::fearless fierceness::

a little less than a week ago i completed ::fearless fierceness:: for the Arts & Education Council's upcoming annual Silent Art Auction; Art.a.ma.jig. as soon as i knew what the word or theme was i decided to try my hand at painting cacti. i knew i needed a lot of time, so i got started as soon as possible. i felt like creating the type of work, i'd never tried before, something i'd never seen except for inside my head. i knew that i would be challenging myself to create a highly detailed work that might not actually be all that successful in the end. i began searching for an image or a photograph that might help pull the ideas out of me. i found this and this. that and cut out maps i'd seen somewhere began serving as my inspiration. but my work is all pretty much free hand painted. i do trace from a stencil some of the time but with this piece there ended up being a lot of fine line work that took a steady head and hand, mental concentration and energy. i had no idea what i was getting myself into. needless to say i barely slept for two weeks straight.

in the end i decided to leave a lot of the under painting of paper uncovered. the dark colors i felt were just as beautiful and almost serve as shadows, allow for depth. i have never done this before, left so much exposed and i do feel a little exposed. a little vulnerable here at the end. but i have decided to be fearless and fierce about my decisions, in my art, technically speaking. to have a work that is both very detailed and very open is what i hope i am as a person. i think i might be a complex person, that the details of my life are like a map, but i think i am also open, honest and authentic. for me it is a different way of looking at my art and how i make and create what i feel is going on inside my head. i feel confident that what i was meant to learn from creating this piece is exactly what i needed. and to question or doubt is foolish mistake.

with that said, i am relieved and am looking forward to seeing how my fellow artist have delved into creating something fierce.

really quick. i am working on creating an email newsletter with information about my upcoming events, shows and exhibits. if you'd like to sign up for that newsletter please leave a comment with your email address and i'll make sure you receive all updated information about where you'll be able to see my work next. if you'd rather; email me at catcollier@hotmail.com

i also wanted to mention with a tinge of excitement (still). that i wrote my first article for chattarati; chattanooga's best online source for news and opinion. if you have a moment and would like, read the article and if you're in the area, might i suggest you seeing the exhibit. it's fine!

::feather trees::

about a week ago i finished ::feather trees::. this one took some time, an exercise in precision cutting. i am pleased with the way it all came together in the end. and will probably take a break from cutting paper for a minute. each of the feathers is approximately 11" tall on a canvas that is 12"x 36". other than having cut each feather out by hand, which took up the bulk of the process time, the other elements were basically the same. although instead of splatter painting the piece after i was complete. i decided to "splatter" in a pattern of circles. using a stencil to trace circles of dots was something i came up with on the fritz because i thought splatter painting would be a little too much. i'm excited about using the technique again. also can't wait for all of you to see this one in person. it's seriously intricate!

just wanted to pop in real quick. say hello! and have a great saturday.

full swing::upcoming

what can i say? life around here is in full swing, all but dull moments. one might think i'd fallen from the sphere but the fact of the matter is, i am absorbed in the speed of which these days fly by. summer is here with a map. the stops along the way are piling up like rest areas, along the well traveled highways and bi-ways. stuck in traffic headed to the coast. i have been working on this new piece for quite some time; it's been the detailed cutting, a detour i didn't expect to take but that's been well worth the extra gas it's taken to get there. i am calling it ::feather trees:: because to me, each of the trees each seem like feathers placed on a pedestal. i am actually almost through now with this leg of the journey and will be wrapping up my stop here shortly.

i bought my very first cactus ever, a couple of weeks ago, like a souvenir. it is for studying and remembering. the easiest way i could think of to understand how to go about beginning my next painting. the first stop, on july 22, i plan to submit a "fierce" work of art to the Arts & Education Council's annual fundraiser Art.a.ma.jig.

second stop, sundown in st. elmo on august 7. i plan to hang a whole new body of work at umbra essence. smaller works for those of you who have been craving an iced cold cat collier painting but haven't been able to afford the big gulp.

third stop, december! yes i am thrilled, cheesy excited about a leo handmade show for the month. i cannot wait. this one stop is the the overlook, a compilation of all the hard driving, traffic jams and all. between now and then i plan on keeping most of my work under wraps, so that those of you locals might experience a little surprise. i promise more cactus and a hint of constellations to come!

a fourth stop along the way will include a commission piece i'll be working on for a repeat client. this one ought to be full of adventure, they have asked me to paint another ::pretending tree::bitter water::. so far it feels a little like hitchhiking, before it became risky business. and not because my drive broke, but because of the anticipation, the thrill of speeding down the open road with a serious direction in mind. it's difficult, but easy for almost all the same reasons. attacking an image the second time around proves to be rather satisfying, like sleeping and dreaming while being driven along some desert road.

with all of that said and planned, there may actually be a little more room for a show here or there, maybe another clothesline. we will see.

::short cut::four bridges guide

this weekend is the tenth annual four bridges art festival. on my way to and fro i decided to take a short cut and walk between a chicken factory and the old southern furniture building. the answers aren't always as pleasant. regardless there i found some yellow, blue and green to savor in my short cut, and tried to ignore the lingering smell of gutted birds, the pieces of which had to be avoided along the walk. is it beautiful? only if you ignore the truth. or is the truth beautiful? at least not in this case, i seriously doubt it. and yet there is growth in decay. right? like mushrooms, the places they grow.

the day was good; if i may be a bit frank, in regard to the festival; it's interesting to see that so many of the artists are repeat artists, meaning each year there aren't as many new artists chosen to show in the festival. so out of the 160 artists chosen, there are many i've seen over and over again. there is something really wonderful about that; to see their individual artistic growth over the years. i truthfully do not mind, but it does leave me feeling a little disheartened. or maybe it's that i feel like i must do better at investigating, discovering the new artists. i'm also not at all interested in see clothing or jewelry. that's just me, i'm not at all saying it's not art or it's not worthy to be in the festival. clothing and jewelry even beautiful, and made by hand feels more commercial to me, more of a marketable item, than say a nice painting or a wonderful piece of pottery. so i skip over the clothing and jewelry artists and look for more depth in what the festival offers.

i found several things worth noting; and had the fine opportunity of being yesterday's afternoon tour guide for chattarati.com. it was exactly spontaneous. i chose the artists because of my familiarity with their work or because they were new to the show, or because i feel they might be otherwise overlooked. i also must say, it is important, vital to study art, ask questions, in order to become a better artist. so the opportunity that chattarati gave me, served a multitude of purposes. feel free to check out the video content and don't hesitate to let chattarati or ava know what you felt or thought about the work you saw.

and maybe, just maybe next year you'll see me on the other side; showing my work. we'll see.

I AM HERE::On The Fence

Proposal: I AM HERE::On The Fence

I have always wondered what it would be like to go back in time and be a young girl again. To see, and hear, and feel the things I experienced back then. I also think it would be interesting to be a young girl again, but experience what I see now, in the present. I have often wondered what it would have been like to grow up on the Southside, off of Main Street. To remember what the neighborhood was like. To have some idea of where this neighborhood came from in contrast to where it is that it's going.

My name is Cat Collier and I have lived in Chattanooga for 34 years - that is my entire life. For eight of those years I have called Southside my home, my neighborhood, my community. I am here because I believe in what Chattanooga has done and what it can do as a community. On a smaller scale, I love Main Street, I love being where I am and being a part of something bigger than myself. To have this opportunity, to share my "I AM HERE" Proposal with my neighborhood is an honor and a privilege. I have dreamed of one day sharing my art work with the neighborhood, seeing it on the side of a building or on a fence.

I have been working on a series of mixed media pieces comprised of trees. I call this body of work, "My Forest" and for three years I have focused on painting or growing "My Forest." The trees are often representational, abstract and imaginative - they are what I see in my my mind's eye. Likewise, I have always been intrigued by graffiti art and my trees are often inspired by the paintings an writings I see on the sides of buildings. The line and color of good graffiti is typically tight and bright. I see more than just writing on the wall. I see open and empty spaces, geometrical shapes and I incorporate those same ideas and elements into my own art work.

I completed "In The Depths-Blistering Trees" in 2009 and it immediately occurred to me that it could seamlessly represent Main Street. The original art work is the basis for a map of Main Street. The horizon line - the line running the length of the piece - represents Main Street. From Main Street there are eight primary cross streets - Riverfront Parkway, Broad Street, Market Street, Central Avenue, S. Holtzclaw Avenue, S. Orchard Knob Avenue, Willow Street, and Dodds Avenue. Branching out from these eight streets is a multitude of unique streets. Throughout these streets, there are a variety of important places - points on the map. Those places are represented by the bubbles that create the trees' foliage. In the bubbles, there are icons or symbols that serve as points off Main Street that are easily recognizable, historically relevant and foundational throughout the community. These bubbles overlap and intersect in the same way that we live, work and play in an eight street radius, along and off Main Street.

As children grow and learn about where they live, their surroundings shape who they become. Main Street has yet to see fully grown trees lining its sidewalks. Until that time, the map of Main Street serves as reminder of where we have been, where we are and where we want to be. It is both a tree lined street and a map. It is a means for understanding how we are all connected, how we grow, how we learn from one another, how what happens on one street, or branch, impacts other branches. Though simple, geometric and simply understood by children who will ask, "Where am I?" the map has a broader, deeper meaning of growth, connection and proximity. The map is a tool representing where are lives intersect. And it gives us all, as individuals, our own place as a part of the Southside.

The "I AM HERE" map of Main Street will be printed by National Print Group, located on S. Holtzclaw. Material used is 12 point vinyl, specifically for outdoor elements. The printed material will be cut, then installed in sections; attached to the fence with plastic cable ties at one foot increments. There will be no space of the fence left uncovered.

*Installation begins on Wednesday April 14, 2010 at 4pm. More pictures to come.