Catherine Fraser ART SHOWS
2024
2023
2022
Catherine has a painting in The On the Edge 2022 exhibition, which is one of the Federation Gallery's most vibrant and eagerly anticipated exhibitions of the year. This is an opportunity for artists to showcase work that poses a challenge to themselves and the viewer. They test their creative boundaries by experimenting with media in new and unusual ways, and then share the results in this exceptional exhibition! Including both sculpture and two dimensional works, these works invite you to linger, to take a closer look and examine in depth the message within the medium. Click here to enjoy the 2022 On the Edge Exhibition!
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© Catherine Fraser 11x14 “Ancestors” water mixable oil and pens
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2019
SPIRIT OF PLACE
Isle of Iona
The Chapel Gallery,
at St Matthias
600 Richmond Ave
VICTORIA, BC
January 18 - February 22, 2019
Saturdays, Tuesday, Thursdays: 10am-2pm
Artist in Attendance on Saturdays
http://www.artopenings.ca/catherine-fraser.html
Opening is Friday Jan 18, 5-7pm Artist’s Talk at 5:30pm
www.stmatthiasvictoria.ca/chapelgallery
Catherine Fraser Upcoming Show: “Spirit Of Place - Isle Of Iona”
Catherine Fraser Upcoming Show: “Spirit Of Place-Isle Of Iona”
Artwork will describe 4 trips to Iona from 2009-2015. Iona is an island off Mull in Scotland in the Inner Hebrides.
My job was to draw, paint, sketch, be creative and listen to “the still inner voice” and responses included: a “welcome hello”; “don’t go back to sleep” and “stay with the process”.
Part of the process is not only to do the journey but also to bring a little bit of Iona to others, share images and experiences. Visiting Iona is a gift. More will be shared during a talk on opening night of the show.
The air here is different, other worldly and timeless, full of paradoxes: simple/complex; present time/timeless; meditative/energizing; silent/noisy and the island is steeped in heritage. There are seekers who go and return for many reasons.
My work is informed by the beauty of nature and the nature of spirit. I paint plain air, paint in my room over looking the abbey and in chapels, capturing the essence of experience.
Artwork done on Iona ranged from photography to plein air painting in watercolour, to touch drawings, and veil paintings.
On my return did series of large abstract pieces, worked with the video, continued to do touch drawings and now using oils on photographs and many sketch books have been done that I call doodles or automatic drawings.
My perspectives are altered and I have moments where I pay attention and translate experiences.
I look forward to my next visit....... and new artistic expressions.
HOW AND WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO GO TO IONA?
As a teenager and young adult I read about Iona and Findhorn. There is an interest in my Scottish roots and my father was born in Scotland. My first trip resulted as an invitation to travel with women from British Columbia, England and California, a group of woman called “Iona Dreamers”. The trip came at a time of Scottish Tourism calling the year a time of Scottish Homecoming or Coming Home.
My neighbour with whom I meditated daily in the morning until her passing spoke of Iona and sent me a postcard of an Iona Celtic Cross. Her post card of the cross inspired a painting called “ The Three Monks Of Iona” other friends had also traveled and shared experiences.
After the initial visit to Iona and on 3 subsequent visits, I discovered each trip has its own invitation, exploration and new beginnings. Iona calls to me energetically, there is a sense of replenishing and renewal, a heightened sense of energy which moves me artistically.
In fact, I do not feel the need to sleep and feel like my body is being rocked and wants to be creative. It appeals to me that for centuries and especially since the 1800’s artists, painters, poets, musicians, the religious and the spiritual have been drawn and inspired by the place. It is an amazing place of geology, archeology, spirituality and connections.
WHERE IS IONA?
The Iona I speak of is a small island off the Western coast of Scotland, the inner Hebrides
which can be reached from the island of Mull.
WHAT DID YOU DO THERE?
So far I have had 4 trips, from 2009 to 2015. Two trips were with groups of people and two solo trips. More will be shared on a talk on opening night of the show on a January 18 at 1730.
The rhythm of the day revolves around being welcoming and sharing communally. I was gratefully supported by others with delicious soups and meals and I helped with supper meal preparations. I was free during the daytime to be spontaneous and not knowing what each day would bring and where I would wander. My job was to draw, paint, sketch, be creative and listen to “the still inner voice” and responses included: a “welcome hello”; “don’t go back to sleep” and “stay with the process”. Part of the process is not only to do the journey but also to bring a little bit of Iona to others, share images and experiences. Visiting Iona is a gift.
The air here is different, other worldly and timeless, full of paradoxes: simple/complex; present time/timeless; meditative/energizing; silent/noisy and the island is steeped in heritage. There are seekers who go and return for many reasons.
I take daily walks to feel the land and attend services, sit in the Abbey and visit other places of worship, meet the locals and fellow travellers for tea and conversations. I sit with a rock that is heart shaped with concentric circles and carry it for 5 hours. This rock has become important and when I am done with it will return it to the Iona beach.
My work is informed by the beauty of nature and the nature of spirit. I paint plain air, paint in my room over looking the abbey and in chapels, capturing the essence of experiences.
VISIT 1, 2009
Iona was a welcoming and like a home coming and I heard the phrase “Don’t do back to sleep”. I walked the land. Feeling the land and respecting nature. It is mysterious walking to stone age burial sites, through heather beds, on the periphery of peat bogs and to beaches and hilltops and something is revealed to me. Something tangible appears, it might be a bird’s wing or a rock. I take my sketch book, pencils and mini watercolour box stop to draw and take photographs.
Visit 2, 2011
Returned and walked the beaches some familiar and some new areas on all directions of the island such as North Beach, and Columba Bay. Explorations were usually done between rainstorms. Had hoped to do watercolours of wild iris along rivulets, instead was confined to staying indoors and created the series”The HebridesOvertures” doing veil paintings and ink with watercolours. On arrival the winds howled and the windows of the house blew in. On leaving Iona I sat at one of the bays wondering if I would return and the biblical quote “Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek and he shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (matthew7:7) came to mind and I silently asked for something meaningful to appear that would remind me of Iona. As I walked along the beach a clay chard appeared that had been burnished by the sea. The chard had a cruciform image and semi circle. This piece was made into a necklace in collaboration with a jeweller. I wear this necklace when I give talks.
Visit 3, 2013
This trip, I wanted to sit and attend services and spend longer times and daily visits to the chapels within the Iona Abbey. One evening attended a healing service with permission and stayed to do touch drawings- using water-mixable oils on paper. A gentleman, a volunteer from Holland played music and Bach as a I painted. This trip also did walk about to find Columba’s Cell, the marble quarry and the bishops house. I hiked in the hills behind the abbey to the top of the hill where I felt like bursting into song. This trip saw many rainbows and on leaving had a glimpse of turquoise seas.
Visit 4, 2015
Returned to Columba Bay, making my way alone. Another day which depended on the weather was a trip to the island of Staffa. I sat in Fingal’s Cave for over an hour with only one other visitor and created a video with Mendelssohn’s music. My visit unexpectedly coincided with the eclipse of the moon, walking outside at night and at sunrise. I was not disappointed.
Artwork Created Since Returning
Artwork done on Iona ranged from photography to plain air painting in watercolour, to touch drawings, and veil paintings.
On my return did series of large abstract pieces, worked with the video, continued to do touch drawings and now using oils on photographs and many sketch books have been done that I call doodles or automatic drawings.
My eye and perspectives are altered and I have moments where I pay attention and translate experiences.
I look forward to my next visit....... and new artistic expressions.
Artwork will describe 4 trips to Iona from 2009-2015. Iona is an island off Mull in Scotland in the Inner Hebrides.
My job was to draw, paint, sketch, be creative and listen to “the still inner voice” and responses included: a “welcome hello”; “don’t go back to sleep” and “stay with the process”.
Part of the process is not only to do the journey but also to bring a little bit of Iona to others, share images and experiences. Visiting Iona is a gift. More will be shared during a talk on opening night of the show.
The air here is different, other worldly and timeless, full of paradoxes: simple/complex; present time/timeless; meditative/energizing; silent/noisy and the island is steeped in heritage. There are seekers who go and return for many reasons.
My work is informed by the beauty of nature and the nature of spirit. I paint plain air, paint in my room over looking the abbey and in chapels, capturing the essence of experience.
Artwork done on Iona ranged from photography to plein air painting in watercolour, to touch drawings, and veil paintings.
On my return did series of large abstract pieces, worked with the video, continued to do touch drawings and now using oils on photographs and many sketch books have been done that I call doodles or automatic drawings.
My perspectives are altered and I have moments where I pay attention and translate experiences.
I look forward to my next visit....... and new artistic expressions.
HOW AND WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO GO TO IONA?
As a teenager and young adult I read about Iona and Findhorn. There is an interest in my Scottish roots and my father was born in Scotland. My first trip resulted as an invitation to travel with women from British Columbia, England and California, a group of woman called “Iona Dreamers”. The trip came at a time of Scottish Tourism calling the year a time of Scottish Homecoming or Coming Home.
My neighbour with whom I meditated daily in the morning until her passing spoke of Iona and sent me a postcard of an Iona Celtic Cross. Her post card of the cross inspired a painting called “ The Three Monks Of Iona” other friends had also traveled and shared experiences.
After the initial visit to Iona and on 3 subsequent visits, I discovered each trip has its own invitation, exploration and new beginnings. Iona calls to me energetically, there is a sense of replenishing and renewal, a heightened sense of energy which moves me artistically.
In fact, I do not feel the need to sleep and feel like my body is being rocked and wants to be creative. It appeals to me that for centuries and especially since the 1800’s artists, painters, poets, musicians, the religious and the spiritual have been drawn and inspired by the place. It is an amazing place of geology, archeology, spirituality and connections.
WHERE IS IONA?
The Iona I speak of is a small island off the Western coast of Scotland, the inner Hebrides
which can be reached from the island of Mull.
WHAT DID YOU DO THERE?
So far I have had 4 trips, from 2009 to 2015. Two trips were with groups of people and two solo trips. More will be shared on a talk on opening night of the show on a January 18 at 1730.
The rhythm of the day revolves around being welcoming and sharing communally. I was gratefully supported by others with delicious soups and meals and I helped with supper meal preparations. I was free during the daytime to be spontaneous and not knowing what each day would bring and where I would wander. My job was to draw, paint, sketch, be creative and listen to “the still inner voice” and responses included: a “welcome hello”; “don’t go back to sleep” and “stay with the process”. Part of the process is not only to do the journey but also to bring a little bit of Iona to others, share images and experiences. Visiting Iona is a gift.
The air here is different, other worldly and timeless, full of paradoxes: simple/complex; present time/timeless; meditative/energizing; silent/noisy and the island is steeped in heritage. There are seekers who go and return for many reasons.
I take daily walks to feel the land and attend services, sit in the Abbey and visit other places of worship, meet the locals and fellow travellers for tea and conversations. I sit with a rock that is heart shaped with concentric circles and carry it for 5 hours. This rock has become important and when I am done with it will return it to the Iona beach.
My work is informed by the beauty of nature and the nature of spirit. I paint plain air, paint in my room over looking the abbey and in chapels, capturing the essence of experiences.
VISIT 1, 2009
Iona was a welcoming and like a home coming and I heard the phrase “Don’t do back to sleep”. I walked the land. Feeling the land and respecting nature. It is mysterious walking to stone age burial sites, through heather beds, on the periphery of peat bogs and to beaches and hilltops and something is revealed to me. Something tangible appears, it might be a bird’s wing or a rock. I take my sketch book, pencils and mini watercolour box stop to draw and take photographs.
Visit 2, 2011
Returned and walked the beaches some familiar and some new areas on all directions of the island such as North Beach, and Columba Bay. Explorations were usually done between rainstorms. Had hoped to do watercolours of wild iris along rivulets, instead was confined to staying indoors and created the series”The HebridesOvertures” doing veil paintings and ink with watercolours. On arrival the winds howled and the windows of the house blew in. On leaving Iona I sat at one of the bays wondering if I would return and the biblical quote “Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek and he shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (matthew7:7) came to mind and I silently asked for something meaningful to appear that would remind me of Iona. As I walked along the beach a clay chard appeared that had been burnished by the sea. The chard had a cruciform image and semi circle. This piece was made into a necklace in collaboration with a jeweller. I wear this necklace when I give talks.
Visit 3, 2013
This trip, I wanted to sit and attend services and spend longer times and daily visits to the chapels within the Iona Abbey. One evening attended a healing service with permission and stayed to do touch drawings- using water-mixable oils on paper. A gentleman, a volunteer from Holland played music and Bach as a I painted. This trip also did walk about to find Columba’s Cell, the marble quarry and the bishops house. I hiked in the hills behind the abbey to the top of the hill where I felt like bursting into song. This trip saw many rainbows and on leaving had a glimpse of turquoise seas.
Visit 4, 2015
Returned to Columba Bay, making my way alone. Another day which depended on the weather was a trip to the island of Staffa. I sat in Fingal’s Cave for over an hour with only one other visitor and created a video with Mendelssohn’s music. My visit unexpectedly coincided with the eclipse of the moon, walking outside at night and at sunrise. I was not disappointed.
Artwork Created Since Returning
Artwork done on Iona ranged from photography to plain air painting in watercolour, to touch drawings, and veil paintings.
On my return did series of large abstract pieces, worked with the video, continued to do touch drawings and now using oils on photographs and many sketch books have been done that I call doodles or automatic drawings.
My eye and perspectives are altered and I have moments where I pay attention and translate experiences.
I look forward to my next visit....... and new artistic expressions.
