Catherine Moreno — Oil Paintings

23 Lomita Drive, Mill Valley, CA94941
415.388.0822 — www.cathmoreno.com

Education
Relating to art, I am largely self-taught. I started taking workshops and classes in the San Francisco Bay area, at the College of Marin, California Academy of Sciences and Point Reyes (seminars) in the early 1990's. Memberships include the Marin Society of Artists, Marin Arts Council, and Indian Valley Artists, based in Novato.

I have a BA in English literature and Master of Library Science, both from the University of California, Berkeley. Besides being a Librarian at UC Berkeley since 1962, I was a small press publisher of poetry from the 1960's-1980's.

Exhibits and Philosophy
I have been in juried and invitational group exhibits since 1994 including the Marin County Fine Arts show (with two merit awards), Marin Society of Artists (one Best of show) and Indian Valley Artists (one Best of show, and awards of merit) exhibits. Galleries where I have had paintings include the William Lester Gallery in Point Reyes Station, and Artisans Gallery in Mill Valley (award of excellence). I have had a number of solo shows in Marin County and regularly participate in the Marin Arts Council annual Open Studios event in May and the Marin Art Festival in June. My preferred medium is oil; subject matter is mainly, but not exclusively, landscapes.

I am fascinated by abstraction, three-dimensionality, motion, luminescence, color, shadows and reflection; water is a favorite subject of mine. I am drawn often to what we don’t usually see, close-ups of what is all around, but I also do more traditional landscapes, exaggerating and enhancing color. Many of the subjects I work with cannot be done on the spot (as in the middle of a stream), so I use photographs with a self-imposed ethic that the painting must exceed the photo. The outdoors anywhere is my “studio”. I prefer oil painting because one can work on effects more freely in the moment and over time until something of impact is achieved. I work on a piece until I surprise myself, hoping to draw others into what I have finally seen, after intense focus.

I find that seeing becomes more acute when focus lasts hours, I count on that acuteness. One can start out with a goal, but most often with me, it changes as the subject becomes more and more elusive, and I feel free to take off on a tangent, i.e. not go with the literal. For some painters, (perhaps most of us), the painting toward which we struggle is not what we end up with. So for me, there is often a serendipitous element in art, no matter what the subject.

There is much to be learned from other painters, and inspiration in seeing what has been achieved. I like the intellectual exercise of double meaning such as is found in the works of Rene Magritte and M.C Escher; I haven't tried it yet, but someday I would like to play with that type of illusion, as well as with abstract realism, perhaps abstraction.