ART
Artist Kathleen Carbonara’s portraits are in 40 collections in 11 states and Great Britain. The portraits, such as this one of a subject in Winnetka, Ill., are
nearly photorealist depictions of the subjects.
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REAL LIFE
From portraitist to social observer,
artist paints what she sees
BY CATHERINE ENNS GRIGAS
Kathleen Carbonara says she knew since kindergarten
that she wanted to be an artist. One look at the
“pink carnation” in the Crayola box and she was
smitten.
“It looked so good to me, I ate it,” she recalls.
But it wasn’t until decades later that she began painting,
making a successful career as a portrait artist with works in
more than 40 private collections, including the University of
Notre Dame, along with pursuing a number of other subjects
and themes, such as still lifes, that interest her.
She grew up in Fort Pierce, one of five children of wellknown
physician Francis Carbonara, and his wife, Regina.
She graduated from John Carroll High School and went on to
St. Mary’s College at Notre Dame.
“In hindsight, I think I would have enjoyed going to an art
school. Thinking that there was no way to make a career out
of doing art, I went back to school and earned a master’s in
marketing and advertising from Northwestern University.’’
FINDING HER MEDIUM
After marrying John VerBockel, a private wealth adviser,
she turned to raising their three children — two sons, Patrick
and Teddy, and a daughter, Eva — in Winnetka, Ill. By
chance, she and a friend decided to take an oil painting class
at a local community center.
She found her medium and her calling, she says.
“I love the slow drying time of oils,” she says. “I love the
layering of paint. It’s not like watercolor that can’t be controlled.
Really, it’s perfect for me.”
She began painting portraits, starting first with some of her >>