Raised in Southern California by two artists, Kay Larch says she didn’t follow in their footsteps. She grew up, started a family, moved to South Carolina and built a daycare center that she owned and operated. She filled the center with wall murals and did painting activities and after-school art classes with the kids, but she never considered herself an artist. She found ways to express her creative need for colorful and elaborate surroundings through painting projects she did for fun. One day, Larch decided to create a series of acrylic paintings on canvas.

Out of curiosity, she submitted her work to a gallery.  It was accepted for a show, which led to being featured in an article about the museum, interviews, commissioned work, more shows and the launching of her career as an artist at age 54. Larch is immersed in the art community, has added oil painting and drawing to her repertoire, and creates in a variety of styles. Her acrylic paintings have a comic-book style, while her oil paintings lean more toward realism.

She admits she was influenced by growing up as a California hippie, traveling to Tijuana and seeing the vibrant colors of Mexican folk art and simply being an imaginative person. Her work has been featured in galleries, businesses and magazines and she sells original paintings, prints, greeting cards and a line of coloring books, in addition to commissioned work for people all around the world.