Catalog of my work available~ (Limited Edition :-)

8"x6" Pocket Landscape Softcover Photo Book, 45 pages....

I just had fun compiling a little catalog of my recent work a few months ago.   And it is available for sale...for $30 (incl. shipping...just a tad more for int'l destinations).  Payments can be made via Paypal to the address below.

Sample pages:

 Contact me at cnash at wvcnet dot com!!  Thanks so much~ 

Authentic Visual Voices™...book in progress!

Artist Russell Thurston, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Photo by Catherine Nash

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Upcoming Book:

AUTHENTIC VISUAL VOICES™:  Contemporary Paper and Encaustic is a book that Catherine Nash has been curating and writing for two years.  Traveling across the United States, she has conducted videotaped interviews in the studios of 28 international artists.  Media was used only as a parameter for narrowing the field.  While the reasons for choosing particular media is discussed, the book's true focus is about where artists' inspiration comes from and how they find their ideas.  The interviews are edited and being compiled along with rich portfolio pages of each of the interviewees.  Also included will be a gallery of international artists represented by one work each.

Russell Thurston, Fathom #2, 2009.
Encaustic, dry pigments, oil and aspen leaves and tar mastic on rag paper.
50”h x 38”w
photo by the artist

Here is a peak at what I've been writing...

Russell Thurston
Santa Fe, New Mexico

Russell Thurston, Midnight Bloom, 2011    
Encaustic and oil on rag paper.
41 x 41 in.
photo by the artist

The home and studio of artist Russell Thurston is in the piñon and juniper studded hills in southeastern Santa Fe, New Mexico.  Through his studio windows, one can see out into the Rio Grande valley to the south. These vast scenic stretches are fodder for Thurston’s creative ideas.  He is quick to explain that he is not trying to depict nature realistically, but seeks to imbue his artworks with the expansive and intuitive connections he experiences while out in the surrounding wilderness. Thurston celebrates the mystery and wonder of growth in works such as Midnight Bloom and Tiger Eye.  These paintings’ use of pattern, repetitive forms and rich color speak to the beauty of the interior of flowers with their petals, pistils and stamen. They are seductively instilled with an enigmatic atmosphere that incites a meditative state of mind.   

Russell’s love of nature lives side by side with a deep appreciation of science and a thirst for “understanding the whys and hows of things”.  In his art he contrasts, or rather, integrates nature and technology by juxtaposing organic and inorganic forms. For instance, in Down to the Well, an intricate system of pipes and machinery dependently pull energy from an imaginary field and sky.  The atmospheric landscape is painterly and organic, filled with shapes that speak to cells or microscopic organisms.  In contrast, the machine-like labyrinth of technological ducts and piping is hard edged and mechanical.  The machine is created of finely cut tissue paper that has been painted in gradations of encaustic paint and burnished down into the surface. 

Thurston’s art offers us a way to contemplate the subtleties of the intersection between scientific systems, technology and nature in our modern world.  Our understanding of the interconnectedness of the environment and humanity continues to evolve not only through the insights of scientists, environmentalists and writers but also through visionary contemporary artists such as Russell Thurston. 
 
 - Catherine Nash

Russell Thurston,   Down to the Well,   2011      
Encaustic, oil, tissue paper & shellac on rag paper.
31” x 45"
photo by the artist

Process of writing a book...Contemporary Paper and Encaustic

Artist Mona Waterhouse in her studio in Peachtree City, Georgia  (Photo by Catherine Nash)

It seems that I am writing my book, Contemporary Paper and Encaustic, in a most unconventional way.  Through my preparation for my one on one time with each of the 28 interviewees, I do intense research beyond what they have sent me and on their personal websites, uncovering information and images 10 pages back in Google, searching in a variety of ways that includes reviews of their most recent exhibitions and mentions in varied articles and blogs. Then I compose a series of questions specific to them.  It takes me from 3-6 hours of research per artist.

The artists I have curated to interview have all conferred on what I intend on asking....and rarely do we need to adjust the questions although sometimes we think on our feet, so to speak, when in front of the camera...the interview is truly collaborative, creating the sets (at least 4 or 5 per interview) with lighting and their supporting artwork.  I make sure that they feel they have stated and covered all information that would reflect themselves in the manner they'd like to be "seen" at this moment in time before we are finished. 

Artist Michael Marshall in his Athens, Georgia studio (Photo by Catherine Nash)

Artist Lynn Sures in her Silver Spring, Maryland studio (Photo by Catherine Nash)

I just completed interview #16 or 28 with my trip to the Southern states Feb 14-28.  I'll complete 9 more on my next trip March 23 -April 11 to artists in NY, NJ, CT, ME and Montreal, Canada, with a final 3 interviews by skype in early May~

Because their interview is in lieu of writing, once the 28 interviews are all edited (I anticipate extreme editing focus this summer), the layout of this "portfolio" section should be relatively easy.  Of course, there still remains the job of organizing the 90 or so artists represented by one work each in the "gallery" section and indeed I will do some comprehensive writing to tie them together by content.
 

Artist Dennis O'Neil at Hand Print Workshop International in Alexandra, Virginia (Photo by Catherine Nash)

While some would find my schedule harrowing, I am deriving intense pleasure and fulfillment from it...learning so much.  Making connections with people/media/ideas.  Total kick!   I am not worried about when the book (i.e. the product) will be done but I do have a new goal to have it published by September in time for a joint conference by The Friends of Dard Hunter and the International Assoc. of Hand Papermakers and Paper Artists...

Artist Georgia Deal in her studio in University Park, MD (Photo by Catherine Nash)

Artist Jessica Drenk in her Clemson, SC studio (Photo by Catherine Nash)

I am so very grateful for the great success of my fundraising last Nov/Dec.  It has enabled me to pay for the expenses incurred in conducting these cross country interviews and more publishing related expenses. Working consistently on my book, I also must teach and earn money full time to pay my personal bills.  So I am not rushing this book writing... If I can't derive intense pleasure from the process, there is no point in undertaking a project at all.   I took a big leap of faith and am trusting that all will somehow fall into place with this huge idea I had....  My ultimate goal is to translate all that I am learning and absorbing and getting inspired from into a publication that will offer a unique perspective on artists and their ideas and process...written by an artist in the trenches herself~