Feature Friday - Kath Nash
What is your full name and where are you from?
Kath Nash from Sarasota, FL
In your own creative definition or description, please share who you are :::
I'm an illustrator and designer currently living in Brooklyn, NY. I create images that inspire, educate, delight, and empower. Through my work, I aim to help companies and people spread messages of inclusion, welcome, and acceptance.
Please describe a meaningful experience in nature from your childhood :::
When I was in elementary school I loved catching lizards in my backyard. I was the 7th of 8 children, so naturally I could spend hours outside without being bothered. My backyard was its own world to me. A gorgeous lush, green Florida property, full of all kinds of wildlife. Over time, I learned the lizards’ habits like a pro. I knew they could be found sleeping in sun spots on trees, fences, on the house, and it was easiest to catch them when they were sleeping. Some times of year, I could find baby lizards, usually in the grass or low to the ground on plants. They were very easy to catch but unfortunately also very easy to accidentally squish.
In school, my best friend, Katie, and I would creep out the other kids by getting lizards to clamp down on our earlobes and try to wear them like earrings back into the classroom.
Most of the lizards around were brown anoles but every now and then I would spot a bright green anole, and I would feel so lucky. I would get so excited about spotting it, that I usually psyched myself out to a point that it screwed with my reflexes, allowing the lizard to escape my attempt to catch it.
What role, significance or theme does the natural world hold for your life today?
Nature is, and always has been, Peace for me. Being an introvert in a family of 10 people, I needed that backyard. I love my family, and we were very close growing up, but I felt a special type of childhood bliss being alone outside searching for lizards, catching toads, scooping up crawdads in a tiny mesh net, and occasionally spotting cardinals and blue jays.
I live in New York City now and get very anxious, especially in the winter. I don’t feel very connected to nature here, but I try to find ways to bring it back into my life. I have many, many plants in my apartment. Several come from my backyard in Florida. I have a tiny gray chihuahua, who gets me outside at least a few times a day to go on walks. It works for now, but I look forward to the day I move somewhere with grass outside my back door.
Check out more of Kath Nash’s work at https://kath-nash.com/
and follow her on Instagram @kath.nash
