Old Town Art

TECLA KUHL was born in Peoria, Illinois. She moved to Jackson, Michigan with her parents at age 5. She began drawing in 2nd grade and spent much of her youth drawing, coloring and painting. On the cusp of her teen years she made the decision to dedicate her life to painting.
Tecla began her commercial art career as an illustrator of children’s books. She opened her first gallery in 1988 where she spent eleven years as the owner and manager of Tecla’s Gallery and Publishing in Jackson, Michigan. Her commissioned portraits and reproductions have sold nationwide.
Tecla has spent over twenty years of her career teaching children to draw. In 2007, she earned the Kiwanis Club Make a Difference Award for her work with children.
The idea to paint purses came to Tecla out of a need to have a purse that “fit” her. Handbags are personal. They make a statement about who you are. Plus, a purse must fit a woman’s mood–be it formal, funky, or somewhat in between. After years of searching for the perfect handbag, but never finding the right one, she pulled an old Kenneth Cole handbag from her closet and began painting it. With a few strokes of her brush her old bag had a new life. Tecla’s Artful Handbag Collection was born!
Inspired by the classical artists, such as Rembrandt and Michelangelo, Tecla’s art is realistic with a contemporary twist. Whether she uses oil on canvas, pen-and-ink on paper, or polymer on patent leather, her work comes alive as it expresses the soul of her subjects.
“My goal as an artist,” Tecla explains, “is to help others see what I see… the simple things…. wet grass in the morning, the spirit of a horse and the soul of a singer.”
###TECLA KUHL was born in Peoria, Illinois. She moved to Jackson, Michigan with her parents at age 5. She began drawing in 2nd grade and spent much of her youth drawing, coloring and painting. On the cusp of her teen years she made the decision to dedicate her life to painting.
Tecla began her commercial art career as an illustrator of children’s books. She opened her first gallery in 1988 where she spent eleven years as the owner and manager of Tecla’s Gallery and Publishing in Jackson, Michigan. Her commissioned portraits and reproductions have sold nationwide.
Tecla has spent over twenty years of her career teaching children to draw. In 2007, she earned the Kiwanis Club Make a Difference Award for her work with children.
The idea to paint purses came to Tecla out of a need to have a purse that “fit” her. Handbags are personal. They make a statement about who you are. Plus, a purse must fit a woman’s mood–be it formal, funky, or somewhat in between. After years of searching for the perfect handbag, but never finding the right one, she pulled an old Kenneth Cole handbag from her closet and began painting it. With a few strokes of her brush her old bag had a new life. Tecla’s Artful Handbag Collection was born!
Inspired by the classical artists, such as Rembrandt and Michelangelo, Tecla’s art is realistic with a contemporary twist. Whether she uses oil on canvas, pen-and-ink on paper, or polymer on patent leather, her work comes alive as it expresses the soul of her subjects.
“My goal as an artist,” Tecla explains, “is to help others see what I see… the simple things…. wet grass in the morning, the spirit of a horse and the soul of a singer.”