Catherine was born in Barrie Ontario, but grew up in various communities in Ontario, Manitoba and New Brunswick, and is currently settled in her studio back in Barrie, primarily working in oils.

Spending my life moving and travelling, inspired my deep love of Canada, and influenced my perspectives of the world. In my teen years, I attended a private school that specialized in visual arts where I trained in the European tradition of reproducing masters’ work and extensive anatomical study, in addition to a study of art history, myth and literature. I then took time away from school to raise my two children but I continued to create, and went on to teach art privately and in several private schools.

I wasn’t exposed to art in my family when I was a child, but when I was very young my parents were given two coffee table books, one about The Group of Seven and the second was Karsh’s Canadians by Josef Karsh. These were a revelation to me as the only art I had ever seen, and I spent hours absorbed in them. Decades later you can still see the influences of Canadian artists and deep European art history and traditions in my style. The imagery and symbolism of both the historical and current cultural images, gives viewers easy entry into my paintings and provides many layers of meaning and emotions to explore.

I am currently developing a series called Garden Sculptures where I am exploring the theme of powerlessness in the world, referencing classical art history and myth, blended with references of current cultural perspectives and pop culture.

My work focuses on simplifying forms and working in saturated colour. I use many thin layers of oil paint to create smooth, simplified forms and I use a palette of saturated colours to describe light and shadow. I have blended these elements together to create my voice and style to communicate to the world.