Dana here to introduce one of the newest instructors to our SVP family: Cathy Cruz of Be You Art Studio. Cathy's way of working reflects her sincere and earnest personality and we are very fortunate to have her teaching a series on the Exploring the Creative Process through Collage. Building up layers of papers- found, hand painted, stamped, ephemera, photographs and anything you can construe as "paper", Cathy started with a sold out basic collage workshop via Zoom. Her next ones for SVP will include "Mixed Media Collage", "Printing from household objects" and "Hand painted papers". These are all going to be available LIVE via Zoom on the SVP website and Eventbrite extension.
And now on to Cathy herself.
Cathy has always been a creative maker of things. Growing up in France, she learned drawing, crafting, sewing and embroidery from family members. In her teenage & adult years, she experimented with paint, pastels, collage, monotype printing, and pottery.
After a successful career of 22 years in commercial and residential interior design, she embarked on a second career as green building consultant. But it wasn’t until a few years ago that she realized she had neglected the kind of work that she truly wanted to do: creating abstract expressive art. Like many people she found herself living in a fast pace environment with time constraints and responsibilities, and she had to set aside her creativity to take care of her family and her business. A moment of epiphany came to her when she met two women artists and was invited to participate in a neurodivergent creatives group. The following day she pulled out all her art supplies from her garage and set up a small studio space in her living room. A painting that was started ten years prior was the first piece she decided to complete. And ever since that instant, she has not stopped creating on a daily basis, letting her creativity bloom.
Her goal is to share this experience with people by encouraging them to pick up where they left off or begin their new art practice. The name of her studio was inspired by the words “Be You” and “You are You” that emerged in one of her paintings. She is passionate about helping others release their fear and self-judgement to move forward in their creative path.
Check out Cathy's website here https://www.beyouartstudio.com/ and view her stunning artwork on her instagram page here https://www.instagram.com/beyou.art.studio/
If you want to sign up for any of her upcoming classes at SVP check them out on Eventbrite here http://schoolofvisualphilosophy.eventbrite.com/