Sam Kates started his career in art as a high school student tagging along with University of Florida art classes on sketching trips to Cedar Key. After graduation from Florida State University, Kates served as director of various museums in Florida, Tennessee and Alabama. Retired since 2002, he paints, teaches others and exhibits his work at art shows in a busy retirement life. He lives, not surprisingly on the coast, in St. Augustine, FL. 
Sam Kates giving a pointer to Luz Kraujalis.
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February 22 to 24, Kates conducted a workshop for artists at the Cedar Key Arts Center. The medium has been acrylic paint, and the style follows what Kates calls painterly realism. Nine students enrolled in the workshop which included a field trip and demonstrations of several techniques such as using reference photos, artistic license and building layers of details. 
Acrylic workshop in full swing.
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Just as Kates draws his inspiration and subject from the Florida coast and then returns to the studio to complete work, the class returned to the Art Center studio for intensive work and advice. 
An example of Kates' painterly realism.
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