News

A Blast from the Past – Local Artist and Writer create “Classic Car-ma”
44 Monroe Gallery opening April 1, 2015 at Jacksonville’s April Art Walk



Best friends Kaytee Esser and Linda Carter collaborated on a book they call “Classic Car-ma.” “Classic Car-ma” takes a nostalgic look at the cars we loved and the ways they touched our lives. These are the cars driven by our grandparents, our parents, and us.
The book is filled with paintings Kaytee has done of cars driven in the decades of Twentieth Century. The paintings are paired with Linda’s imaginative stories about the people who owned them. Kaytee’s paintings and Linda’s stories showcase the role of the car in American society. Each story evokes images of the period in which the car was built. They capture America from the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl “Dirty Thirties”, World War II, the Baby Boom, the Fifties, and the Vietnam War.
Kaytee became interested in painting classic...

Art show features pet portraits, K9 Airlift, adoptable pets



Animal portrait artist Kaytee Esser will be at Upper Bay Frame and Gallery in Nassau Bay from 2-4 p.m. Saturday.

By MARY ANN HELLINGHAUSEN
Updated: 04.08.10
The portrait of Jake almost leaps out at you. A rescue Rottweiller and the poster dog for K9 Airlift, Jake, sits in front of a single engine Cessna on the canvas, ready to go.

He is just one of many furry painting subjects by Kaytee Esser, a nationally-renowned animal portrait artist who will be showing her work Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. at Upper Bay Frame and Gallery, 18060 Upper Bay Road in Nassau Bay.

The art show is titled “Dog is my Co-pilot” after the painting of Jake, who belongs to David and Lynne Jennings, two retired federal agents who work with shelter and rescue groups.


Animal food bank


To combine their love of flying with saving animals, the Jennings have formed K9 Airlift,...

Author: Ann DeMart
Photographer: Photography By anne

Step aboard artist Kaytee Esser’s home, a 40-foot trawler docked at Shelter Cove Harbour, and you’ll be greeted by all sorts of appealing characters, including an adorable little girl wearing a sunhat (Archie the bulldog, a direct descendent of the University of Georgia’s famous mascot Uga) and Sophie the West Highland terrier. Those are just a few of the delightful portraits in progress you’ll see around the cabin and deck. Friendly, attractive Esser and her furry pal, Einstein the cat, are quite real.

In the right hands, a portrait captures a subject’s likeness and spirit as well as the artist’s individual style. Just take a look at the art of Esser, who portrays the unique spark of each child, adult or pet in her own exuberant style. “My work reflects the character and personality of the subject no matter if it is a person, dog, cat, or horse,” she said. She paints from life or from...

By JUSTIN PAPROCKI
jpaprocki@islandpacket.com
843-706-8143
Published Friday, September 21, 2007

If you think it's hard to get your kids to sit still for a photo, think what it'll take to get your Jack Russell terrier to calm down.

But Kaytee Esser knows a few good tricks. She paints pets for a living, frequently photographing them beforehand.

She'll be sharing her pet photo secrets Oct. 2 at the Hilton Head Island Kennel Club's meeting.

Painting on board The Rachel -- her and her husband's floating abode -- Kaytee explains why black dogs are difficult to photograph, what it takes to get a hyper dog to relax and why cats are the best houseboat mates.

Question. Is there a particular breed of dog that's difficult to

photograph?

Answer. It's not the breed as it is the coloring -- a dog that's really white or black. Black labs are difficult because it's hard to get all the detail in. And, with a flash, you get...

2005 Wooden Boat Show Poster: Kaytee Esser



Artist Kaytee Esser was commissioned to create the art used for this year's Wooden Boat Show poster and t-shirt design. Esser's original watercolor captures the fun and excitement of the final segment of the Wooden Boat Challenge boatbuilding competition – the rowing relay. This race across the Sampit river determines the seaworthiness of the finished boats as well as the rowing ability of the boatbuilders.

Esser, a Hilton Head resident who lives and works on her boat, describes her style as "colorful and impressionistic with a splash of the erotic." Kaytee paints mainly boats, people and animals. She enjoys working in pastel, watercolor, gouache and acrylic, but has a preference for oil because she is able to paint in all weather," cold or hot, windy or not."

Esser is a member of the Portrait Society of America, American Society of Marine Artists and the Hilton Head Artist League. Her paintings can...

April Issue 2005

Hilton Head Art League on Hilton Head Island, SC, Offers Works by Kaytee Esser

The Hilton Head Art League is pleased to present a collection of paintings by the much sought-after local artist, Kaytee Esser, at the League Gallery in Pineland Station on Hilton Head Island, SC. The exhibition entitled, Sea Horses, will be on view from Apr. 12 through May 7, 2005.

Esser quotes Lyle Lovett to set the tone of her show:

"And if I had a boat I'd go out on the ocean, And if I had a pony I'd ride him in my boat" - Lyle Lovett.

"These lyrics reflect the body of my work," says Esser, "catching the action of life on the island, in oils and acrylics, of horses and boats."

Esser's style is contemporary and impressionistic using a blend of palette knife and brush to create imagery with texture and pure color. Her use of light and bright color is perfectly suited to the south's tropical climate.

Esser's work captures the...