I recently reconnected with an old friend of mine, Cate Holt. She and I worked together years ago as designers. She also happens to be an incredibly talented painter. I was thrilled to see that since we last saw one another, she had really pursued her painting. I visited her studio and had a fascinating chat with her about her work.
I love abstract expressionist paintings on general. I particularly love the way Cate uses color in her work. It's really unlike many that I have seen (my exposure to abstract expressionist paintings is, relative to hers, limited). She says her work always references the body in some way. Not unlike a lot of abstract expressionists, she works very intuitively and doesn't have a clear plan of what the end result will be — which is the beauty of this type of work. Recently she's been playing around with using words in her paintings. What I also found to be a very interesting part of her process is that she apparently goes through a "hump", so to speak. It's at about the mid-point from completion of a painting where she feels she "hates" what she's done, before she resolves and completes each piece. She says she goes though the same process each and every time. I love the fact that part of the process of creation, the energy, the moments of intention are evident in her work. I so envy those who use their hands all day (instead of clicking away on computers).
Below are a few of my favourites and a few photos I took from her studio. I always find someone's workspace reveals more insight on how someone works, the tools they use and it makes me appreciate the work that much more.
Thanks to Cate for the studio visit! Really beautiful work.
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