"The Secret Forest" Work In Progress by C. Twomey
WIP of the secret forest. The intriguing thing about the distant light is that’s a wall of falling water that feeds the creek. Where bears roam. 18 x 24” oil on linen panel.
Studio Sale on etsy.com (catherinetwomeyart.etsy.com) Now!
Lots of "Thank you's (or youse)" lately to the wonderful people who support my artistic efforts and purchase my prints and/or original artwork. You're inspirational, motivational and downright kind! Grateful - more so than you can imagine. Etsy: catherinetwomeyart.etsy.com
Original Oils Sale Until 12/1/23: Catherine Twomey, Award Winning Artist
Five sold in the last month - now is the moment. These are larger original oils and and framed, ready to hang: catherinetwomeyart.etsy.com
"Pumpkin Diaries: The Shadow Knows"
As fall descends, so too do the pumpkins. I teach horseback riding to autistic children on Saturdays. The farm grows a big patch of pumpkins that they sell at local markets, so I nabbed this extraordinarily lyrical one to paint. There was something so lovely about the interaction between the blues and oranges. This piece is unframed, 8 X 16" on archival Ray Mar panel, in oils. It marks the rapidly changing seasons on a Friday the 13th. So appropriate.
"Blue Ridge Clouds Sheep No. 2" SOLD!
"Blue Ridge Clouds Sheep" has been SOLD to a buyer from New Jersey! Thank you so much. This original 22" X 28" oil painting on a stretched canvas frame is shipping out today. For additional originals and prints, visit my Etsy site here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1462408022/studio-sale-original-oil-painting?click_key=a1770be114ec0bc46f2e6c4906799988f8f406c7%3A1462408022&click_sum=8ea4385e&ref=shop_home_active_15&pro=1
Catherine Twomey Contributes to a PAPA PBS Documentary
As a member of Preserving A Picturesque America (https://preservationthroughart.org/) yesterday I joined three other plein air painters at the Biltmore Estate on the Wisteria Terrace. As we painted we were filmed and then interviewed about our work and PAPA for an upcoming PBS Documentary. It was a most spectacular day, fortunately, and although I have almost no memory of what I said in the interview, I hope I did PAPA proud - I know they make me proud.
Featured Artist in Australia: Catherine Twomey
Meanwhile, in Australia, the Institute of Ecological Agriculture is featuring my work in their online newsletter (link below). Thanks Tony!
https://www.ecoag.org.au/campaigns/view-campaign/aEV-f0GvD8QIOWo6FIMyXfQNW_O4vad4soaOMlbEB0roJBsfrfhjpHM6iqOOGQwBW39EiIUwKTWTX14oqMGawiooADXXljRE
Public Service Announcement: "Mercury: Dangerously Fishy"
"The following is a personal Public Service Announcement - my first, and I hope the last:
Mercury: Dangerously Fishy by Catherine Twomey, FAMI, Emeritus
Thinking about ordering that lovely swordfish or sea bass, steaming and covered in capers? Or, how about that sushi? About to pop open a can of “sustainable, thoughtfully harvested” Albacore tuna to eat on a salad or for a delicious tuna fish sandwich? Think again; hard.
I’ve just been diagnosed with mercury toxicity. For the last two months, I’ve worked with an integrative, functional medicine doctor while she supervised and interpreted over 10 tests, ranging from blood to hair and lots in between.
What kind of harm is done by an excess of mercury? Without getting overly scientific, the overall scope is that it’s prevented my body from functioning properly for a long time. Mercury toxicity can be a root cause of a host of maladies that are otherwise attributed to things like aging or chronic disease.
I have stepped out of traditional medicine because it failed me once again. My general practitioner refused to do annual blood tests for me since 2020 - even though I asked him to repeatedly, telling me: “You’re doing just fine, you don’t need them.” Funny, he had no problem doing them for my husband. I found a traditionally trained physician whose specialty, functional integrative medicine, isn’t recognized by Medicare, yet who is one of the most intelligent, thorough and life-changing people I’ve met.
The mercury toxicity diagnosis has been pretty exhausting and frightening. Sure, I’d heard about fish and mercury - but it really can’t be that bad, otherwise I would have heard more about it, right? Wrong. I can no longer eat any fish or shellfish except a limited amount of salmon. As a small species fish with lower mercury, salmon is loaded with antioxidants; a good thing. At this point in the earth’s environmental destruction, every species of fish or shellfish has mercury in it. It’s just a question of which species does the most harm.
What’s being dumped into the oceans is much worse than it was just a couple of decades ago. I had been experiencing subtle, weird symptoms of various things and at least now have an explanation for them. My body is slowly healing and balancing, and I’m going to have what’s called chelation therapy to “liquify” what mercury is in my body with hopes of a full recovery. It’s going to take thousands of dollars and up to seven months.
Our medical system is broken; this story is just one tiny example. When I tell doctors about my mercury toxicity, their typical first response is: “that’s rare.” I suspect the opposite is true. How can you know if something is rare if it’s not even tested for routinely? Unfortunately, most physicians have had little nutritional education and we’re paying a steep price for that deficiency.
The amount of mercury and other industrial waste being freely released into the oceans has increased by about 30% just in the last 20 years - ah, those pesky environmental regulations - and is increasing exponentially. Yet there are no standard tests done to measure changing nutritional needs or toxic exposure. The tests are affordable, do-able remotely and could significantly alter the grossly mismanaged, unregulated supplement industry profoundly - and please, don’t even get me started on the pharmaceutical industry. Illnesses could be re-diagnosed, correctly; lives saved, improved and millions of dollars redirected towards better health outcomes rather than chronic diseases.
I loved to eat fish. I’d read, been told and thought I was doing the “right” thing and following a great diet full of everything you’re supposed to eat with very little of the bad stuff. Not anymore. At least for the foreseeable future, I’m all plant based. I’m actually learning to cook because at least I know what’s going into and can control each meal. I want to keep outdoor mountain painting, thinking clearly, horseback riding and being disease free as long as possible.
Lately I’ve mused on how ironic it is that, as an emeritus medical illustrator and fine art painter, I’ve focused on the complexity and beauty of nature and fragility of the earth’s environment. My brain calling out for help? Maybe. Or maybe the earth’s problems are now hitting home and I can no longer be in denial. It’s not fun being the canary in a coal mine."
"Lemon Levitation" by Catherine Twomey
Painted plein air in the garden, Palm Springs, CA. I've never spent this much time in the desert and it's really starting to grow on me. Daily I gaze at a lovely, full lemon tree. The looming mountains still have snow at the top, yet down below it's 70 degrees and sunny. Coyotes roam the neighborhood and follow my dog and me on walks. I've been so influenced by this lemon tree, I'm now dreaming about the lemons and this inspired this piece. And p
eace.
"Old Grey Jug" Sold! by Catherine Twomey
SOLD thank you to the collector of "Old Grey Jug"! #stilllifepainting #stilllifeoil #blendgallerync #catherinetwomey1 #oilonpanel #moonshinejug
"Birds Eye View Summer Spruce" by Catherine Twomey
"Birds Eye View Summer Spruce", 16 X 20" oil on canvas over aluminum. There are seven spruces off of my deck, and I've painted this one 100 times in my mind. Finally got it down on canvas! Plein air to studio; available this week at Blend Gallery in Asheville.
"Island Edge" by Catherine Twomey Sold!
THANK YOU to Blend Gallery at 67 Biltmore Ave (Asheville) for the sale of "Island Edge." This original oil was painted plein air at Bass Lake in Blowing Rock, NC - obviously a beautiful, serene place filled with happy walkers as storms came and went.
"Center For Humans and Nature" Awarded Artworks by C. Twomey
Thank you to the Center for Humans and Nature (https://humansandnature.org/) for the unexpected award for six of my works to be published in 2023! What a terrific way to start the New Year! Citation: A version of ‘Accelerating’ first appeared in a
publication of the Center for Humans and Nature Press and is revised and
reprinted here with permission of the Center for Humans and Nature Press.
"Lusitano Gallop" Now Available As A Print
The original painting has been sold, but this work is now available as a print. Please check it out here:
"The Island" by Catherine Twomey
"The Island" is a plein air oil, 16" X 16" in Blowing Rock, NC. It was a blustery, sometimes rainy day, but there is nothing like capturing the light on site. Thank you to the collector from Hewitt, NJ for their purchase!
"Sea Leveling" by Catherine Twomey Through ERA Contemporary Gallery
Thank you to ERA Contemporary Gallery in Philadelphia, PA for featuring my painting: "Sea Leveling" - now on offer. Check it out: https://www.instagram.com/p/ClWfQJcMZKh/
Sold by Martin House Gallery, Blowing Rock": "Monumental Oak"
A big thank you to Mike Gaydon at Martin House Gallery in Blowing Rock for selling this 22” x 28” oil entitled “Monumental Oak”. And thanks, of course, to the collectors. Much appreciated! #artsold #martinhouse #martinhousegallery #oaktreepainting #landscapepaintingsold #catherinetwomey1 #artcollectors #artcollectorsoninstagram
Open Studio Tour! Oct. 8 & 9, 1 Plymouth Court, Asheville!
Hope you can come and meet me at 1 Plymouth Court, Kenilworth, Asheville this Saturday and Sunday. Starting at 10, ending at 5 - it would be such a pleasure to meet you! I’ll have originals and prints, snacks & spring water. The weather is going to be PERFECT! See you there, and thanks.
"The Marked Tree" Vineyards by Catherine Twomey
A memory, a feeling, a brief moment of life - this was painted at Marked Tree Vineyards, where I was surrounded by the most beautiful scenery, happy somewhat inebriated people, a good panter friends. I was so drawn to the way the vines pointed at the namesake tree - and the colors, the rich colors of the countryside on a gorgeous summer day.