FRAGILE ART in a FRAGILE WORLD
Creations with Kindness in Mind
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Artist Statement
I’m deeply moved by language: the language of birds, the language of animals, the language of the earth, and the language we humans use to interact with our inner and outer landscapes. Language in art begins with a sensation, a sound, a line, a shape. Add a few quirky musings, vivid dreams, accidental epiphanies, and these simple impressions become visual stories that call attention to a moment in time. Nature’s language inspires not only art, but a more caring way of living in the world. It takes courage to lift a brush and make a mark in these unpredictable times. May it be a compassionate mark.
Cathee vanRossem-St.Clair is a miniaturist who has earned national and international recognition for her paintings on eggshells. She began her art career in 1974 and won the highest award in New York City’s first Women In Design International Competition in 1981. Her work has been featured in The Artist’s Magazine, a national art publication that referred to her as “one of ten artists we can’t forget,” and she was nominated for the American Artist Magazine Achievement Award for her lifetime work as an artist. Special exhibitions at the Performing Arts Center of Cincinnati, Ohio, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Santa Rosa, California, and the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno, Nevada have showcased her egg paintings. Her work has also appeared in solo and group gallery exhibits throughout California.
One of her painted eggs, commissioned by The White House, is now in the National Archives.
CALIFORNIA THRASHER
Acrylic on Emu Egg
Commissioned by The White House
(Click on photo to see the Presidential Library’s tweet about this egg, administered by the National Archives).
Cathee was one of ten artists selected to participate in collaboration between the California Arts Council and the California Arts Project to teach inner-city students about the relationship between fragility and caring in her Egg Painting Compassion Project. Since 1988 she has been offering this program to local elementary school children. The Rotary Club named her an honorary Paul Harris Fellow for her artistic service to the community. In honor of the International Day of Peace, Peace One Day, and the Truckee Tahoe Peace Project, she was recognized as an advocate and an example of peace in the Truckee Tahoe area.
PAINTED DUCK EGGSHELLS
by Fourth Graders participating in
The Egg Painting Compassion Project: www.compassioneggs.com.
Cathee is also a poet and storyteller, an alumna of the prestigious Squaw Valley Community of Writers, and has been invited as a guest to teach storytelling at the University of Nevada Reno and the Sierra Nevada College in Incline Village. She has been a returning artist, storyteller, and poet for Trails & Vistas, a Tahoe/Truckee art hike designed to create community and inspire environmental awareness by celebrating the arts in nature.
Cathee vanRossem-St.Clair
sharing The Dream Box Story
for Trails & Vistas
at Sand Harbor, Lake Tahoe, NV.
In North Lake Tahoe she is simply known as
“The Egg Lady.”
Features
Pack of five high quality matte postcards (4-1/8” x 5-7/8”) packaged in a clear, self-sealing envelope. One each of “Courage,” “White Wind,” “Flight,” “Black Bear,” and “Sanctuary.”
(Click on arrows in the image to see the front and back of each card.)
8x10 Open Edition Print on Pearlescent Paper
from my original painting, “Tea with the Black Dragon” (acrylic on a duck eggshell, inspired by the novel of the same name by R. A. MacAvoy). Background is from one of my dream boxes.
This collection of 78 inspirational cards is perfect for moments of quiet introspection. The size of a normal deck of tarot cards and housed in a custom tin box, this deck is an elegant presentation of artistic creations spanning nearly fifty years. Each card is printed on thick, glossy paper with rounded corners. A bi-fold information pamphlet is included, along with a black organza bag for storage.
Dimensions of each card: 2-3/4” wide x 4-3/4” tall (larger than a regular deck of cards).
Dimensions of tin box: 3” x 5”.
(Click on arrows in the image to see a selection of cards.)
What People Are Saying
“Cathee is one of the most talented artists I know. I am privileged to have one of her eggs.”
— Tom Beebe, Woodworking Artist, Truckee, CA
“Her imagination is unbound, and she taught us all a higher level of empathy.”
— Nick Meyers, Aspiring Screenwriter, Los Angeles, CA
Voted Best Local Artist!
Thank you ♥︎
