A virtual exhibit of A Brush With Light – Volcanic Island Reflections is now available on the Volcano Art Center website!
An in-person and virtual opening on January 9th launched my five-week solo exhibition, A Brush With Light – Volcanic Island Reflections, at the Volcano Art Center Gallery. If you missed our Zoom gathering or couldn’t make it to the opening in person, the hour-long event was recorded and can be viewed here . . . enjoy! If you’d prefer to view the paintings individually without the opening’s video, please click here.
Seventeen oil paintings were exhibited in the show, and over thirty people—from Hawaiʻi to Manhattan—participated in the Zoom session. Residents and island visitors were also present in the gallery. Photos by Tom Peek unless otherwise noted.
VAC Gallery Director Emily Weiss, after clearing the exhibition room per Covid protocols, introduced the show to our Zoom audience. Her moving introduction brought tears to my eyes.
Early in the Zoom session, I shared my experiences living three miles from the summit of Kilauea during the historic eruption of 2018. I’ve lived, worked and painted on this invigorating and beautiful volcanic island for forty years.
As I introduced the paintings (with paintbrush as pointer in hand) I described how the artworks are created, including how I come up with the paintings’ color palette, and the brushstrokes and palette knife work I use to bring the paintings to light.
Paintings of Kilauea and Mauna Kea surround us in this photo. To the right, a native rainforest tree, a Kolea lau nui, peeks out from a facing wall, beckoning to us as the tour continued.
A handcrafted Koa bench in the center of the room invites visitors to sit and contemplate the art and the places the paintings depict.
During the Q & A, Emily Catey waits with more questions in hand as a visitor listens from the next room.
Questions from participants probed the derivation of my color palette, the Qigong practice that quiets my mind before starting to paint each day, and the benefit of working in a quiet studio encircled by rainforest. Some Zoom participants are pictured here. Photo by C.J. Peek
After the Zoom session, visitors were welcomed into the exhibit room, and immersed themselves in the paintings’ vivid colors and texture that bring to light the island’s volcanoes and its unique plant life.
Friends from Hilo and my husband Tom Peek pose during the opening.
Friends and art lovers en route to the historic Volcano Art Center Gallery. The bright orange lei was an island-style gift from them to celebrate the opening.
Mahalo for visiting the show!
The Volcano Art Center’s solo exhibition of my oil paintings, A Brush With Light – Volcanic Island Reflections, opens at the their gallery in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park on January 9 and runs through February 14.
Gallery hours are Thursday – Sunday, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
For those unable to visit the show in person, we’re holding a virtual opening on January 9th at 11 a.m. (HST) for art lovers near and far. I’ll briefly introduce the paintings, say a few words about my process and the places rendered in the works, leaving ample time for comments and questions from the virtual participants . . . just like at live openings.
To register for the Zoom link, please contact gallery@volcanoartcenter.org by January 6.
I’ve been developing this body of work for many months now, with lots of field work atop the volcanoes, in the rainforest and along the coast. I hope you’ll find these paintings offer a different perspective on Hawaiʻi Island’s extraordinary landscapes, including Kilauea before and after the 2018 eruption, the high mountains of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, and the island’s rugged coastline and exceptional plant life.
Please join us for the virtual opening, or if you live in the islands, come see the works in person! For more information, visit the Art Center’s current exhibition page and scroll down to the show.
Me kealoha pumehana (with warm regards),
Catherine
“The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” –Aristotle, c. 350 BC
Aloha and welcome to my new website.
This site was skillfully designed by Margaret Rode of Websites for Good. Mahalo Margaret!
Through this state-of-the-art blog, I look forward to periodically sharing my thoughts about paintings, the art of painting, and qigong and meditation. I’m also excited to let you know about upcoming art exhibitions and to announce studio sales!
Creation of the blog is a bit slow right now due to the lockdowns precipitated by the coronavirus, but as our communities heal and businesses and parks re-open, I look forward to posting new material.
Please sign up here if you’d like to receive notification of new posts, and let me know what you think along the way so we can stay in touch!
Malama pono (take good care),
Catherine
In dawn’s gentle light, the full moon sets behind Mauna Loa. Photo by Catherine Robbins.
After the stunning collapse of Kilauea’s crater floor and caldera over a three-month period during the Summer 2018, visitors take in the magnificence of the transformed volcano from a viewing area in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Photo by Tom Peek.
Steam rising off Kilauea’s caldera wall at Wahinekapu is backlit by the setting sun. Photo by Tom Peek.