Catherine Gutsche

Featured Artist: December – January 2019

Catherine Gutsche is an Ottawa abstract / mixed media artist and graphic designer with paintings in private collections in Canada, the United States and Europe. She studied Fine Art at York University in Toronto, Canada, earning an Honours Bachelor of Fine Art degree with a major in graphic design. She worked for several years as a graphic designer in the vibrant downtown Toronto arts market.

Since moving to Ottawa Catherine has returned to her beloved roots in painting, enjoying again an intimate relationship with colour, texture and pattern. Non representational abstract art is Catherine’s passion.

Travel has always played an important role in Catherine’s life, starting at the age of 16 with a trip to China during the period of Mao Tse-tung. China showed Catherine the importance of pattern. She was inspired by the Chinese ability to manipulate designs and colors to form intricate repetitions that are flipped or rotated to create masterpieces often seen on walls, floors, ceilings and household objects. Exposure to the capitals of Europe gave her an appreciation for the masters in all their glory – size, colour and textures – none of which translate in flat books that fit on coffee tables. But it was in Australia that she gained a feel for the impact of colour where Uluru (Ayers Rock) changed from earthy reds to silvery-greys, with streaks of charcoal black algae. Nowhere else in the world are there colours that extend as far as the eye can see.

Catherine brings all these experiences into her paintings, combining textiles, found items and paint, and finally allowing her joy of colour to spill onto every canvas she works on. To see examples of Catherine’s artwork please visit: http://www.catherinegutsche.com/