Lifelong love 

Mitch Tate shares the story of his painting, “Before the Storm,” seen in the background. He began the painting in 1980 and finished in 2020. Photo: Wade Harris

Tate uses art to spread smiles 

RICHMOND 

Inside the Madison County home he shares with Emma Lee, his wife of 68 years, Mitch Tate has another lifelong love—painting. 

His passion for fine art started with a correspondence course while he was a teenager. The hobby has been a constant companion “when I could or had some time,” Tate recalls. “And I love to do it.” 

“It took a back seat to my jobs, paying the bills and raising our three children,” says the Air Force veteran of the Korean War. “But there was always a canvas in our home.” 

Inspired by a photo in a magazine that he misplaced along the way, the longtime Clark Energy consumer-member began one of his favorite pieces in 1980. Entitled “Before the Storm,” the painting depicts four stallions—chestnut, grey, black and white—bolting across a field before a burning sunset. 

Tate, 89, finally completed the painting in 2020. With the help of Becky’s Print Shop in Richmond, he initially sold prints to benefit St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital and now offers them simply to brighten someone’s day. 

Tate, 89, an Air Force veteran, has loved painting since he was a teenager. He says, “There was always a canvas in our home.” Photo: Wade Harris

“He’s such a nice guy,” says Becky Coyle. “If he finds somebody he likes, he comes and gets them a print.” 

“Seeing the response from people is one of the few things in this world that most of us can do,” Tate reflects. “We can do something that we feel like somebody appreciates and maybe we’re helping a little in some way.” 

His artwork on a bedroom wall includes the faces of his childhood dog Frosty, Elvis Presley and the clown Emmett Kelly. But most of his hundreds of original works have been given away. One hangs in a local library, another behind the tellers at the bank. His latest creation was commissioned by a friend who wanted a portrait of his cat. 

“I told him I would’ve done a better job, but the cat wouldn’t sit still,” Tate laughs. 

“I’m not a professional. This isn’t my business,” Tate muses. “I would rather have 500 or a thousand friends than millions of dollars.”

JOE ARNOLD is vice president of strategic communications for Kentucky Electric Cooperatives.