SEVEN months of painting travels in America feed into York artist Kate Kenney’s new exhibition, Inspired By The Journey, at York Hospital.

“David and I lived in Washington DC last year – yes, how lucky were we – while David worked there and I painted,” recalls Kate of the Kenney transfer to North America.

“From Washington I made several painting trips: to the Shenandoah Mountains, Virginia; Scotland in Maryland and to beautiful Canada; Lake Westlemkoon in Ontario and the Rideau Canal.

“I rented a cabin in each place, looked around for places to paint, set up my easel... and painted.”

Being able to work in different countries was a wonderful experience. “I loved these painting trips, especially the discipline of working every day. I became quite obsessive as I didn’t know if I would ever be in those places again,” recalls Kate. “It was also great to explore these places and to meet new people; I even sold one painting straight from my easel.”

Making sure she had the right equipment with her was a learning curve for Kate.

“I found that a bucket has the capacity to hold most of the things I needed, including insect repellent, a torch, water and a snack,” she says.

“In the Shenandoah, I painted from a churchyard as it was quiet and peaceful and had an amazing view of the mountains. In Ontario, Canada, I stayed in a small cabin by a beautiful lake; it was October, so the Fall colours were exquisite, as was the call of the Loons as they flew in every evening, and despite the chill, I swam in the lake every day.”

Kate painted on board and made frames to enable her to stack the paintings in the car boot and then used the same frames to ship her paintings home.

“They have proved invaluable as I use them to store my paintings here in the studio,” she says.

The exhibit Inspired By The Journey will be on show at York Hospital from Tuesday to June 7.

“I hope some of the colour I saw and the joy I felt whilst working in the American landscape is experienced by the people who come to the hospital for whatever reason,” says Kate.

“I saw a similar title at a Georgia O’Keefe exhibition in Santa Fe. A photograph of her studio suggests she was neat like me. Anyway, I thought it an appropriate title for the hospital’s exhibition corridor.”

Looking ahead, Kate has a solo show booked into Priestley’s at No. 36, Bootham, York, for July. Further ahead, she is teaming with fellow artists Lesley Birch and Lesley Seeger to plan a joint exhibition, hopefully in 2016. “We already have the sobriquet: The Land Girls,” says Kate.