PROFILE

Kathleen is an artist, writer, and art instructor with four children, one husband and two doodle dogs. She graduated from Manhattanville College with a BA in English Literature and from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago with a BFA in Sculpture. She founded Doodle Art & Design in Western Springs, IL. It is a teaching art studio where she also sells her signature art kits and has gallery shows. While she enjoys making and teaching art, her first love is writing.

She feels that creative people have a different way of approaching and observing life. In her column she connects disparate ideas, mixed in with personal anecdotes, in a sensible and often humorous way. She writes about topics that are uncomfortable and not yet in the public mind. She shares her thoughts on parenting, her struggles as a middle-aged woman, and her experiences as a small business owner. Since she has two kids in college, one heading off, and one still in high school, she spends a lot of time thinking about how they can figure out and realize their dreams. 

In addition to The Latest, Ms. Thometz has contributed articles for Chicago Parent Magazine, Scary Mommy and The Doings Newspaper. She also writes  The RB Landmark's Accessible Artist blog and was The Artist's Eye columnist for The Western Springs Journal.