Catherine Mills
Artist member since 2019
Whitby, Ontario
Catherine graduated with Honours from Guelph University with a degree in Bio.Sci. but couldn’t contain her restless desire for colour and creativity. Catherine then attended Sheridan College for furniture design, but spent far more time painting and decorating the furniture or objects she made, so a professor suggested she study Isobel O’Neil’s “The Art of the Painted Finish”. Her career as a decorative painter was born. After many years working as a solo decorative artist, she had the good fortune to work as a project manager with a prominent Toronto decorative paint company, Ritins Studios. After many years completing high end commercial and residential projects, (Hotels, Casinos, ROM, Casa Loma) Catherine was ready for a new challenge.
Largely self-taught, she has also taken workshops at The Academy of Realist Art, studied with Max Ginsburg (New York) and with Katharine Stone in Vancouver. Catherine loves the patina and alchemy of oil paint, and is fascinated by the abstracted process of turning the 2 dimension space into virtual 3 dimensional space. .
Inside the Studio
Q+A
Favourite artist(s) right now
Alex Kanevsky, Ariel Cabrera Montejo, Toni Hamel, Alyssa Monks
Why is it important for people to have art in their home or life?
it's an important opportunity to make a personal statement in private space. It's a chance to explore their own individuality without judgment, to celebrate colour, mood, environment. It's creation by proxy, we can explore the world we would like to live in. Art can connect us, and illuminate the unity of the human condition.
Why is art important to you?
Art is important to me as a way to address my own concerns, and explore my identity and how that relates to the world at large. If we can address the things that move us personally, it may also resonate with others and provide some joy, some levity, some connection. Without words, I can communicate and leave my small mark on the world.
What do you listen to when you work?
Podcasts; about almost anything, but can't listen to audio books... there's a sweet spot where I can register information without paying complete attention.
Favourite medium
I love oil paint, I love the smell and the richness of it. I often feel like I could eat it, a sort of synesthesia comes over me, and I 'taste' the colour. I love the texture and feel as it spreads over the panel, and as I build the layers, I love the dialogue between the transparency and opacity of different pigments. Its pure alchemy
When did you start making art, and why?
a purpose, a goal
What do you mean, “try”?
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