Hi, I’m Catherine Stotesbery.
I was born in the Florida Keys, raised in the mountains of California, raised my family in the high desert of Ca & am enjoying the last part of my life here in the beautiful Ozarks of Arkansas.

I have always had my hand in art from a child, but it wasn’t until my 40’s that I began to
explore and found myself drawn to watercolor. I took classes & mainly focused on children as my subject matter. I entered some shows & did well & was ready to venture into seeking galleries. I took a detour & was asked to paint a mural for a client of my husband’s landscape business and that began the start of my decorative painting business that encompassed not only murals but wall finishes, ceilingscapes, cabinets & furniture.

That career took me into 20 yrs of sustainable work for which I was grateful. but I always had this sense of yearning to get back to painting at the easel. My life’s circumstances changed & I found myself being the main caregiver to my mother who has Dementia & with the added restrictions of the lockdown due to Covid 19, I found myself in a quagmire of decisions ….
What to do with my business, my direction. That was when friends & family encouraged me to delve into my art so I took some online classes & in the wee hours of the morning when my Mom was asleep. I would study & paint, in fact, I painted 52 paintings that year. The painting was fulfilling my soul’s deepest desires. It was “self-care” at its best!
Bold color-infused expressive portraits of humans & animals are my main subjects as well as
impressionistic style florals that grace my canvases. I love to interpret my subject matter using bits of unexpected color popping through from the underpainting & at times adding textured patterns showing through using reactive metal paints to add interest. I strive to capture the essence of a beloved pet’s personality & have been overjoyed when a collector is moved to tears when they view the finished portrait for the first time.
My floral paintings express the peace that I experience when walking through my cottage garden & finding new blooms unfolding in their perfection. You will find bits of contrasting complementary colors popping through the petals. My medium of choice is mainly acrylics. They dry fast & I love layering, allowing the layers below to show through. My canvas is not only a stretched canvas or wood panel but I also paint on furniture which I call “Functional Art”. It allows a client to keep a family heirloom & “ reimagine” it in a new & unique way.

When I think back at my life being detoured from my art, I realize that when the right time to come back easel took place, I was able to incorporate all that I had learned through the years & incorporate those skills & materials into my canvas art now. That time was never really a detour but served the purpose to bring me to where I am now a most grateful artist!

Won’t you join me on my journey as I explore my passion!