About
A graduate in History of Art from Manchester University, Catherine Staveley has spent much of her childhood and most of her adult life living abroad. She first exhibited in her teens on church railings in the Royal Mile at the Edinburgh Inernational Fringe to raise funds to attend university and has been exhibiting ever since.
She paints principally in pure watercolour. Her work is represented in private and public collections in Australia, North and South America and Europe.
She accepts commissions to paint children.
Studio
Memories of her own early childhood in England and Scotland provide the inspiration for her studies of children. However Catherine seeks to avoid a sentimental or overly nostalgic approach in her painting, preferring to concentrate on subjects with which she has an intimate and sure understanding and appreciation.
An exposure to the brilliant hard light of Australia and the tropics originally inspired a liking for very strong colour. This love of colour has proved a considerable technical challenge when coupled to a decision to paint only in pure watercolour. The continual struggle to convey a sense of joy and exuberance in depicting life in what is essentially a quiet and traditionally minor medium is proving endlessly stimulating.
Galleries and Links
