In 2000, Kathleen was awarded a full scholarship at the renown Academy of Art University in San Francisco. She maintains strong ties to the Academy, where she has been offered a faculty appointment and participates in the annual Alumni Auction.
In 2003, Kathleen designed and built her own studio in the Sierra Nevada foothills of Northern California, where the pristine setting of her home provides endless inspiration for her work. Kathleen's landscape paintings can now be found in galleries from coast to coast. Her honors are considerable and include important juried shows in California, Texas, Georgia, Arizona, and Maine; Best of Show from the American Impressionist Society; an Award of Excellence from the Oil Painters of America; ten California Art Club Gold Medal Shows; eight magazine articles including being featured in Southwest Art's plein air issues in 2009 and 2013; the Federal Duck Stamp Competition; Birds in Art; Arts for the Parks; Grand Prize at the Acadia Invitational Exhibition in Bar Harbor, Maine; and many others. In 2014, Kathleen's painting "The Flotilla" was purchased by the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum for inclusion in their permanent collection.