Speakers: Cathy Hish, Visual Artist/Painter. ANNE SANDEROFF-WALKER, Fiber Artist
What themes are common in your work?
Cathy Hish: Actually, I'm not sure I have particular themes represented in my paintings. I paint a lot wide variety of subject matter from still lifes to florals, to landscapes painted at the studio as well as plein air, abstracts. I use a lot of different media, water color, acrylic, oil, mixed media. And so I'm not sure I have any particular themes, but I do want my viewers to have some visual entertainment from my paintings. I want the paintings to be interesting to them visually, whether it's color, detail, texture. And I also want my viewers to have, well to enjoy the paintings in a pleasant manner. I like to think my paintings are joyful and optimistic. They're colorful and that's really what I'm trying to present, a view that a viewer can recognize, can relate to and can enjoy as a visual object.
ANNE SANDEROFF-WALKER: The most common themes in my work are nature, both the color of nature and just the feelings you get when you're in nature. I've recently taken up tapestry weaving, although I've been floor weaving for years and I find inspiration whenever I walk, wherever I go and many of those inspirations end up in my weavings, and I look forward to weaving more.
What other medium or mediums would you like to try?
Cathy Hish: As I mentioned earlier, I use a wide variety of media already, and but I'm always looking for other things to try and do. And as well, I look for opportunities to hone my skills in the media that I do use. I also look for opportunities to apply the media in different ways than I have earlier. For example, I started in watercolor, and did a lot of florals and still lifes, but now I'm also doing abstracts in watercolors and I find that watercolor works as a fabulous media for abstracts. I'm working on oils and using those. I'm trying casein. I'm trying to use different kinds of panels. For example, I recently did a painting on an aluminum panel. Again, all of these, the media, the supports, all interact differently, and I find that interesting. I like to try and see what I can do with these new techniques and things that are coming out with the industry to see what I can produce, what different effects I can create.
ANNE SANDEROFF-WALKER: Other mediums that I would like to try include pottery. I've always been fascinated by the process of throwing a pot or building a pot up by coiling. I just at some point want to get my hands dirty and try it, but I will never give up my fiber practice, and would probably find some way to incorporate fiber in my pottery making.
How has your work evolved over the years?
Cathy Hish: As I mentioned earlier, I started with watercolor and painted florals and still lifes and watercolor. But fairly soon after that, I did also did landscapes and I did abstract. So I pretty much started with those right away doing different things with the different media. What I've found over the years is as I've, as I have used different media and as I've painted different subject matter, I find my style changes and adapts and so I'll end up with some things that look very similar to my style, but also look a little bit different than things that I've done before. Again, I like this, I like the evolving media. I like evolving subject matter and I like trying new things to see what entertainment I can produce for the viewers of my work. And again, that all is within the umbrella of looking for opportunities to use color in interesting ways, to present landscapes or abstracts or florals in different unique representations. And in a way that I hope my viewers find pleasant and interesting for a long time.
ANNE SANDEROFF-WALKER: I have been weaving for over 30 years, although I have been working with fiber in one way or the other my whole life. During the pandemic, I picked up a needle and started embroidering, having forgotten how much I liked hand stitching. And I also picked up my knitting needles. But weaving is the practice I enjoy the most. I started out just doing simple scarves, working with color and texture. And then I moved into structure, varying the structures within each piece that I weave. And I am now, as I mentioned a little earlier, doing tapestry, and it's nice to be able to have the two different weaving modalities to switch between since they are very different, but still working with all the beautiful yarn that I am now also dyeing to use in both places.
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