Aline Kala – The South of France Here in Chatham
Interview 3/2/23 by Vidabeth Bensen and Forrest Greenslade
In her Kaline Studio near Pittsboro Aline Kala creates artistic bridges summing up her life experiences and cultures. She was born in France near the German Border. Her parents were Polish immigrants, and because of her father’s ill health, the family moved to the South of France — a village near Montpellier. “I was never without an abundance of beauty in the world around me. There is something so moving about the natural landscapes from the south of France.”
Aline visited Chapel Hill for the first time in 1981 and met her husband that summer. She received degrees from both UNC-CH and the Watts school of Nursing and worked as a nurse at UNC Health Care. “I started learning to paint because I missed my childhood home in France so much.” She considers herself primarily self-taught. Her works in watercolor and acrylics now capture both the South of France and rural Chatham County.
Aline’s primary medium has always been watercolor. “I love the transparency and fluidity and the delicacy and subtleties of the media are unique and fragile.” During the past few years, she experimented with acrylic and oil water-based paints. “I found these mediums to be interesting and precise. I use photographs that I have taken in France and here as the main source of reference.”
She has practiced Zen. “I sometimes paint what I consider to be spiritual paintings, where the ideas come to me after meditation and spiritual experiences.” As a member of the North Carolina Watercolor Society, she received two awards received during their annual competition.
Her work is inspired primarily by nature. “I love to paint flowers, trees, etc. I have always been attracted to color.”
Aline’s paintings and prints are available on https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/aline-kala. Her art is also featured on The Chatham Artist’s Guild website at https://chathamartistsguild.org/artists/aline-kala/
Aline Kala will display her unique art the first two weekends of December 2023 during the Chatham Studio Tour. Visitors will experience the beauty of both the South of France and central Carolina.
“I hope people will enjoy the colorful images that I paint and will feel the joy I feel in them.”
