Catherine Morrisey

Catherine Morrisey

“Golden Bunnies,” September 2020, oil on canvas; work was included in the ECH “Hiding in Plain Sight” virtual exhibit in October 2020.

Catherine Morrisey was born in Brampton, Ontario, and grew up in Port Credit, surrounded by a family of artists, including her mother Patience; their works have  been presented together in recent years. Catherine received her BA honours in fine art from York University, Toronto, and continued her studies at Arts’ Sake Inc., Toronto, with notable artists Graham Coughtry, Robert Markle, Gord Rayner, Dennis Burton, and David Bolduc.

Her early experience also included working as a gallery assistant at Harbourfront Art Gallery, Toronto, and as a studio assistant to Robert Markle (1936–90), a Mohawk artist from Southern Ontario. The Toronto art community of the '70s and '80s was a vibrant mix of generations of painters, musicians, and writers. Her neighbours were Gershon Iskowitz, Lynn Donahue, Harold Klunder, Rae Johnson, and Lorne Wagman. The Artists’ Jazz Band played frequently in her studio in the Coffin Factory.
 
She moved to London in the early '80s and received a master's in library science from Western University, London, in 1984. She has worked as a librarian at the London Public Library; the Sarasota County Library, Florida, USA; and Weldon Library, Western University, London, Ontario. Her exhibitions include presentations in galleries in London, Toronto, and in the USA. In 1978, she received the prestigious RBC Prize for Emerging Artists. 

Her work has also involved curating exhibitions for the London Historical Museum & London Regional Art Gallery (now Museum London). She has taught courses in library technology, libraries, museums, and archives at Fanshawe College. Catherine's dedication to heritage has involved restorations of properties in various neighbourhoods in London, which has significantly contributed to the regeneration of these communities, for which she received the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario Restoration Awards in 2013 and 2016. 

The woods, river, and garden behind Catherine’s studio provide endless subject matter for oil paintings. Her studio is in an old auto body shop. The original paint room for painting cars has large doors that open east to west. The breezes flow through, clearing the turpentine fumes and carrying bird calls and conversations from the bike path. Sometimes a bird will fly in one door from the woods and out the other side to the garden.

The Westland Gallery in south London has featured her work in numerous group and solo exhibitions. Please see her recent exhibit here. 

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Recent work by Catherine Morrisey

“Jug of Flowers,” oil on canvas

“Bowl of Nectarines,” oil on canvas

“Blue Sky,” oil on canvas

“Trees in the Wind,” oil on canvas

“Richmond Bus Going Over the Bridge by Labatt’s,” oil on canvas

Catherine Morrisey's Artist Statement:

“I am inspired by ancient Chinese landscape paintings that depict vast distances and timelessness. I admire the exquisite brush strokes of black ink on white rice paper. I like how those landscapes feel inviting, familiar, peaceful. Those paintings come from a different time and culture, yet they are completely accessible to us.

I also have been studying Bonnard’s paintings. He builds his compositions like whimsical patchworks of colour blocks. He paints domestic scenes in his home and countryside. My goal is to celebrate our local woods and river, waterlilies and willows, turtles and geese, our village. In my paintings, I freely adapt traditions of Chinese painting and Bonnard’s colour methods. When I kayak on the river, I experience timelessness and surprise, wonder and delight. These are the feelings I want to share."

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