Raise It For Roberto!

Home Run Painting

Kait in front of her 6ft x 8ft painting of Roberto Clemente

When a client comes to me and requests a commissioned painting, the typical size is usually a small to medium size, but when I was asked if I could paint Roberto Clemente 6ftx8ft, I accepted the challenge. My client Rob who wanted the massive painting wasn’t my average client. Rob is a sports FANTATIC, and has a passion and love to collect sports memorabilia. Now I could have chosen from hundreds of photos of Roberto to paint from, but Rob had a particular photo in mind. It turns out the baseball bat that Roberto is holding in the photo, my client Rob now owns.

Now this isn’t just a baseball bat that Roberto Clemente once used. That alone in itself would be special and something to adore. THIS baseball bat was the bat used for Roberto Clemente’s historic 3000th hit. Not only did I need to make sure Roberto looked incredible, but Rob really wanted to showcase the detail in the baseball bat in the painting as well.

Overall with using acrylic paints to create this special project, it took me about two weeks to complete the massive 6ftx8ft structure. Considering I’m 5’2, to say it was challenging and physically tiresome would be an understatement, but I think we can all agree it was worth it brush stroke. In order to get this bad boy to Rob in Florida, I had to dismantle the canvas, and roll it in order to ship it safely. Once it got to Rob in Florida, not only did the local Boca Raton paper do a fun article on him owning the historic bat, but also USA Today caught wind and also did a feature on Rob with my painting. Forever grateful to a wonderful client!

Hail to Pitt 2020/21!

Hail To Pitt!

Read About Kait’s Pitt Hall of Fame Paintings and the Incredible Inductees!

After a long awaited postponement ( thanks Covid)I’m finally able and honored to show my University of Pittsburgh Class of 2020-21 Hall of Fame Inductee paintings! Just like previous years, this years batch of honorees lacks nothing short of incredible talent, hard work and dedication to their sport. Each painting is 16x20 black and white acrylic and smeared with Pitts iconic blue and yellow colors. Congratulations to the Class of 2020 & 2021! Click on each photo to learn more about each athlete and their achievements, or visit https://pittsburghpanthers.com/news/2020/5/12/general-2020-pitt-athletics-hall-of-fame-class-revealed.aspx

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Jennifer Bruce ( Women's Basketball)

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Donna DeMarino Sanft (Gymnastics Student-Athlete and Coach)

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Bobby Grier (Football)

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Chantee Earl ( Women's Track and Field)

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Craig "Ironhead" Heyward (Football; Posthumous)

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Brandin Knight (Men's Basketball)

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Ann Marie Lucaine (Volleyball)

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Ken Macha (Baseball)

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Curtis Martin (Football)

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Bob Peck (Football; Posthumous)

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Pat Santoro (Wrestling)

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Jackie Sherrill ( Football Coach)

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Arnie Sowell ( Men's Track and Field)

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Glenn Scobey " Pop" Warner ( Football Coach; Posthumous)

Kait Loves Ketchup

Kait with her painting “Straight Out Of Ketchup” 24x36in Oil on Canvas

I saw a photo online of a ketchup bottle with a bunch of bubbles, and I thought huh, they almost look like balloons. Then it hit me. I could make the Heinz Ketchup bottles have red balloons floating out of them. I thought it would be so funny to have Andy Warhol hanging from a bunch of balloons. The balloons floating out of the bottles reminded me of smoke stacks which Pittsburgh has quite a few of. My original idea was to place Warhol coming out of the famous Homestead smoke stakes and floating over Homestead. As my luck would have it, when I went online to look for reference photos of the Homestead smoke stacks, the Heinz factory smoke stacks popped onto my screen. It was like it was fate. Originally the Heinz factory has two smoke stacks on top of their building. One reading Heinz, the other 57. I replaced the stacks with two Heinz ketchup bottles and the balloons to fill in as the smoke. I added “Straight Out Of Ketchup” as a nod to my other Andy Warhol painting where he’s wearing a “Straight Out Of Pittsburgh” shirt. The slogan “Straight Out Of Ketchup” is also meant to be a play on words since Andy is literally holding onto balloons like he just came straight out of the ketchup bottle. I LOVE this painting and everything it stands for.

Kait’s Newest Painting Featuring Andy Warhol, “Straight Out Of Ketchup”

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Recently I’ve found some time to get to some passion projects, and if there’s one thing I’m passionate about it’s ketchup. You know the saying, “ I put ketchup on my ketchup?” Yeah, I’m that person. This time around I decided to incorporate two Pittsburgh icons. The founding place of the world’s greatest Heinz Ketchup, and Andy Warhol.

Pittsburgh Penguins Paintings and Pucks

Pens & Painting

Check Out Kait’s Latest Work With The Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation

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It may be my first year, but this is the Pittsburgh Penguins 10th year for their annual Penguins Charity Game on AT&T SportsNet. This has been months in the making, and I’m incredibly excited to finally share the project the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation and I have collaborated on. Although the project was for the 2021 season, we got started much earlier in 2020. I was initially asked to create 4 paintings in black and white of captain Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, and Jake Guentzel, but the foundation had another idea to add to the mix. The paintings would go up for auction as planned for the April 29th charity game event, but we could also print them on limited edition hockey pucks as gifts in the charity bag giveaway. I mean seriously? How cool is that?

I got started finding the photos I thought would fit best since it was mainly going to be their faces that were presented. We also liked the idea of having two players in the home jerseys, and the other two in the away game white jerseys. Each painting is 24x24 inches and I used black and white acrylic paint with a smear of yellow to represent the Pens team colors. My personal favorite painting of the four was probably Kris Letang’s. I love painting facial hair for some reason and I had a blast getting to paint all of his.

Pittsburgh Penguins Charity Bag 2021

Once I was done creating the paintings, I had them scanned into a digital file that I gave to the foundation. From the digital file, they had their printers in Canada create the stunning set of pucks you see below. On the day of the event, each charity bag will contain a set of the 4 limited edition pucks. With three different levels of the bags, each contain different unique items including a signed jersey, autographed puck and more. The event is being held on April 29th where 5000 Pens fans can purchase their bag and memorabilia! to benefit the Pittsburgh Penguins and Mario Lemieux Foundations. Lets go Pens!

To learn more about how you can purchase a charity bag and the items inside please visit

https://www.nhl.com/penguins/fans/charity-game-preview

Kait’s 4 limited edition hockey pucks curtesy of The Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation 2021

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Hockey Is For Everyone Day

April 17th 2021

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In addition to my work with the Pens for the April 29th event, on April 17th they are also holding a hockey is for everyone event. For this event the NHL shows their support and solidarity to create a safe and including community to all. For this year’s inclusion day I created two rainbow themed pieces. One of my signature Pittsburgh skyline, and the second of the Pittsburgh Penguins logo with a geometric rainbow background and a smear of rainbow colors. Each painting will be up for auction to benefit the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation! To learn more about hockey is for everyone check out https://www.nhl.com/community/hockey-is-for-everyone

Pike's Mike

Read About Kait’s Newest Passion Painting!

Kait and her 30x40 Oil Painting “Pike’s Mike”

I must of only taken 10 seconds worth of fast, quick photos of Mike posing with a giant fish, but he certainly disappoint. I remember looking at them and immediately thought, “Wow. These would make a killer painting.” It came down to 2 other photos, but I decided alright this is the one. This is the money shot right here. Next task? Find the time to paint it. It’s a problem I’ve had for well, years now. I’m thankfully always busy with creating commission pieces for clients, but I lack the discipline it takes to have an organized set schedule for myself. I become so focus on working on one painting at a time that I never make time for passion projects. Also knowing the fact that my passion painting wouldn’t be generating any guaranteed revenue verses working on commission paintings also makes it harder for me to separate and make the time.

In a time long long ago before an unwelcome presence we all now have come to know as Coronavirus happened, I was taking a casual walk through Pike Place Market in Seattle. It’s one of my favorite places to burn some time on a nice day in the city, and a lot of fun scenery. Almost two years ago I had my camera with me to practice my photography skills when I came upon Seattle’s world famous Fish Market. The first fishmonger I came across while working who is now known and loved named Mike, was exciting and entertaining to the guests, and more than willing to pose for my camera.

The last time I had created a painting in realism, in color oil paint just for the sheer joy of it, was 5 years ago with my Heinz Ketchup painting. Fun entrepreneur fact. I became so obsessed with working on my Heinz Ketchup painting that I didn’t make time to work on commissions. By the time I had finished the ketchup painting 3 months later, I found myself NEGATIVE in my bank account. No shame in my game to admit it. It’s all apart of the entrepreneur roller coaster, and a huge lesson I had to learn. Needless to say after learning that lesson, I’m sure its played a psychological role in being hesitant to work on a painting with no guarantees. So this time around with lessons learned, it’s time to make time.

I started the painting in February of 2020. Honestly there’s so much detail in the painting I didn’t know where to begin. You always start with the background of a painting, but yeah have you seen all the detail in the background? Woof. You just have to take a step back and do a section at a time to try not to feel so overwhelmed. I usually like to start with areas that are large with less detail so it tricks me into feeling like I’m getting more accomplished faster. March 2020. We all know what happens here. No need for an explanation. Any possible live painting events, auctions, commissions, have suddenly slipped through my hands. Being less busy sure got a lot easier. Business like the rest of the world drastically slowed down for me, but it was given time I had now to work on the Pike’s Market painting.

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Fast forward up to the end of June and a few hundred fish scales later, I finally finished the painting that I had dubbed in my mind as “Pike’s”. I didn’t know the initial name of the guy in the painting. I thought of calling him Derek, Eric, or maybe he even looks like a Josh? put on my FBI hat and scrolled on social media searching for his real name and found out his name is in fact Mike. It couldn’t have been more perfect. His name is Mike, and he works at Pikes. I got a hold of the fish market and asked if I could come down and take a photo with them and the painting, especially with Mike. Unfortunately Mike is in quarantine for a while since he has a young child, and I had to get the painting to the gallery I’m signed with to go on display for a summer show.

We’ll just have to catch Mike and a giant fish next time! I want to thank the guys and gals of Pike’s Fish Market for letting me come down to show off the painting and taking a photo with me, and especially to Mike. I was in a creative funk for awhile trying to find something to paint that I was excited about. I want to thank Mike for not only being a great sport and fun subject of my painting, but for helping to pull me out of a long rut.

If you’ve never had the chance to watch the fishmongers throw the fish at Pike’s Fish Market, make sure you put it on your bucket list.

https://www.pikeplacefish.com

Painting for The Pittsburgh Penguins

Paintings For the Pens

Read about Kait’s Wild Week Home, Turning 30, Painting for the Pittsburgh Penguins and More….

Packed my bags, got on my flight, throw in a nice airline Bloody Mary, and I was on my way back to the ‘burgh’ baby. It was going to be a whirl wind, jammed packed 10 days back to Pittsburgh for me. Not only was I going to catch up with my friends and family after a 6 month absence, but I was also going to be celebrating my 30th birthday. Did I mention my birthday also happened to fall on the same night as the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Night of Assists Gala? Alright so it wasn’t just a birthday trip home that I was taking. It was a work trip, but being asked to paint for the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation isn’t what I would call “work”. I call it a dream.

I grew up watching the Penguins, so naturally hockey is my favorite sport. Not only was I going to be able to create a painting for the Pens Foundation while I was home, but I was asked to create a live painting at the 3rd Annual Night of Assist event. On top of creating a live painting, I donated three other paintings I had previously painted that we would auction off at the gala.

Pretty much as soon as I landed it was go time. I had to start the live painting that I was going to finish in front of all of the guests of the gala in just a couple days so I had to act fast. The Pen’s Foundation wanted me to do my quick, chunky style for the painting and really wanted me to create a painting of Captain Sidney Crosby. Knowing that I was going to be in town for the event, local new station KDKA’s Rick Dayton reached out to me and asked if he could run a story about me painting for the event. I was super excited to say the least, but I felt like it wasn’t my place to represent the Penguins Foundation and give detail about the event itself. A lot of people put a ton of work to go into this event, and I wanted the right people to get the credit they deserve so I asked my friend Kevin if he’d like to do the interview with me. We thought shooting our segment at PPG Paints arena, the home of the Pens, would be a great place to film. We stuck my paintings that I would be donating down next to some trophies. I guess they’re kind of a big deal or so I’m told.

Below in the photos you’ll see my city skyline painting covered in resin, my “Geno” painting of Assistant Captain Evengi Malkin, and the partially started live painting of Sidney Crosby. The last painting I would be donating would be my Andy Warhol on the Andy Warhol bridge. I love that painting, but I have had it for years. I figure might as well donate it to a good cause.

You can watch my interview with KDKA just down below!

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Night of Assists Gala

February 12, 2020

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In between catching up with family and friends, a couple days shot by and 30 years some how sneaked up on me. It was the day of the gala as well as my birthday. I like to joke with my friends and say the gala was actually just a giant birthday party they threw for me. Not a shabby party I’ll say! The theme of this years Night of Assists Gala was Disco 70’s theme. Dress to impress, and put on your boogie shoes! The night had me started out once again at PPG Paints arena where I would be placed in the VIP section live painting my Sidney Crosby painting. During that time I got to catch up with some old friends and familiar faces that I missed so much.

After VIP hour was over, and I had finished my live painting, 800 guests and I walked down stairs where the ice rink was transformed into a disco diva paradise. People dressed in costumes, go-go dancers in cages, all while the hockey players for the Penguins manned their stations ready to entertain guests with casino like games. Throughout the night, guests ate, drank, danced, and gambled all in the name of charity, including yours truly. By the end of the night, Captain Sidney Crosby was kind enough to sign my painting I had created of him to help raise more money for the Penguins Foundation. The total tally raised for the night was a whopping $450,000 that will go to benefiting youth hockey and special needs programs. Not a bad way to start my 30s. I’ve had some really cool experiences throughout my career, and have attended a lot of events, but I gotta say the Pen’s Gala was the most fun event I’ve ever been to.

A couple days after the gala, for Valentine’s Day I found myself painting again at PPG Paints arena. I KNOW. They should just make a bed for me in the back. I’d totally live there. During the Valentine’s Day game while the Pen’s faced off against the Canadiens, I live painted another Pittsburgh city skyline to be donated and raise funds for the Pen’s Foundation. While my work week had wrapped up, there was just one more surprise before I left to go back to Seattle. My newest nephew Alex surprised everyone by showing up three weeks early. It was always something that was in the back of my mind that I wished so badly I could be home for when he’s born, but it probably wasn’t going to happen. My sister and I are extremely close,and I was there with her when my first nephew was born. I know Mick Jagger once said “You can’t always get what you want.” Well Mick, I did, and it was the best trip home I could ever ask for. So much love to the Penguins for having me for their event!

Best of Bellevue!

Celebrate The Best Of Bellevue Magazine Party!

Read about Kait’s Cover Art for the “Best of Bellevue” Issue

Click to read who made 2019’s Best of Bellevue!

To put a beautiful close to my 2019 I was asked to not only be featured, but if I would love the opportunity to create the cover art for Bellevue Lifestyle Magazine’s December “ Best of Bellevue” issue. Bellevue Lifestyle is a woman owned and created magazine in Bellevue, Washington featuring all of the beauty and luxury Bellevue has to offer. If you haven’t been to Bellevue Washington, you’re missing out. Home to Microsoft, it’s a sparkling gem of a city just a skip and a jump across Lake Washington from Seattle. Surrounded with a backdrop of snow peak mountains, this up and coming city has grown from quiet suburbs to a hot spot for tech companies, night life and luxurious homes and dining. Caitlin, the owner and creator of the magazine had grown up in Bellevue when it was still just a sleepy town before the tech boom. Due to the rapid growth of the city in the recent years, Caitlin who is proud of her hometown, told me she created Bellevue Lifestyle because there wasn’t a magazine that existed to show case everything the city has to offer. There were now so many trendy and fantastic restaurants, companies, designers, artists, and Caitlin wanted to spotlight it all.

This was the magazine’s first year creating “The Best Of” issue giving voters a choice of what they consider that years best of the best in Bellevue. Caitlin loved my rendition of my black and white Seattle city skyline so she asked if we could do the same thing for Bellevue’s skyline. I had created the painting skyline months before the issue hit the stands in December, but I was also asked if I could re-create the same painting again on the spot at the Best of Bellevue launch party in December. The night kicked off at Central Bar+Restaurant with a romantically dim lit ambiance, guests free flowing with wine and champagne, and killer hor d’oeuvres. During the night, the awards were handed out to the 2019 people’s choice of Bellevue’s Best. Big thank you to Life N Light who captured gorgeous photos throughout the night. Also a huge congratulations to Caitlin Agnew for putting together her first and many yet to come Best of Bellevue events!

Instagram: @bellevuelifestyle

Photography by Life N Light: Instagram: @lifenlight

Hail To Pitt 2019!

Another year has come to pass and another year of talented former Pitt athletes have come to grace my canvases. I was honored as always to continue my work with The University of Pittsburgh for the second year painting their 2019 Hall of Fame Inductees. Now that I’m living in Seattle, I feared I wouldn’t be able to continue my business in Pittsburgh, but the Yinzer Gods have looked down upon me and have let me continue to paint Pitt’s long lived legacy. You can’t get rid of me Pittsburgh. We have way too much love and history together.

This year we have another amazing batch of 12 Pitt athletes who have trail blazed their way into Pitt’s 2019 Hall of Fame class. Just like last year, each painting I created is on a 16x20in canvas painted with acrylic paint. Please scroll down and enjoy viewing this year’s newest inductees! If you also would like to see progression photos and videos of some of the paintings be sure to check out my Instagram Story @Paints By Kait.

Charles Hyatt

Don Hennon

Jim Covert

Joe Schmidt

Johnny Majors

Lee Mcrae

Lorri Johnson

Mark May

Sam Clancy

The Peery Family

Sue Heon

Najuma Fletcher

The Bus Stops Here!

Kait handing off her painting of Jerome Bettis To former Pittsburgh Steeler Jerome Bettis.

Before my big move to Seattle I had it on my to do list to create a painting of former Pittsburgh Steeler running back Jerome Bettis. 2 years back I had met with Jerome’s marketing team and we collaborated on me creating a painting of him and auctioning off the painting for Jerome’s foundation, “ The Bus Stops Here”. Thing was I got so busy and caught up with commissions since the painting never had a deadline to be done, I never got around to doing the painting. So when I knew I was moving I knew I’d have to put my foot down and create the painting I had promised.

“36” 3ftx4ft Acrylic on canvas

I wasn’t expecting to meet and give Jerome the painting so I was completely surprised when I went to drop it off to his team. Needless to say he loved the painting and it was the cherry on top before heading across country! The auction and prints of the painting to benefit The Bus Stops Here Foundation is TBD, but you can follow the foundation’s activity and get involved through

https://thebusstopsherefoundation.org/

Kait Paints for PITT Pt2

Photo Credit: Matt Freed Photography

Mike Ditka receiving Kait’s print and Hall o Fame statue

After dinner was finished I had the honor of standing onstage with each of the inductees as they were announced, and gave them a print of my painting I created of them. After all of the able honorees received their induction, they sat for questions and answers. I want to thank the University of Pittsburgh for having me be apart of such a special and new tradition. I’d also like to dedicate this post in honor of the late great Bill Fralic. Bill was not able to attend the ceremony and has since past away. Thank you to the Fralic family for having me and Pitt honor his legacy.

View Kait’s Pitt Hall of Fame Paintings!

For 2 months I worked non stop around the clock, but I finished painting all 16 16x20 inch Pitt Hall of Fame paintings. I couldn’t be more proud and honored to have been able to complete such a special and once in a life time opportunity. The gala honoring the 16 inductees took place September 7th, 2018 at the Peterson Event Center. If I’m being honest, I’ve been to quite a few galas in my career and this one might have been the most absolutely breath taking one I’ve had the pleasure of attending. We started the evening off with VIP hour where guests could meet and greet the likes of Mike Ditka, Dan Marino, and the other attending inductees. Followed soon after was a gorgeous sea of gold glittered tables on the Petersen Centers Basketball Court where dinner and the ceremony was to take place.

Photo Credit: Adam Michaels Photography

All 16 of Kait’s Pitt Hall of Fame Paintings are on display in the Lobby of the Petersen Event Center in Pittsburgh

Scroll below to view the photos of the 16 Hall of Fame paintings along with the Hall of Fame Gala

Copyright Adam Michaels Photography

P-I-T-T KAIT PAINTS FOR PITT!!!

Kait Schoeb with WTAE sports reporter Ryan Recker following her interview with her Bill Fralic  painting

Big and exciting things have been having this year and I'm excited to announce my biggest and grandest project to date! I was contacted by the University of Pittsburgh back in January asking if I'd come in for a meeting to discuss an idea for a new exhibition the university was going to create and that they wanted to find the right artist for the project. This year Pitt had created their own Hall of Fame program honoring their legendary athletic alumni. We discussed during the meeting how of having an artist paint the portraits of the honorees where the paintings will then hang at Pitt followed by the inductee ceremony taking place at the Petersen Event Center on Pitt's campus September 7th. We went over some ideas, but we'd have to wait till April to receive all of the nominations for who and how many people will be introduced into this year's first class. Around May we had our last meeting where we decided on 16 former Pitt athletes whos portraits I would be painting for the ceremony. 

Kait during her WTAE interview at the Petersen Event Center

Kait live painting Bill Fralic portrait for WTAE interview

I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel any pressure at all. I'm extremely ecstatic and grateful for what I've always know was a huge opportunity, but that's just it this is a HUGE deal. Not only will I be painting these portraits for a large university, but more importantly to me the athletes themselves will be viewing the paintings as well as getting a print of it. Nobody more to impress than the athletes because let's be honest, nobody wants a bad painting of themselves. When I did the math, there wasn't even 16 weeks till September 7th. When we finalized all the details of the Pitt paintings in mid May, it meant I'd have less than a week to work on each one of these paintings( 4-5 days maximum). Each painting is done in acrylic paint because I do need them to dry quickly and all are a 16x20 inch size canvas. In all honesty I wasn't sure if it was possible to get them all done in time. I had a few people ask me, "Do you think you'll have enough time to get them done?" And my answer always was I have no choice. Even if it means I don't sleep I'm going to make sure these are done and on time.

The moment of truth was when I sat down to work on my first painting. I didn't know if it was going to take 1 day or more than a week, but I needed to start immediately and plan accordingly. I exhaled with relief when I almost finished the first painting in one day. It wasn't going to take me 14 years to paint 16 paintings after all. Since then I've set a goal for myself to finish 8 paintings in one month, and then that'll give me all of August to get the paintings delivered to Pitt with some relaxing time to spare. As of right now I have 11 paintings done and currently working on the 12th one, and still on track to reach my target deadline by the beginning of August. Some days I work on a painting all day, some only a few hours to keep my sanity, but all and all I have worked on the Pitt paintings everyday for the past 2 months. I can't wait till the paintings are finally done and we can give the final reveal at the ceremony in September. It seems so surreal right now and I still haven't fully grasped the gravity of the situation and what an amazing honor that I was chosen for this project. Maybe later on it'll hit me, but for now I'm just treating it as another project and just doing my job. I couldn't be more proud to represent working artists and the people of Pitt and Pittsburgh.

In June I was contacted by Ryan Reckers of WTAE and asked if I would do a story piece on the Pitt paintings. Much love and appreciation to Ryan and WTAE for my interview which you can watch on the link below! 

http://www.wtae.com/article/local-artist-puts-her-touch-on-pitt-history/21241971

To keep up to date with my painting progress follow my art Instagram page at Paints By Kait where I'll post sneak peeks and videos of my current projects!

Kait Paints For Cancer Research

Read About Kait's James Conner Painting and Getting to Meet Him Herself

Kait with James Conner and her painting of James

This May I was asked for the second year in a row if I would create a painting of James Conner to go to auction  to raise money for Dr. Stanley Marks Cancer  research  department in the Hillman Center. Dr. Marks is well known in Pittsburgh as one of the greatest and go to doctors if you're diagnosed with cancer. When James Conner was playing football for Pitt University, at the age of 19 James was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. When I was with James I asked what symptoms he had and he said he almost thought he had a cold and obviously being an athlete and being so young, cancer is the last thing that comes to your mind. Fortunately James was treated by Dr. Marks and has been in remission for 2 years now. Since then James has been an inspiration to people and athletes everywhere especially to Pittsburgh where he was soon drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers where he currently plays.

The original painting is done in acrylic on canvas in a 3ftx4ft size and then smeared with yellow acrylic paint. I went with this theme because my painting of Antonio Brown was a huge hit and also I only had so much to make the painting. Any time I'm in a time crunch I leave my oils behind and go for acrylics. I anticipated getting the painting done in a week MAYBE two. Ha, yeah no. There was so much more detail that I didn't take into consideration which drew the painting process out for about a month. Luckily I did get it done in time for the auction but first I was asked to meet with James first so he could autograph the painting. Last year's painting of James sold for $6000 so we had high hopes for this painting, but it completely succeeded my expectations with being sold at a whopping $11,500!! I couldn't be more grateful or excited to help raise money for Dr. Marks and the Cancer Research at the Hillman Center.

" James Conner" Acrylic on Canvas 3ftx4ft

Kait Makes The List of Pittsburgh's 50 Finest!

Read About Kait's Newest Honor and Goal to Raise Money for Cystic Fibrosis

This year I'm extremely grateful to be chosen as an honoree for Pittsburgh's 50 Finest and help raise funds to help extend the lives of people living with Cystic Fibrosis. For the next 6 months I'll be taking donation, hosting a few happy hour events and auctioning off some of my artwork to raise funds. I've donated to dozens of non profits and looking forward to adding to the fundraising for The Cystics Fibrosis Foundation. With your help and donations along with me donating my time and artwork we'll be one step closer to finding a cure and helping people and children who desperately need it. People with a life expectancy up to age 5 are now living into their 40's and the number continues to rise thanks to your help. I look forward to these next 6 months of fundraising and representing the city of Pittsburgh!

Thanks for your support and helping me reach my goal this summer! If you'd like to donate money or items for auction and also learn more about Cystic Fibrosis please go to www.pgh50finest.finestcff.org/kaitschoeb

Game Changer Gala

Kait Schoeb With Her Painting "Blue Steel" Before Auction

As you read in the previous blog post I had the pleasure of creating artwork and attending the Game Changer and Mike Ditka Day Celebration Gala in honor of the Save Jon Foundation.  This year the Game Changer Gala was held July 30th at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pa. Coach Ditka along with multiple doctors and founding members, Dr. Lisa Boyette and Dr. Dietrich Stephan serve as executive and active board members to serve Save Jon's mission. Throughout the evening aligned a ray of entertainment with everyone suited in their tux and gowns. Throughout the course of dinner were speeches by multiple PSC survivors and activists including Jamie Redford, Dr. Coach Mike Ditka, and performances by Broadway singers.

After dinner there was a live auction that was held along with my painting "Blue Steel" to help raise funds for Save Jon. Although the original painting is being loved in a great home, prints are available for sale in my store section found here.  Each print sold is going to raise proceeds to the Save Jon organization. At the Gala I had the pleasure of meeting Coach Ditka who serves on the board of Save Jon in honor of his friend Walter Payton who passed away from PSC. One of this year's honoree's and former Steeler Jahine Arnold also suffers with PSC disease. He was unable to attend the event, but fortunately it was due to good reason because he had received a successful liver transplant just a week before the gala. I'm very honored to have been asked to donate my work, and proud to help raise money for Save Jon and help spread their message. To learn more about Save Jon please go to their website at www.savejon.org

Kait with Former NFL Coach Mike Ditka. Photo by Lovas Photography

View the slide show below to view photos of the Game Changer Gala! 

All rights and photography provided by Lovas Photography. 

http://www.lovasphotos.com