Katharine A. Cartwright

 My natural tendency is to think in images rather than in words, and my paintings are expressions of those thoughts. The foundation for my work is the intended concept, or idea, which derives from my unique relationship with the world. When a concept forms, I explore it for years by creating a series of paintings that result in concept expansion and nuanced meanings. The lexicon I use for expression includes not only the common morphemes such as the elements and principles of art, but also a hybrid vocabulary of unique and unusual combinations that support the concept. Each series varies in duration and significance, and may occur simultaneously with another.

 "Fragility" is an ongoing series of paintings that utilizes fractured eggshells as a metaphor for the effects of pressure upon life, the human psyche, and our investments. After it has been cracked, the shell cannot be restored to its initial pristine structural state and fragmentation is the result. As psychological portraits, each painting in this series relies upon the transformation of ordinary eggshell fragments into a single complete entity that possesses a unique personality or mood. This is achieved by imposing a highly chromatic design onto the arrangement, and creating directional focus that, in some instances, adds the time dimension. Luminosity is the desired effect in most of these paintings because it implies a life-force which is the essence of the new entity that emerged from the fragments. The majority of the fifty paintings in this series are watercolor on paper in order to enhance the luminous quality of the work.

 "Clark Island Intertidal" is a new series of oil paintings that explores the fragile ecology of this beach zone, located between the high and low tides, on a small island near my home in Maine. There, life finds a way to thrive in a hostile and dynamic environment, where evolutionary adaptations result in beautiful organic embellishments that I chose to simplify and exaggerate for effect. The viewpoint is that of a child whose tendency it is to examine the world within arm's reach rather than in panoramic view. Indeed, this is a long-cherished and preserved characteristic that I employ in most of my work.

The central concept for the "The Wine Series" is to create a personality profile for each varietal through an assemblage of objects that represent each aspect of that personality. For instance, Burgundy has the bite of a lion, the delicacy of a peony, the lustrous richness of pearls and a velvety texture. Gouache was selected as the medium because of both its opaque and transparent qualities which were essential to creating the objects.