Biography - Cat McAdams

Both my dear parents were professional artists. Living near Washington DC, we often went to the National Gallery of Art where my father was the ultimate tour guide. He taught me to verbalize about art. From my mother I learned about painting light and the luminous colors achieved through glazing. I earned an MS in printmaking and an MFA in painting from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1968.

In 1972, I had a teaching job in an English art college and a chance to show in the best gallery for emerging artists in London. My work was purely abstract, with no input from life. The gallery wanted more of the same work. I was bored with abstract art and the security of the academic world. I inherited $3,000 from my grandfather. So I took off alone overland to Katmandu in search of the purpose of human existence.

During my three years in India and Nepal, I designed the interior of my partner’s discotheque, designed clothing and jewelry, and did a 200 mile trek in the Himalayas. Most important of all, I became established in yoga and Vipassana, a Buddhist body-awareness meditation technique with great healing power. Later I added Western mystical traditions. There are as many paths as there people. Upon returning to America, I wandered and worked in California, Mexico, and Guatemala, developing my meditation practice. I started painting again in 1987 in Oregon, landscapes influenced by Georgia O'Keefe in watercolor, pastel, and oil. It took several years before I had anything I could stand to show.

In 1997 I settled to stay near Eureka, California, attracted by a combination of interesting art and spiritual communities surrounded by thousands of square miles of inspiring wilderness. We do a lot of hiking and some backpacking. I was a substitute teacher and artist-in-residence in the public schools for 15 years, completing eight murals with students. I taught painting for adults with The Ink People, a local arts organization. Now I'm working on a secnd edition of my small self-published book, "Journey into the Light," illustrated with my paintings. When I finish the book, I'll try leading meditation and discussion groups. I feel that the purpose of human existence is to become a more positive, aware person. I am attempting to share that energy and awareness.

I meditate before I paint to reduce the flow of irrelevant thought and get centered. Then “intuition” can consistently slip in ideas that feel inspired beyond the limits of my personal programming. Painting this way brings in multi-level symbolism. Often I don't see the symbolism until later. Light is my symbol of positive energy. In the monoprints I did from 1998-2003, the light was often like a vision of hope for the end of my “Dark Night of the Soul” period. I quit doing monoprints and returned to painting for more subtlety of color and the possibilities of the brush. Now I sometimes experience a state of expansive joy. I'm still trying to develope a style powerful enough to express living in the light. I'm trying to loosen up the core of my being in order to loosen up my brush. This is a lifelong project. The starting points of my paintings are still generally landscapes, but the work could also be about energy, sanctuary, an archetypal vision, a puzzle, a feeling, a doorway into infinity, or whatever you see.

EXHIBITIONS

In high school, I was encouraged by winning an honorable mention at the Washington Watercolor Society Show held at the National Collection of American Art in Washington DC. In grad school, I showed at the Jane Haslem Gallery in Madison, Wisconsin. While teaching at an English Art College, I exhibited with S. P. A. C. E. and at the Whitechapel Gallery in London. From 1973 until 1987 I concentrated on my meditation practice and did almost no painting. Since then, the focus of my life has still been primarily on meditation. I’ve worked slowly, not producing a lot of work, so I haven’t been ambitious about exhibitions.

After I started painting again in 1987, I showed in Reedsport and Roseburg, Oregon. Moving back to California in 1993, I showed in Ashland, Oregon, and Fort Bragg, Weaverville, and Dunsmuir, California. In San Francisco, I’ve had solo shows at the Zen Center and the California Institute of Integral Studies. I’ve also shown at the Luggage Store Gallery in San Francisco, a jumping off point for some artists. After settling in the Eureka Area in 1997, I’ve had a solo show every year, mostly at alternative galleries. Every year I’ve been in one or more group shows at the Ink People, the Humboldt Arts Council, and/or the Redwood Arts Association. Also I’ve shown at Galerie Rouge, HSU’s First Street Gallery and the Kronos Gallery, all in Eureka. Lately I’ve been doing solo shows near Laytonville, California.