Art by Cathy Lorraway
I am a portrait and plein air artist inspired by everyday scenes, people and nature: both grand vistas from my travels and studies of wildflowers and plants, like sumac. I think of my plein air landscapes as “gestural landscapes”: paintings which imply the spiritual emotion that nature evokes and at the same time suggests the movement of the place: the changing clouds, weaving fields and rustling trees that hopefully also recreate and transport the viewer to their sensory memory of that place. I am a lifelong learner and a “work in progress” and continue to grow as an artist by taking workshops and trying out new media. I am a graduate of the Ontario College of Art Drawing and Painting program (A.O.C.A) where I returned later to earn a BFA as well as a graduate of University of Toronto (BEd) and the University of Ottawa (BA).
My paintings are shaped by my experiences teaching high school art and photography. Teaching photography has made it second nature for me to try to focus on the patterns and mood of light and colour as well as to try to tell the story of what happened at that moment in time. Currently, I teach artists of all ages as a past artist in residence at Crawford Lake Conservation Area, as an artist in elementary classrooms, both in Australia as well as Canada, and as an instructor for the Oakville Art Society. I have also written curriculum for teachers to help museums share their art collections with high school students.
My evolution as an artist had several detours while I focused on teaching, raising a family, living overseas and travel. I am currently having fun exploring acrylics, pastels and water based oils and discovering the beautiful Canadian landscape in my own backyard.
I regularly exhibit with the Burlington Fine Art Association, winning the Alice Peck Award for Best Emerging Artist in 2005. I am the honoured recipient of the Art Gallery of Burlington’s Leadership Award, past president of Arts Burlington and past secretary of the Art Teachers of Ontario (O.A.E.A). I also regularly exhibit with ARTWORKS public sites in Oakville, the Oakville Art Society, Joshua Creek Art Centre, Sovereign House in Bronte and the Monday Painters at the Dundas Museum and Archives.
Commissions are welcome.