Artists Statement

My creativity feels like a divine gift to me, and I honor the gift by making my art about Spirit. I am inspired by the places of ancient ritual and celebration, such as the megalithic, solar aligned temples of Malta, the standing stone circles of Stonehenge, and images of the Divine Feminine in all her guises. I want to express the numinous quality of life, where the elements of nature and the stones and the places of power come alive and speak to us on a deeper level.

In particular, the images of Malta have fascinated me for nearly 10 years. This tiny island in the Mediterranean has the oldest megalithic temples on the planet, predating the Pyramids and Stonehenge. Some are carved out of solid limestone underground, on three levels with over thirty rooms. Others are huge stones aligned in such a way that they shine a beam of sunlight down the center aisle on the equinox. The temples hold a promise of a creative, cooperative community that valued the rhythms of nature, honored artists, the ancestors, and celebrated spirit in their daily lives. While on a pilgrimage there in 2004, a dream came to me about how the temples were built and what happened when the culture disappeared. The dream became a story that has guided my work.

In Neolithic times the cave artists were also the shamans, who traveled deep into the earth, not to make decorative art, but to have transformative experiences that involved communication with the spirit world. The act of creation is a sacred act of transformation. When I am making something I am manifesting my world. I contemplate the nature of things seen and unseen-- often floating in a state I call "art trance".

The mystery and uncertainty of things attracts me-- the images of doorways, with an unknown just beyond view; to layer things so that images are obscured and speak to the subconscious; to etch things in with the intent of scraping out; the push and pull of ink on a plate that evokes an image from the barest trace of ink. I am always intrigued by where the journey of the plate takes me.

I hope my work will connect with you on deeper intuitive levels so that you can experience the Spirit within the making.

List of Shows

Upcoming- "Spirits Strong as Stone", Sebastopol Center for the Arts Gallery II, June-July 2008
Upcoming- Art at the Source Open Studio 2008 May 31- June 1 and June 7-8, 3840 Finley St. SR
"Impressions 2006 Print Show" Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Sebastopol CA, March-April 2006
"Originals-- The Fine Art of Printmaking" Art Works Downtown, San Rafael, CA June 2005
"Hot off the Press", The Studio Print Shop, Santa Rosa CA, May 2004
Annual Open Studio, Studio Santa Rosa, Santa Rosa CA, 2002 - 2007
"Thresholds" Solo Exhibit, Coffee Bazaar, Guerneville CA, September 2003
"Shrines/Icons/Mystical Places", Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Sebastopol CA, October 1998
"Expressions of the Feminine Soul", Wilson Street Gallery, Santa Rosa CA, April 1996
"Woman Creating", Luther Burbank Center for the Arts, Santa Rosa CA, March 1995
"Piece by Piece: Collage", Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Sebastopol CA, February 1995
Solo Exhibit, Coffee Bazaar, Guerneville CA, August 1994
"The Art of Ink", Santa Rosa City Council Chambers, Santa Rosa CA, November-January 1994
"Printed Matters", Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Sebastopol CA, January 1994
"The Art of Ink", Whistlestop Gallery, Santa Rosa CA, October 1993
"In Honor of Pregnant Women", San Francisco CA, October 1993
"In Her Image: the Goddess in Art", Quicksilver Mine Company, Guerneville CA, March 1992
"In Honor of Pregnant Women", The Family Gallery, Duncan's Mills CA, March 1992 (co-curator)
"The Mask", Quicksilver Mine Company, Guerneville CA, September 1990
Sonoma County Fair, Santa Rosa CA, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, (Best of Show)
Sonoma County Harvest Fair, Santa Rosa CA, 1994, Best of Medium
Marin County Fair and Exhibition, San Rafael CA, 1991, Honorable Mention
and appearing regularly at the Winter Solstice Goddess Crafts Fair each December in Sebastopol, CA and the Bodega Seafood, Art and Wine Festival in June in Bodega, CA

Caren Catterall's received her BFA in printmaking from California College of Arts and Crafts in 1978. She has worked at the Santa Rosa Junior College for 14 years in the print classes as the lab technician. Her studio, which includes a 28" x 48" Sturges star wheel press and a smaller Ettan press, is in Santa Rosa, CA. She also manages The Studio Print Shop, a membership organization for experienced printmakers who share her studio space.