Katharine Barnwell is a classically trained artist, living and working in New York City. Her studies began in Florence in the studio of Signorina Nera Simi, continuing in New York at the Art Students League, The National Academy, and Pratt Institute. Barnwell paints a full-scale original oil painting of flora or fauna on wood, has a high-resolution scan made, and sends it to her carpentry studio. There, the painting's silhouette is laser cut out of wood. It is a painstaking process that each season yields a small batch of beautifully made objects, including fire screens, umbrella stands, and freestanding decorative paintings.