Featured Artist of the ‘Burg (FAB) #27: Catherine Woods

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Born in DC, raised in Maryland.

 

Constantly evolving. I am known mostly for glass work and my large scale public artworks. But I believe that the life of an artist is constant exploration. So in my personal work, I leave myself open to following different interests at different times. It is rarely time wasted, as it makes any work I do richer. I look at how Picasso worked in a variety of media and think how perfect that was.  Also, I will often get inspiration from my last project and spin it off in a new direction.

 

What are your favorites among your own pieces? Why?
Usually the one I’m working on at the time or am about to embark on. My current favorite is ‘Kinetic Ring’, a 24’ tall glass and metal sculpture in Tampa.  (5100 West Kennedy, if you want to drive by.) I like the form of it, the way it unfolds from multiple viewing angles, how the glass changes in the light, and how it uses glass as a modular repeating element. I love that it incorporates images from the Westshore area, so it is a sculpture about the area, created from images of the area. Abstracted images. That’s important.

 

Do you remember when you first realized that you were an artist? 
I can’t remember when I wasn’t! It kind of defined my life. My ability to draw was recognized early and supported by my family. Always. During childhood, my father took me to all of the great museums in D.C. and summers included visits to the Smithsonian’s Folklife festival. Not a bad way to get immersed in the arts.
 

 You just have to be resigned 

 

The color and transparency. The way it interacts with light.

 

It seems a particularly unforgiving medium.
It certainly can be. But very rewarding too. You just have to be resigned to the fact that sometimes things are going to break. And you are going to curse.

Is glass challenging to work with? 

It can be. I mostly work with architectural painted glass on larger projects and that is an entirely different process than blowing or kiln-forming glass. With the larger public projects, the challenges are technical – getting the laminating and tempering done without breakage. Or firing so that the color comes out how I want.
 

There is so much design time before I even touch the glass, hours spent on the computer and in the studio generating samples to make sure the overlapping colors will be successful and that the imagery works well from panel to panel.

I would like to say this about architectural glass: once it is laminated and installed is more durable than people think. (I mean, think of the buildings that are mostly windows. If glass was that fragile, we’d be in trouble.) I have exterior glass work across the US, some projects a decade old and they are holding up just fine.

 

A 23’ tall tower glass and metal steel in Texas. 

 

There are so many talented artists here and so many people committed to the arts in St. Pete. The future looks bright.