To get back to the "Yin/Yang" or the "Mars and Venus"... the world of a landscape architect is constantly trying to bring beauty into the solutions that we structure involving the landscape - we are trained to combine our logic and creativity to be gentle stewards of nature's bounty for generations to come. It is a wonderful vocation and honorable profession that is at the same time ephemeral and timeless. It has been a great ride so far and I feel truly blessed to work my passion and be passionate about my work.

But here is the rest of the story:

I grew up in a family where my mother was the original Martha Stewart, my father an engineer, and my Grandmother a wonderful gardener who taught me what a weed was. My two sisters were very, very artistic. While they drew, painted, and etched their way through school, I played varsity sports and studied advanced calculus and college chemistry. I was participating in my own family "Yin/Yang".

Then it was off to Penn, where I planned to major in pre-med bio. I soon discovered that I was never going to get over my repulsion to the smell of formaldehyde and I switched to a double major in Architecture and Fine Arts. The change was as uninformed as the fact that I had a job working in the campus bookstore managing the art supply section... I now think of it as divine intervention... For the next two years I was required to draw buildings, landscapes and architectural interiors every day, our sketch books were the training ground for visual thinking. On the home front, my world was always overflowing with plants, mostly cuttings of begonias and impatiens from the summer's end garden beds, and I carted these plants back and forth with me from home to school.

Towards the end of my junior year, upon sage counsel from my father, I discovered that my lifelong love for plants could be combined with architecture. I believe my Dad said something like, "isn't there a Field of landscape architecture?" - no pun intended - After graduating from Penn I went on to the University of Arizona where I earned my degree in Landscape Architecture. I am a registered Landscape Architect in Rhode Island and Massachusetts as well as nationally certified to practice throughout the country.

People often ask me how I came to be a Landscape Architect, and as I look back on my journey here, it seems to make perfect sense... It is the perfect combination of science and art, and appeals to the Mars and Venus levels of the heart and mind.

Landscape Architecture has two very distinctive sides, embodied by the very words: LANDSCAPE -and- ARCHITECTURE.

*Landscape: artistic and emotional.
*Architecture: logical and technical.

Whether it is the intensely golden light at dusk highlighting branches, giving the tree tops soft washes of color that define their shape...

Or the cool light of my car's headlights that create a black and white landscape in motion...

I want to photograph, paint, write poetry, and capture the moment when I saw perfection in the landscape.

Given the transient nature of light, a vignette lasts at the most 10 to 15 minutes, and then it is gone. It makes what I see and understand all the more precious. In my work I just borrow the pieces and try to rearrange them to form new compositions for the spirit. My goal is for my clients to have a spiritual gift each time they are aware of their surroundings.

In design, I am trying to create an environment with vignettes in series, so that as one moves through the space or views it from a specific vantage point, these vistas unfold and drawn one through space.

As I find myself here today, I see all the paths I took, the choices I made, and I am grateful for each one of them. Without the combination of the science and the arts education, I would have no understanding of the components of the landscape that make up my palette. I am not afraid of engineering or science. It makes it possible to use the topography as a part of my sculpture of the landscape. Painting taught me color. Ceramics taught me about the circle. Environmental biology gave me an understanding of the systems and inter connectivity that is so critical to sustainable design. Chinese and Japanese literature turned out to offer insight into Asian souls as expressed in art, architecture, gardens, and poetry.

It's always nice to hear from a satisfied client -
"Kate's ability, foresight, and talent transformed our properties not only into picturesque landscapes, but they look as if they have been this way for generations. One of my favorite things to do with Kate early in a project before any drawings are made, is to simply walk the property with her as she gets inspired and begins to suggest ideas. She walks and talks while constantly creating, designing, and describing the most beautiful, incredible, and creative vision that are topped only by the finished project itself. She is not only a gifted landscape architect, but she is also a truly gifted artist."

"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished."
- Lao Tzu






Photo by Jake Mather

"The Finishing Touch"

Published each summer, New England Home's Cape & Islands magazine salutes the finest home designs on the Cape. We received a lovely mention in this year's issue:

"The swimming pool existed when they bought the house, but after they engaged landscape expert Katherine Field, it became the centerpiece of a lushly beautiful outdoor living space." - New England Home's Cape & Islands, Special Issue: Summer 2008, pages 60 - 67.

Plant picks

See what the designers at Katherine Field and Associates are recommending this month for their "Plant Picks of the Month".

Fall Foliage in Vermont
Photographed by John Eastcott and Yva Momatiuk