Kathy Wise is an accomplished artist and designer whose lifelong passion for wildlife art was inspired by her mother, Dolores, also an artist. Kathy began sculpting animals at an early age and went on to graduate magna cum laude with a degree in Commercial Art. A college ceramics class sparked her focus on animal forms, which became a defining theme throughout her career.

She began selling her one-of-a-kind animal sculptures at art fairs and shows, eventually supplying over 70 retail stores nationwide, including The Mole Hole gift shops. In 1983, her work caught the attention of Gene Freedman, then President of Enesco Corporation, leading to the first of many successful product lines in the giftware industry. Kathy has since designed animal figures and giftware for numerous companies, including Westland, United Design, and Encore Group.

Over her career, Kathy has designed and sculpted more than 1,000 original pieces across over 40 product lines sold worldwide. In the early 1990s, she expanded into bronze wildlife sculpture, mastering the entire casting process at Detroit’s Center for Creative Arts. Her bronze work has been exhibited in galleries in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Michigan.

Working in both two- and three-dimensional media, Kathy discovered intarsia woodworking in 2004, launching a thriving new chapter of her career. She has written four books on intarsia, authored over 67 instructional articles for a national woodworking magazine, and created more than 1,000 original intarsia patterns.