Keith and “Hope on a Rope” in his Cove West apartment in October 2021. As a young child, Keith’s mother taught him the fine arts of embroidery, needle point, knitting and cross stitch. His ability to hone those skills and his natural sense of hand-eye coordination made Keith’s transition to painter all but inevitable. A life-long painter, (among may other skills), today Keith is a proud signature member of NW Watercolor Society, Colored Pencil Society of America and Seattle Co-Arts.

The only real noises Keith could recall during those still and quiet days at the beginning of lockdown came via the construction of the “apodments” building on Green Lake Way, the 7am Thursday trash pickup and the hopeful voices of a group of daycare children strolling the neighborhood. Recognizing good material when it presented itself, he smartly snapped a photo of the kids, each with a tiny hand clasping a common rope anchored by their teachers, and the idea for “Hope on a Rope” was born. Keith recalls faring well during those early isolated days because artists, by nature, spend time alone. During that time, he created Hope on a Rope, employing a fascinatingly elaborate technique to differentiate each child from their shadow in the finished piece.

Keith reports that when he was looking for the place to call home after his late wife Karen’s passing, the Hearthstone “checked all the boxes” on his wish list. Before making the move to Cove West in 2019, Karen and he lived in Seattle’s Wedgewood neighborhood where their warm home served as the social hub of a close-knit community. Keith is the father of two daughters and grandfather to two grandsons.