interest is in the wonder of the natural world around me -as untouched by ‘civilization’ as I can find it.” —Kathryn Hull, 1969.

From one of her solo shows at the Georgetown Gallery in Williamsville, NY, an art critic once wrote, “Mrs. Hull, known in the artist community as Kay Hull, is a romantic realist who finds beauty of color and form in direct interpretations of nature. While she is faithful to the basic forms before her, her watercolors are not limited to prosaic visual imagery but encompass poetic responses to the subject—painted in fresh, confident, and sometimes cryptic strokes.”[1] –D.K. Winebrenner, Professor of Art Buffalo State College and art critic, Buffalo Courier-Express, October 15, 1968


Chronology:

1923- Born, October 20, William Macurdy Bailey and Viola Betz Bailey, and she had a sister Anne Louise (Messersmith), Mt. Lebanon (Allegheny County), PA.

1945- October 27, married Minert “Miney” Edmund Hull, III (1922-1982), his second wife, at her parents home in Mt. Lebanon, PA, and they raised three children.

From 1945-1966- Lived in Kenmore, NY in the house that she and her husband had built.

1959- April 7-30, exhibited, group show, Brighton Library, Tonawanda, NY.

1960-Exhibited, group show, “Renaissance in Williamsville: Seventh Annual Art Show of the Williamsville Art Society”, in addition to two works shown, Kathryn Hull also was chairman of the show, Bachelor Arms Building, Amherst, NY.

1966- Moved from Kenmore, NY to Orchard Park, NY.

1967- February-March, exhibited, group show (Red Ribbon & Honorable Mention in watercolor), “14th Annual Exhibit of the Williamsville Art Society”, Milkie Way Gallery, 5479 Main St., Williamsville, NY. September 16-17, exhibited, group show (Prize, landscape in watercolor), “Sixth Annual Quaker Arts Festival”, Orchard Park, NY.

1968- May 20-31, exhibited, group show (First Prize in watercolor), Williamsville Art Society, First Prize for “Winter Sunrise”, Georgetown Gallery, 5225 Sheridan Dr., Williamsville, NY. October 15-November 1, exhibited, solo show, Williamsville Art Society, paintings shown include “Fall Shadows”, “Sleeping Creek”, “Winter Blues”, January Thaw”, Early Spring”, “From My Window”, “By the Light”, “Pines and Aspens”, “Turbulence”, “Veiled Rock”, “Creekside” and “Falls at Colden”, Georgetown Gallery, 5225 Sheridan Dr., Williamsville, NY.

1969- May 7-May 25, exhibited, group show (1st & 2nd Prizes in watercolor), “16th Annual Members’ Show”, Williamsville Art Society, prizes for watercolors “Patterns, Wood and Stone” (1st Prize) and “Rock Bastion” (2nd Prize), Georgetown Gallery, 5225 Sheridan Dr., Williamsville, NY. September 13-14, exhibited, group show, “Eighth Annual Quaker Arts Festival”, Orchard Park, NY.

1970- November, exhibited, group show, Buffalo Society of Artists, M&T Plaza, First Floor, Buffalo, NY.

1972- Died, August 24, and is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, Orchard Park, NY.

Memberships/Associations: Buffalo Society of Artists, Buffalo, NY; Williamsville Art Society, Williamsville, NY; Kenmore Art society, Kenmore, NY.

Exhibited Other: Kenmore Art Society, Kenmore, NY; Carlton House Nursing Home, 60 Carlton St., Buffalo, NY; Cornell Laboratory, 4455 Genesee St., Cheektowaga, NY.

Prizes/Awards: Red Ribbon & Honorable Mention in watercolor, “14th Annual Exhibit of the Williamsville Art Society”, Milkie Way Gallery, 5479 Main St., Williamsville, NY, 1967; Prize, landscape in watercolor, “Sixth Annual Quaker Arts Festival”, Orchard Park, NY, 1967; First Prize in watercolor, Williamsville Art Society, First Prize for “Winter Sunrise”, Georgetown Gallery, 5225 Sheridan Dr., Williamsville, NY, 1968; 1st & 2nd Prizes, in watercolor, for “Patterns, Wood and Stone” (1st Prize) and “Rock Bastion” (2nd Prize), “16th Annual Members’ Show”, Williamsville Art Society, Georgetown Gallery, 5225 Sheridan Dr., Williamsville, NY, 1969.

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(Written & compiled by Mark Strong of Meibohm Fine Arts, Inc., East Aurora, NY, meibohmfinearts.com, sources: Too long to list here and are furnished upon request.)
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