Forget red, Rochester resident Katherine Hanson is painting the Big Apple in pastels.

Hanson’s “Bright and Shiny Objects”  exhibit is currently on display at the 115th Branch of the New York Public Library, and features an array of her artwork, including scenes from her garden to life in New York.

Over her long career, Hanson has taken on a few different fields.

A native of Hurley, Wisconsin, Hanson has a master’s in journalism from Boston University.

She has worked as a newspaper reporter and public relations representative. For the last 20 years, she had been school textbook author for the Education Development Center in Newton.

Now retired, Hanson says she has all the time in the world to focus on her two passions - writing and painting.

Hanson has been painting still lifes with pastels since the 1990s.

Locally, Hanson has shown her artwork at the Rochester Council on Aging and at the Mattapoisett Historical Society.

The best part about exhibiting her work, she said, are the discussions that follow.

“I hate talking about what my work is supposed to mean, that’s up to the people,” she said.

“Painting helps me connect in a different way with folks. Most of the time people are in such a hurry. I like to create something that’ll give people a chance to just breathe and think.”

Another great forum for feedback is art class, she said.

“Painting, like writing, is such a solitary activity so it’s nice to take classes with other people who are interested in similar things,” she said. “I learn so much from other people.”

Her life is much like that of a student. Hanson’s husband Jim is a professor of education at New York University.

During the school year, the couple lives in New York City’s Greenwich Village neighborhood. The rest of the time they reside at their home in Rochester.

An avid gardener, Hanson says she draws a lot of inspiration from her Rochester garden.

“Sometimes you look at something and see a flash of color,” she said.

“I might see a flower or a bird and that becomes an image that I play with over and over again. I grow tomatoes, basil, flowers and shrubs…they’re my models.”

Hanson is also working on a book, collecting research and interviewing people who emigrated to the U.S. after 1968.

“It’s wonderful for people to tell you their stories,” Hanson said.

“I get to ask: Why did they come here? What was life like when they got here? What is life like if they’ve gone back? I just feel that to be such an honor. It’s been a fabulous experience.”