Hello,
By way of a (re)introduction, of sorts, I invited myself from twenty years ago (Cathy 2001) to briefly interview present day Cathy 2021. I wondered what I might ask myself and was immediately stuck! Then I told myself this was not something to take too seriously. So please read as intended (not too seriously).
And so:
Cathy 2001: So, you - we - I became an abstract painter? A part-time teacher? A shopkeeper? Or a writer of novels, or a poet? A potter?
Cathy 2021: I hope to not disappoint you but I am not a little of everything and nothing in particular! So I describe myself as an artist who happens to do some of the above. Then again, to suggest I became/become something, or someone is a bit limiting, isn’t it? It suggests I got to an end point. When I feel very much still somewhere in the middle of a winding road. So I don’t feel I am any one persona, but wear a variety of hats! I know, you would agree with me, we’re not a hat person but….
Cathy 2001: Agreed. So what inspires you today? What ideas are you exploring creatively these days?
Cathy 2021: Fragments of memories, pictures within pictures, mixing ancient and modern, archetypal shapes, domestic interiors, books, family ghosts, ideas/ideals of the pastoral, suburban childhood, handmade and slow stitches, writing, old films and blurry memories of them, cycles of life, looking at historical paintings through sleepy eyes / chinks in the daydreams, motherhood….
Cathy 2001: That’s rather a lot to explore
Cathy 2021: Yes, it is. It is never-ending. Thankfully. One idea leads to another.
Cathy 2001: What is your favourite way to explore these ideas?
Cathy 2021: I enjoy drawing a great deal. I think it is important to me and I enjoy exploring mark making in different media. I taught myself monoprint drawing several years ago and I also use sewing machine as a drawing tool. I like mixing media.
Cathy 2001: Are you still interested in Outsider Art. Remember I wrote my undergrad dissertation on several ‘outsider artists’. Is that still a thing that interests you?
Cathy 2021: Yes, it certainly is. I am pleased to say Madge Gill (one of the artists I wrote about back in the 90’s as a student) has now been featured in several exhibitions and is far better known these days. Her work especially has helped me, influencing the way I draw with a sewing machine, for example. Though I like to think my stitched works are very much coming from my own inner self.
Cathy 2001: What is it like for you as a full time artist today?
Cathy 2021: Each day brings new challenges and I have learned to adapt to changes, especially how the internet has grown. There’s this thing called Social Media which tends to dominate the scene and can cast an aggravating shadow over things. It is not an easy way to make a living and I have been fortunate. It helps that I like to live a simple life - you felt that was the way forward back then.
When I started to sell online back in about 2004, I was one of several. Now, in 2021 I am one of thousands of artists showing their work via the internet. The online world has changed so much. The way people look at art has changed. The big gallery market is not my world and I am fine with that. I like the opportunity to get to know people who collect my work by selling directly, or selling via smaller galleries and shows.
There are things that can help. Like going for walks in the woods. And Scrabble, I play a lot of Scrabble.
Cathy 2001: That all sounds exhausting. Except for the Scrabble. I am glad that’s in my future!
Cathy 2021: Well, you should know about feeling exhausted. You have two very small children and very little help. I remember how you eeked out moments to make anything creative. You wrote a lot back then. There were notebooks full of rushed poems and drawings of things you did not have time to make.
Circumstances have changed. We live in a different place. It’s smaller and I have learned to accept the limitations of this small working space.
Cathy 2001: When you say small space to work in, do you mean kitchen table?
Cathy 2021: No, I have a dedicated desk space for making a lot of work and then I will also take over the dining table as necessary. So I don’t have a large separate studio space. That’s one reason why the vast abstract canvases never became a thing, perhaps, or maybe they were never meant to be. I have embraced working on a small scale. I see it as a strength. There are ways to make a small artwork appear vast, if momentarily, or to lead someone into a world that appears as such, even if the actual thing they are staring at is small, very small.
And many people live in small spaces. They like to make their spaces their own and put together collections of work. I am very grateful to everyone who purchases any artwork from me. And am also grateful to those people who simply enjoy seeing my work online. I hope they might get to see it in person one day.
Cathy 2001: Do you still love books?
Cathy 2021: Yes, I have more time to read now and enjoy fiction, poetry and memoir with a particular interest in twentieth century writers. And I like the book as an object, to look at and to make. I like to create visual books, artist books and sketchbooks. My sketchbooks are a very important aspect of my work and I enjoy sharing them with people. I hope one day to have an exhibition of them, perhaps. I am working toward a printed book featuring my sketchbooks.
Cathy 2001: Aren’t sketchbooks for rough work, for working things out, for private thoughts?
Cathy 2021: They can be, but many years ago I realised they could be so much more. They can be quite considered, art objects in their own right, if you want them to be. I suppose calling them sketchbooks suggests something prior to the ‘real thing’ or next stage. Perhaps I should call them simply my books.
Cathy 2021: Sounds like you do a lot these days. Is there still more to be done?
Cathy 2021: Oh yes! There are always ideas evolving, re-emerging. And I want to write more. This is why I have decided to write short essays and send them out once a week. I hope I can do that and keep it interesting for people.
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Thanks for reading - I aim to send a new short essay to you each Sunday.
Thanks for subscribing - - If you enjoyed reading I would appreciate you telling any friends who might be interested in subscribing.
hello, Cathy!!
this is such a delight! what a splendid way to share your development as an artist and as a person. i especially appreciate your thoughts about continuously evolving and there being no end point. one of the greatest joys of life is to wake in the morning with a new idea, a new opportunity, and new possibilities! and, although i’m not fond of board games, i do adore Scrabble. so few people i know enjoy it so i play against the computer. letters snd words are creative materials for me and i find the game to be very stimulating for the mind. i am so pleased that you are offering these gems on Substack and if you expand this as a writing platform i would certainly become a paid subscriber!
all he best to you!
Thanks so much. I admire your work and have enjoyed very much how and what you write.