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Artist Statement and Bio 

        

                 "My work spans decades and if the paintings were lined up together, they would tell a story" - Cathryn Miles, 2019.

    Lela, my grandmother made quilts intuitively from fabric remnants sewn into geometric designs.  She didn’t use preliminary drawings or patterns. and her creations were my earliest art inspiration.  I still have a few of the quilts and marvel at how contemporary they look.

    I started drawing at an early age and was able to take private classes from a number of artists who who really got me into experimenting with paint.  My favorite artist at that time was Van Gogh and I used thick paint on cardboard to try and emulate his energetic brush strokes.  I had no knowledge of contemporary American or European art, and it wouldn’t have occurred to me then to look at the art of non-Western cultures.  

   Years later, after both art school and graduate school, I completely changed my thinking about painting.   I started looking at abstract, contemporary artists such as Richard Deibenkorn and other West Coast painters for inspiration.  The paintings I made in Houston, during the late 70s and early 80s, were large scale and very abstract. When I moved from Houston to  Atlanta in 1987, I experienced a much more conservative art market. An art consultant in Atlanta told me my work was “too personal”, so I started doing landscapes that would sell easier.   While my talk of needing to sell work might offend an academic person, the aspect of making paintings in order to pay bills is very real for me.  I have had to learn to balance my academic side (art for art sake) with the practical side (pay bills and survive).

   During the early 1990s, and up to around 2010, I produced numerous quasi-traditional landscapes.  I was also teaching on the college level and to prep for course projects,  I immersed myself in global art.  I developed a great appreciation for Asian art, Japanese prints in particular. My printmaking background from art school began to re-emerge as part of my process with the layering of color areas.   

    Most artists experience change in their work..  Acquiring knowledge of art history, experimenting with different tools and surfaces, and sometimes a need to get out of a rut are some of the reasons I’ve allowed my paintings to evolve.  I’ve more or less come full circle with the direction of my work.   I’ve gone from admiring my grandmother’s geometric quilts, to painting quasi-traditional landscapes and, most recently, back to abstraction of forms in my imagery (not quite geometric, but still related to the quilts).  

  I've always been inspired by nature.  The colors of weather, patterning in the earth (both natural and man-made), movement of sky and water are infused into my imagery.  Typically, I do small sketches or watercolors to use as “guides” for making my larger compositions. I use vine charcoal to create a linear structure on the canvas before laying out large areas of color with acrylic paint.  From there, I apply layers of oil paint with a variety of carpentry or house-painting tools.    

    Beautiful color combinations, a physical surface quality, and an unexpected arrangement of shapes and lines are some of the qualities that I try to achieve in my paintings. Overall,  my intent is to create a visual connection with the viewer.  I want my work to be something that can be lived with and looked at forever.  

And my story continues.

 

Galleries

Shain Gallery, Charlotte NC

The Haen Gallery, Asheville NC

Education

MFA, University of Houston, Painting; Full Teaching Fellowship (Drawing)

BFA, Atlanta College of Art, Printmaking

Teaching 

Kennesaw State University/ School of Art and Design; 2006 - 2014: 2D Design and Color Theory; Arts and Society 

Georgia Perimeter College: 1994 - 2004: Painting, Drawing, Art Appreciation, 2D Design and Color Theory 

Art Institute of Atlanta: 1994 - 2006: 2D Design and Color Theory 

Selected Exhibits 

 

2021

Shain Gallery, Charlotte NC

2020

Shain Gallery, Charlotte NC: New Works - January 24, Two-person

dk Gallery, Marietta GA: January 3, Group

2018

Shain Gallery, Charlotte NC: New Works – June 1 – 20, Two-person

Thomas Deans Fine Art, Atlanta GA: "Carpe Diem" - April 13 - May 8, Solo

 

2017

Thomas Deans Fine Art, Atlanta, GA: "Signs of Spring"- March 15 - April 15, Gallery Artists.

Studio E Gallery, Palm Beach Gardens, FL - Gallery Artists

 

2016

Thomas Deans Fine Art, Atlanta, GA:  Cathryn Miles and Scott Upton/ New Works, April - May, Two-person

Thomas Deans Fine Art, Palm Desert, CA:  Introductions: Cathryn Miles, December 2-31 2016 Palm Desert

 

2015

Elder Gallery, Charlotte, NC: "Breathing Space", Feb. 6 - Mar. 30, Solo 

Thomas Deans Fine Art, Atlanta, GA: New Year/ New Works, Jan. 23 - Feb.28, Group 

 

2014 

Thomas Deans Fine Art, Atlanta, GA: "Summer Pleasures": June -July, Group 

The State Capitol, Atlanta: "The Art of Georgia", Aug. - Jan., Group 

 

2013 

Watershed Gallery, Ridgefield, CT: “Certifiably Organic”, Sept. - Nov., Group 

Elder Gallery, Charlotte, NC: "The Great American Landscape", Aug., Group

Kibbee Gallery, Atlanta: “Passages”, May, Two-person 

Thomas Deans Fine Art, Atlanta: "Landscapes of the Mind", Mar., Group 

 

2012 

Elder Gallery, Charlotte, NC: "Trees", Oct., Group.

Kibbee Gallery, Atlanta: "Transcendence/ Contemporary Abstractions", Mar., Group 

Meyer Metro Gallery, Houston, TX: " East Coast - West Coast/ Inner Mappings", Mar., Two-person 

Elder Gallery, Charlotte, NC: "Black, White & Color", July, Group 

 

2011 

Elder Gallery, Charlotte, NC: "American Woman", Oct., Group 

Adam Cave Fine Art, Raleigh, NC : "Dunlop and Miles/ New Terrain", Oct., Two-person 

dk Gallery, Marietta, Georgia: " An Artist's View", Aug., Group

Thomas Deans Fine Art, Atlanta: "New Works", July, Solo 

 

2010 

Stonehenge Gallery, Montgomery, Alabama: "Cathryn Miles/ Mark Singer", Oct., Two-person 

 

2009

River Gallery, Chattanooga, TN: Oct., Two-Person 

 

2008 

Stonehenge Gallery, Montgomery, Alabama: " Cathryn Miles/ New Works", Oct., Solo

 

2007 

Jules Place, Boston, Massachusetts: "People, Places & Things", Sept., Group 

 

2004 

Turner Center for the Arts, Valdosta, Georgia: Oct., Solo 

 

2003 

Summit One Gallery, Highlands, NC, Group 

 

2002

Harold Washington College, Chicago, Illinois, Group 

Summer House Gallery, Highlands, NC: "Territories", June, Solo 

 

2001

Thomas Deans Fine Art, Atlanta: "Eternal Visions", May, Solo 

 

2000 

Imatra Art Museum, Imatra, Finland, Group

Kouvala Art Museum, Kouvala, Finland, Group 

 

1999 

Callenwolde Fine Arts Center, Atlanta: "Topographical Views", April, Solo 

Clayton State College and University: Artist-in- Residence: 1995, 1998, 1999 and 2000 

Georgia Perimeter College: Oct., Solo 1997 Instituto Tecnologico Automomo De Mexico: "Hecho en Atanta", April, Group 

Aliya Gallery, Atlanta: "Recent Works", Mar., Solo 

Anthony Ardivan Gallery, Atlanta: "Yellow", Jan. 1, Group 

 

Selected Clients and Collections

Brightline, Tampa, Florida (Corporate Collection)

Art Institute of Atlanta (Permanent Collection) 

Clayton State College and State University (Permanent Collection) 

Capital City Club, Atlanta, Georgia 

Georgia Perimeter College (Permanent Collection) 

King and Spalding Law Firm, Atlanta (Permanent Collection) 

Delta Airlines, Atlanta (Corporate Collection) 

Piedmont Driving Club, Atlanta 

Jacqueline P. Lanham Interiors, Atlanta 

Barkin-Leeds, Ltd, Atlanta

Philip Sides Interiors, Montgomery, Alabama

Lobster Bar Sea Grille, Ft Lauderdale, FL

Mark Timothy Inc., (corporate collection) Boca Raton, FL

Senator Albert Gore, Nashville, TN

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