April 2015 Exhibition link September 2019 Exhibition link
May 2022 Luminance Exhibit link
Kateri Ewing (American, 20th century-) is a writer and self-taught watercolorist from East Aurora, New York.
She finds the subjects for her art (winged creatures and plant-kingdom treasures) within the fields, ponds and woodlands of her beloved Knox Farm State Park. She hopes to reveal the intricate details of the cycles of nature, the luminous particulars she notices in natural objects, such as a single seedhead of grass, broken acorn, decaying leaf, or a furry-winged moth.
She aspires to portray each plant or creature in a way that reveals its uniqueness, right down to the beautiful venations and mouldy-spots in leaves. It is the desire to urge others pause, and to look a bit more closely, that stokes her creative fire in both writing and visual art.
Artist Statement:
There is magic in the act of creating a drawing or painting; where there was nothing, now there is something—beauty has been manifested, an object of the physical world or perhaps from our own imagination has been documented through our unique way of seeing and experiencing life and all that surrounds us. It is this simple act of magic that keeps me coming back to my creative practice again and again with fresh eyes, new wonderment and praise.
I chose to use materials that come directly from the earth: graphite, carbon and charcoal, and watercolour paints that were created by hand using minerals and clays and gemstones. The paints were made by artisans that I admire for their dedication to using responsibly procured pigments, some even dug with their own hands and carried to their paintmaking studios on their own backs. I feel that these special tools, handmade paints, handmade papers, artisan brushes, add another layer of meaning to my work, and certainly make the process of creating my work more sacred.
Visual Poems are quiet moments in time from my everyday life. I am deeply influenced by Japanese aesthetics, and especially the quality of Shibui. Shibui is inadequately defined in English as understated elegance. Some qualities that I believe depict it more carefully are simplicity, subtlety, unobtrusiveness, everydayness, a balance of simplicity and complexity, naturalness, imperfection, and quietness. I hold these qualities in my mind, body and spirit each time I sit down to work. What I hope for are drawings and paintings with a poetry of presence, making ordinary objects and scenes extraordinary.
You can visit the artist’s website at kateriewing.com
Visit her online magazine Unweaving the Nest Weekly at unweavingthenest.com
Visit her page at the American Society for Botanical Artists asba-art.org.com
(Source: The artist’s biographical information.)
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