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Buy This Photo?I came close, but it slipped away.? Medium: Acrylic on canvas, 17 x 16 inches, 2011, by Catherine Scala.
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Catherine Scala has lived out her art like many women. It's been ceaseless since childhood, but has waned through the child-raising years.
Both are creation, each informing the other, says Scala, adding she says it "at the risk of sounding clich?." It's been a matter of refocusing energies based on priorities throughout the years.
Go&Do
WHAT: "Make More" a group show by 3S Artspace Studio Tenants
WHERE: The Store Gallery, 3S Artspace, 319 Vaughan St., Portsmouth
WHEN: through Jan. 13, Fridays and Saturdays 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday noon to 4 p.m.
CONTACT: www.3sarts.org
It's clear where much of the time was spent before 2008. Till then the art resume is thin, then things heat up. Since, Scala has exhibited throughout the East Coast, and garnered numerous awards.
The change coincides with earning a Master's of Fine Arts in visual arts at the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University. And two of her children are now grown, the younger two more independent.
"I would have been a miserable person had I not had my children," says Scala, "but also miserable without painting."
Scala's abstract paintings are on view in "Make More," a group show by 3S Artspace studio tenants up through Jan. 13 in Portsmouth.
Initially she was a representational often figurative painter; influenced by artists of the 1980s and '90s, "that hotshot expressive realism phase," she says. "I thought ? that's how I'll start."
The style lent itself to the study of mixing and handling medium ? and she had a ready model at the time.
Eventually she revisited the abstract aesthetic of her undergraduate photography work. "(My photography) was always more abstract rather than literal or narrative. I was really drawn to form, contrast and composition."
Her new paintings were of collages she would make from her own paintings. "I found that area ? suggestion, rather than dictation ? much more interesting."
She continued to apply a light source to the new work. "You really are starting from 'anything' in abstract. But imagining a light source signals to the viewer that this has presence," Scala says. "What it does for the art, for the painting, is add dimension ...; light, shape, mass and volume." It was also more intriguing to the painter.
Scala recognizes those unfamiliar with abstract art often assume a 5 year old can create it. She's addressed the issue when teaching. Really, she says, it's about educating your eye. "You have to spend time in front of the abstract to find out if you as a viewer find it legitimate or worthy."
"There is a role for non-literal imagery. It has to do with aesthetics, with imagination, and it has to do with sensuality. There are all forms of language, not just a narrative language, but more a subconscious one perhaps, ...; (that's) maybe harder to reach sometime."
It allows the viewer to bring something of themselves to the piece, as does representational, but perhaps more so to its interpretation. "I like to think of it as a launching pad, some contemplation or connection or association you can't put your finger on ? the gray areas of life that are not on the surface but do exist. It's the ocean not the ship on the ocean."
When Scala, now of Portsmouth, first moved to the Seacoast in '89, she started working in the commercial art field. Though she'd taken painting she largely focused on graphic design and photography while attending Clark University in Massachusetts.
There were years as a freelance photographer, an art director for direct mail and in the graphic arts.
She left the field in '91 to paint.
The choice was "philosophical," she says. "To me it was not creative, what I was doing," she says. "In one sense it was. ...; It does demand creativity and flexibility when you're working with a client and sales. It's a collaboration and you have to find ways to make things work in ways you don't intend, that may go against your own aesthetic.
"However, the whole sense of it being for money, and it being ultimately for advertisement and consumption, well it was difficult for me to reconcile that. I got very unhappy. ...; I knew I wouldn't be able to continue it for the rest of my life. I had to find ways to be productive and contribute in other ways."
She'd saved a year's worth of income and planned to focus on painting, but the time quickly shortened. Scala was soon pregnant with her first child.
Parenting, itself a gift, enriched her art. There's the tenacity and patience learned, she says, but more. Scala hesitates, again afraid of clich?s, but then dives in to the subject.
"Creating IS birth and it is very frightening. That's the enticing element for me, bringing something into the world that didn't exist before; that's alluring for me."
Scala recalls having read that the elderly who buy lottery tickets live longer. Creating is that for her. "For the rest of my life I have a lottery ticket that's going to win," she says adding that it comes with a sense of purpose.
It is also, in terms of humanity, only second to actual human connection, says Scala; "it is the only other thing that brings you to a connection with humanity that isn't a human."
Scala, who teaches media culture, makes another leap, a fairly common occurrence once she digs into the topic of arts' value.
Current culture is eroding this form of connection. It's being replaced by consumerism, "with shopping and looking at catalogues, and ordering new things."
"I think that it has usurped that area in our brain that is creative and it keeps us busy so we have no time for it," she says. "Of course it's a shell of the experience."
When Scala decided to pursue her master's she considered the study of media literacy (cultural implications of media on our lives) as well as painting. The latter won, though she does teach the former.
Currently she is an adjunct professor in media culture, and communication technologies at Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, Conn. She has taught painting at New Hampshire Institute of Art in Manchester, and when weather allows still does landscaping.
All of it serves her painting, she notes.
"I try to get into my studio as much as I can. Obviously there's family and teaching, but I am prioritizing painting and drawing ...; I really have to do that for my work ? block off time.
"Women, single parents, you're always needed. ...; But I want to become a little less lenient or flexible, a little more insistent. Really, what I need is to legitimize my practice in my own head."
We reserve the right to remove any content at any time from this Community, including without limitation if it violates the Community Rules. We ask that you report content that you in good faith believe violates the above rules by clicking the Flag link next to the offending comment or fill out this form. New comments are only accepted for two weeks from the date of publication.
1 of 10 Premium Clicks used this month
Today's most viewed articles
Buy This Photo?I came close, but it slipped away.? Medium: Acrylic on canvas, 17 x 16 inches, 2011, by Catherine Scala.
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"; aryZooms[imgCounter] = "javascript: NewWindow(870,625,window.document.location+zTemplate+'&img="+imgCounter+"')";Catherine Scala has lived out her art like many women. It's been ceaseless since childhood, but has waned through the child-raising years.
Both are creation, each informing the other, says Scala, adding she says it "at the risk of sounding clich?." It's been a matter of refocusing energies based on priorities throughout the years.
Go&Do
WHAT: "Make More" a group show by 3S Artspace Studio Tenants
WHERE: The Store Gallery, 3S Artspace, 319 Vaughan St., Portsmouth
WHEN: through Jan. 13, Fridays and Saturdays 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday noon to 4 p.m.
CONTACT: www.3sarts.org
It's clear where much of the time was spent before 2008. Till then the art resume is thin, then things heat up. Since, Scala has exhibited throughout the East Coast, and garnered numerous awards.
The change coincides with earning a Master's of Fine Arts in visual arts at the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University. And two of her children are now grown, the younger two more independent.
"I would have been a miserable person had I not had my children," says Scala, "but also miserable without painting."
Scala's abstract paintings are on view in "Make More," a group show by 3S Artspace studio tenants up through Jan. 13 in Portsmouth.
Initially she was a representational often figurative painter; influenced by artists of the 1980s and '90s, "that hotshot expressive realism phase," she says. "I thought ? that's how I'll start."
The style lent itself to the study of mixing and handling medium ? and she had a ready model at the time.
Eventually she revisited the abstract aesthetic of her undergraduate photography work. "(My photography) was always more abstract rather than literal or narrative. I was really drawn to form, contrast and composition."
Her new paintings were of collages she would make from her own paintings. "I found that area ? suggestion, rather than dictation ? much more interesting."
She continued to apply a light source to the new work. "You really are starting from 'anything' in abstract. But imagining a light source signals to the viewer that this has presence," Scala says. "What it does for the art, for the painting, is add dimension ...; light, shape, mass and volume." It was also more intriguing to the painter.
Scala recognizes those unfamiliar with abstract art often assume a 5 year old can create it. She's addressed the issue when teaching. Really, she says, it's about educating your eye. "You have to spend time in front of the abstract to find out if you as a viewer find it legitimate or worthy."
"There is a role for non-literal imagery. It has to do with aesthetics, with imagination, and it has to do with sensuality. There are all forms of language, not just a narrative language, but more a subconscious one perhaps, ...; (that's) maybe harder to reach sometime."
It allows the viewer to bring something of themselves to the piece, as does representational, but perhaps more so to its interpretation. "I like to think of it as a launching pad, some contemplation or connection or association you can't put your finger on ? the gray areas of life that are not on the surface but do exist. It's the ocean not the ship on the ocean."
When Scala, now of Portsmouth, first moved to the Seacoast in '89, she started working in the commercial art field. Though she'd taken painting she largely focused on graphic design and photography while attending Clark University in Massachusetts.
There were years as a freelance photographer, an art director for direct mail and in the graphic arts.
She left the field in '91 to paint.
The choice was "philosophical," she says. "To me it was not creative, what I was doing," she says. "In one sense it was. ...; It does demand creativity and flexibility when you're working with a client and sales. It's a collaboration and you have to find ways to make things work in ways you don't intend, that may go against your own aesthetic.
"However, the whole sense of it being for money, and it being ultimately for advertisement and consumption, well it was difficult for me to reconcile that. I got very unhappy. ...; I knew I wouldn't be able to continue it for the rest of my life. I had to find ways to be productive and contribute in other ways."
She'd saved a year's worth of income and planned to focus on painting, but the time quickly shortened. Scala was soon pregnant with her first child.
Parenting, itself a gift, enriched her art. There's the tenacity and patience learned, she says, but more. Scala hesitates, again afraid of clich?s, but then dives in to the subject.
"Creating IS birth and it is very frightening. That's the enticing element for me, bringing something into the world that didn't exist before; that's alluring for me."
Scala recalls having read that the elderly who buy lottery tickets live longer. Creating is that for her. "For the rest of my life I have a lottery ticket that's going to win," she says adding that it comes with a sense of purpose.
It is also, in terms of humanity, only second to actual human connection, says Scala; "it is the only other thing that brings you to a connection with humanity that isn't a human."
Scala, who teaches media culture, makes another leap, a fairly common occurrence once she digs into the topic of arts' value.
Current culture is eroding this form of connection. It's being replaced by consumerism, "with shopping and looking at catalogues, and ordering new things."
"I think that it has usurped that area in our brain that is creative and it keeps us busy so we have no time for it," she says. "Of course it's a shell of the experience."
When Scala decided to pursue her master's she considered the study of media literacy (cultural implications of media on our lives) as well as painting. The latter won, though she does teach the former.
Currently she is an adjunct professor in media culture, and communication technologies at Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, Conn. She has taught painting at New Hampshire Institute of Art in Manchester, and when weather allows still does landscaping.
All of it serves her painting, she notes.
"I try to get into my studio as much as I can. Obviously there's family and teaching, but I am prioritizing painting and drawing ...; I really have to do that for my work ? block off time.
"Women, single parents, you're always needed. ...; But I want to become a little less lenient or flexible, a little more insistent. Really, what I need is to legitimize my practice in my own head."
We reserve the right to remove any content at any time from this Community, including without limitation if it violates the Community Rules. We ask that you report content that you in good faith believe violates the above rules by clicking the Flag link next to the offending comment or fill out this form. New comments are only accepted for two weeks from the date of publication.
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Source: http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20130105-ENTERTAIN-301050303
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