Valley Stream artist inspires people to explore their fun side

The art on display by Kate Ratigan at Henry Waldinger Memorial Library is no regular sketches or doodles — it is an artistic expression of what happens when you let your imagination take over. Controlling her pen with passion, Ratigan is ready to excite your senses, which is something she has been doing for years.

“Since kindergarten, I started to draw and never stopped,” Ratigan said. “I do it for my own entertainment and it is a great outlet.”

For the 52-year-old Valley Stream resident, drawing is second nature and a large part of her life. Following in her father’s footsteps, Kate developed an early love of drawing, which she won several awards between elementary and high school for her “playful” or what she calls “coloring book style.” Inspired by bright colors and images like that out of a fairy tale or dream, she illustrates whatever she sees in her mind’s eye. “I make up things in my head,” she said.

While attending art school and the Fashion Institute of Technology, Ratigan discovered her niche for illustration. Though she owned a business, Kate’s Saloon from 1985 to 2001, Ratigan did not lost her knack for art, and has since had her work featured at Elmont Memorial Library, where she has been a part-time computer receptionist since 2007.

And after making a simple request, her artwork moved to the Valley Stream Library, which she is excited about her “imaginative” pieces. You can find several pen and ink hand drawn creations on display in the library’s adult room through the end of this month. Ratigan uses colored pens and blended magic markers to create designs putting a unique spin on flowers, animals and even cartoons. “The art is very stylized,” she said. “There is nothing realistic. I make up some animals.”

She said that sometimes she use real flowers for inspiration. “I start to draw and it goes from there,” she said. “I draw pictures of dogs and I do my own Christmas cards. In addition, she finds more inspiration from her favorite artist, Aubrey Beardsley, along with Dr. Seuss and Walt Disney.

“I want people to use their imagination,” she said. “It is OK to color outside the lines and not do everything on computers. I want kids to be less computer oriented…whatever you want, you draw, you can.”

Ratigan has a favorite “display” piece, “Magical Do,” which shows a woman whose hair is made of all kinds of things like worms and octopuses. She said it is her favorite because it combines a lot of elements.

“I doodle all the time,” she said. “Sometimes I turn drawings into bigger pieces and some I trash. I do it first in pencil, and if I like it, I then do colors and put it in ink.”

Throughout her “creative process,” Ratigan gets a lot of support from family and friends. “My mom is my biggest supporter,” she said. “She always likes my artwork and encourages me to do it — she wonders why I am not famous.” In addition, she is thankful to her previous art teachers who offered encouragement for her artistry and her new website, www.kateratigan.com.

Aside from her website, Kate teaches art classes, where she offers advice to budding artists: “Do not get discouraged — do not let other people tell you your work is not good if you really believe in it,” she said. “Keep doing it.”