Catherine has always been creative, doing little hobbies when her children were young, making things because she didn't care for the items she could buy on the high street. When she began to work with ceramics she started to realise that this was her life, being an artist, making things and following her creative path. Catherine found her way to silver clay and took a class in 2000. She said she was immediately hooked, bought a kiln straight away and went home to experiment. Catherine has never looked back!  

She works predominantly in fine silver clay - PMC+ and PMC3 to be specific. Unfortunately when she decided to experiment with base metal clays, she discovered that she was allergic to the copper element in both bronze and copper clays. But, Catherine tells us, that's fine with her since she prefers PMC; it's workability and the ease of firing makes it the ideal product for her. Silver clay is both her hobby and her business; she has taught classes for three years at a national mixed media art retreat called Artfest that happens in the Pacific Northwest of the United States each year.  

Catherine sells her work on her Etsy site and is a member of the EMC team which is an international group of metal clay artists who sell their work on Etsy. Last year she participated in the RAW (Ring a Week) challenge which saw her draw on a wide set of experience and techniques to produce some stunning work.

Catherine seems to be a person who can't sit still for long! She's always buzzing with ideas and things to try and in fact, she says it can be difficult to focus on one thing, getting distracted with other ideas. Normally when she sets out on one project it will develop into 10 or 20 others! Which might be why her style is so eclectic. Catherine describes herself as a collage artist, she collects ideas from all sorts of sources; medieval, line art, cartoons, flowers, romantic, bohemian, hippie chick, mixed media, whimsical, organic and then mixes them up into something new and innovative.

Catherine's favourite; her Peony brooch

Her favourite piece is her Peony Brooch; she had an idea about this flower which she loves and wanted to make a tiered piece, somewhat stylized but evocative of the original multi-petaled beauty found in nature.  Catherine drew and carved each tier on round slugs of baked polymer, rolled metal clay onto them and then stacked and pasted them together.  The reason the petals curve is because the carving is also done along the curve of the polymer form.

So is her studio a haven? Not yet she confides; once their youngest child finishes high school, Catherine and her family are moving to a new home which has a huge area earmarked for her studio - this she tells us will be her peaceful and exciting retreat.

 Catherine's working philosophy is that she should absolutely enjoy what she is doing or what is the point? She makes what she wants to wear and she is always thinking about her next project. Perhaps that's why her Etsy page is called Happy Day Art and why her work shines with a joie de vivre which is unique and fun.

Leaping Hare Pendant

Life Could Be A Dream.

To see more of Catherine's work or hear about her thoughts on the processes she uses visit her Etsy page or her blog