catherine Mongeau pastels

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Artist Statement

Being an artist allows me the indulgence of reveling in the visual pleasures of color, texture, light and shape. My artwork gives me a chance to recreate the abundant treasures that Mother Nature so generously provides us. In addition to the appreciation for color and natural beauty, I seek to express a mood, most often tranquility. In my paintings, I want viewers to experience a respite from their hectic worlds when they look at the scene I have painted.

While the end result is a visual treat, the work itself is filled with kinesthetic enrichment. Art supplies are like candy for me. Everything from the richly varied paper textures, to the endless colors of my tools, to the soft strokes and the feel of the pastel on the paper, entice me to continue to work and to continue to try new methods.

The validation I get from selling a painting fills me with a final powerful motivation.

Artist Biography

As a child, filling sketchbook after sketchbook, art was my constant entertainment. Continuing through high school and college art classes, my drawing skills became finely honed. As an adult desiring to add color to my skillset, I began to pursue taking courses and workshops in oil and pastel mediums. After experimenting with both, I have concentrated on pastels exclusively for the past 10 years.

In 2002, after exhibiting and selling artwork at Lemon Street Gallery in Kenosha, I have made rapid progress towards a successful art career. I have been juried into shows at Anderson Arts Center, ArtWorks Gallery and the Rhode Opera House where I was awarded second place in a competition. I have studied with Nina Weiss at Peninsula Art School in Door County I recently finished a successful solo show at the Greenbelt Cultural Center in North Chicago, IL. My work is currently shown at the Northern Lights Gallery on Main St. in Racine, WI, and at the Gallery On Genesee in Waukegan , IL.

Complementing my fine art pursuits is the other creative work I do as Multimedia Designer, designing print materials, websites and animations for Abbott Laboratories.