People have always been at the heart of Cathy Shepherd’s work. Even in still life and landscape works, the human presence is considered. This core interest led to like-minded schools and instructors: The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts with its long tradition of figure painting and painters, among them Will Barnet, Jimmy Leuders and Sidney Goodman; a BFA in printmaking from the Louisville School of Art and color studies with Mary Ann Currier; an MFA from Brooklyn College studying with Philip Pearlstein and Lennart Anderson.
Looking back, I am amazed that I was in line for all those great teachers.
You can't overestimate the value of a teacher who teaches you what they know but
leaves you to find your own way. There are so many more; I could list an armful of
great teachers.
Along with those teachers are influencers from the past. Degas, Rembrandt and Michelangelo were the three that lit the passion for art in early years and they were joined later by Bonnard and Hopper, Giotto and Massacio. And then Rothko and Cy Twombly as well as the grand illustrators of the 1960's and 70's. The list grows with many thanks to contemporaries plowing in the same field. "The more art you look at, the more art you like".
People often comment on the mystery and luminosity of the images where light is as important as color. Story combined with a love of drawing is forms the image. Using classic ideals of figurative art and love of story, there is at the heart a delight in the act of painting.
Shepherd has taught figure drawing, design and composition at the University of Louisville, served as a Master Artist with Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, reopened the Continuing Education program and designed CFAC Academy classes for the Louisville Visual Art Association. She has led Professional Development classes for one of the largest school systems in the nation. The recipient of national fellowships and grants, she has given classes and demonstrations in the US and Germany. Cathy Shepherd's work is in public and private collections in the United States, Europe and Japan.
Looking back, I am amazed that I was in line for all those great teachers.
You can't overestimate the value of a teacher who teaches you what they know but
leaves you to find your own way. There are so many more; I could list an armful of
great teachers.
Along with those teachers are influencers from the past. Degas, Rembrandt and Michelangelo were the three that lit the passion for art in early years and they were joined later by Bonnard and Hopper, Giotto and Massacio. And then Rothko and Cy Twombly as well as the grand illustrators of the 1960's and 70's. The list grows with many thanks to contemporaries plowing in the same field. "The more art you look at, the more art you like".
People often comment on the mystery and luminosity of the images where light is as important as color. Story combined with a love of drawing is forms the image. Using classic ideals of figurative art and love of story, there is at the heart a delight in the act of painting.
Shepherd has taught figure drawing, design and composition at the University of Louisville, served as a Master Artist with Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, reopened the Continuing Education program and designed CFAC Academy classes for the Louisville Visual Art Association. She has led Professional Development classes for one of the largest school systems in the nation. The recipient of national fellowships and grants, she has given classes and demonstrations in the US and Germany. Cathy Shepherd's work is in public and private collections in the United States, Europe and Japan.
