Catherine Hess, Artist
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Making art has been a lifelong passion of mine. I learned in courses and workshops in communities where I lived- upstate New York, the Boston area and the Washington DC area. From the late seventies on, I have spent time every year in Wellfleet on Cape Cod, and have been creating art inspired by the Outer Cape nearly that long. I am drawn to the often dramatic changes in light, clouds, wind, and tides, and their effects on colors, shapes and shadows among marshes, dunes and shorelines. In 2015 I purchased a home with a studio in Wellfleet and now spend part of the year there and part in my other home in Alexandria, Virginia, exhibiting in both communities.
 
For many years, I painted almost exclusively in watercolors, enjoying their unique and fresh qualities, as well as the ease of carrying them when painting outdoors, en plein air. More recently, and with more time and the studio on the Cape, I have again taken up oil painting, still largely working en plein air, and continuing to relish in the challenge of painting a landscape even as the sun, clouds, light and tides change. In the last few years I have been using a palette knife almost exclusively in many of my works, and I have begun trying out cold wax mixed with my oils.  I also now take photos that I think will inspire me in winter in creating oil paintings, white line woodcuts, or "Provincetown Prints" as well as monotypes, the “painterly prints". Using a photo as reference, and recalling the feeling of the scene, I paint on plexiglass, usually with small rollers, and then make just one image on a printing press. I find these works on paper to be very satisfying and evocative of the scenes that sparked them. 

​In addition to the Outer Cape, I have painted en plein air in New Mexico, Vermont, the Bahamas, Guatemala, Peru, France, Italy, Switzerland, Greece and Bali. Wherever I am, I am aiming to capture the essence of what drew me to a scene. When I am not working outdoors, I enjoy painting models in open life sessions, working to get down their gestures and moods. 

​I hope you enjoy my work. Please contact me (hover over the Home heading) if you have comments, would like more information, or are interested in purchasing my work. All works other than those on the Sold page are available. Some can be purchased through  galleries or other exhibitors, and many are available directly from me. Let me know which pieces you may be interested in and I will send you dimensions and prices and how the works can be obtained, with no obligation on your part. 

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  • Home
    • Contact
  • About
    • Resume
    • SOLD WORKS
    • Mentions
  • Outer Cape Landscapes
    • Outer Cape Monotypes
  • Traveling and Painting
  • Inside and Out
  • People Paintings