Owls are in the Air

logo for Little Owl Urns

ad for Rockwood and Perry

Kathryn Rathke completes two beautiful owl commissions using her confident and stylish line.
Custom-designed urns maker 'Little Owl Urns' asked Kathryn to create a logo for the bottom of their ceramic and wooden pots; made for beloved pets. The second was for the wine merchant Rookwood and Perry in the Hudson River Valley to use as an advertisement for their shop. With the image of the nocturnal bird being used quite widely right now, Kathryn says "Owls are in the air!"

Wendy's Hidden Message

Kathryn Rathke enlightens us on the talk recently of a hidden message in the Wendy's logo.
The Huffington Post observed that the word 'Mom' was written in the collar of the girl in the new Wendy's logo, which Kathryn created with the team at Tesser agency. She says "Although it was not indeed intentional, my mother noticed and remarked on it, way back at the unveiling last fall,.....when she pointed it out to me, I did let her think that I did it just for her."

The word 'Mom' can be seen clearer here

Wendy's Logo

Kathryn Rathke has been keeping a secret for over 3 years! But now with the unveiling of the new Wendy’s logo, she can finally reveal her part in the project.
Back in 2009 Kathryn was approached by Tesser to aid them in re-designing the Wendy's logo. She worked with them very closely; sketching, getting feedback and revising over a period of months. Tesser were very happy with the animation and expression that Kathryn was able to distil into a few elegant lines, and Kathryn was honoured to be a part of such an iconic job working with such a great design team.

Samuel Beckett

Kathryn Rathke creates a powerful portrait of Samuel Beckett for her regular contribution to Intelligent Life Magazine, in their "Notes on a Voice" segment. She says of the commission ".... The December issue was about Samuel Beckett, one of my all-time favorite writers AND portrait subjects! He has such an amazing face, so many crags and furrows and depths. I need for somebody to hire me to just draw Samuel Beckett, over and over…"

Rathke in Waitrose

Kathryn Rathke's artwork can be found in the current Waitrose Magazine. Commissioned by Oliver Smee Kathryn says "(It's)..a lovely publication full of recipes and ideas for foodies (like me!). These accompany a re-telling of a Grimm's fairy tale by Phillip Pullman, which features a good-hearted, over-trusting mouse, a salivating cat, and a small pot of fat. I am sad to say, two of those three subjects do not survive to the end of the story!"

Tom Wolfe

Kathryn Rathke produces another top portrait for Intelligent Life of Tom Wolfe. Kathryn is a regular contributor for their "Notes on a Voice" section, in which they choose an author, not necessarily contemporary, on whom to focus and discuss. She says "In almost every single reference photo that I found of Mr. Wolfe, no matter what his age, he has this playful, impish smile."

Warren Buffett in Your Sneaker

Kathryn Rathke's portrait of Warren Buffett is being used in a very unique way. It was originally drawn for a major Berkshire Hathaway event and now the art is being used in a number of ways, 'most notably' says Kathryn, 'they have put it into a limited edition pair of sneakers!' Brilliant!

Kurt Vonnegut

 

Another wonderfully expressive portrait from Kathryn Rathke, who created this drawing of Kurt Vonnegut for The Stranger Magazine. The weekly Seattle magazine runs a "Regrets" page in which they list all of the mistakes/regrets of the staff and contributors, and this year they asked for 'regrets' from local artists & writers. Kathryn says " I wrote in that I regretted that I have drawn many authors, but had never yet had the opportunity to draw Kurt Vonnegut. The paper responded by asking if I would like to draw him as the feature illustration for that segment of the paper, thereby allowing at least one citizen the opportunity to conquer one of her regrets!". A truly original way to get a commission!

Rathke's Groceries

Kathryn Rathke's fluid drawings for a Seattle based Grocery store are drawn with her elegant line. Commissioned to celebrate their 40th anniversary, the illustrations were used all over, from T-shirts to truck wraps. Kathryn says "They wanted to represent their freshest local goods: salmon (the Pacific Northwest takes a LOT of pride in salmon, it's the predominant symbol for our region, beyond Starbucks and Microsoft!), fresh baked breads, and our local Rainier strawberries."