ARTISTS ALERT!!! Call for Copyright Action!!!!

Fellow artists,

The 1976 Copyright Act is being written, and NOT for the good of artist's rights. It is critical that all artists who want and need their revenue streams, royalties and indeed, the creative ownership of their own work to remain intact, then your input is needed immediately. 

Once the law is rewritten, then the opportunity to make a difference is lost.

Until Thursday, July 23, 2015, you may contact the Copyright Office and submit your opinion. If you want to know the background about this complex but very important issue, then you will find an in-depth interview on youtube. The interview is titled: 

"Everything You Know About Copyright Is About To Change - Brad Holland" 

Here is the LINK.

In 2008 over 100 artists from all walks of life spent our own time, money and energy to go to Washington DC. We rallied thousands of artists to send in their work samples, letters, etc. and we went to the offices (and often met with) every Senator and member of the House of Representatives to let them know what we expected from them. 

We have lawyers (often pro bono) and have hired lobbyists to represent artist's rights. The bill died from the pressure put on artists from across the country.

It is time to fight for our rights again. 

Thank you.

Catherine Twomey
Board Certified Medical Illustrator
Fine Artist, Currently Licensing Over 20 fine art images

Wear Your Helmet USDF Illustration

Catherine Twomey, All Rights Reserved
Lateral Brain Structures and Skull ©2013 C. Twomey • All  Rights Reserved

Just finished this medical illustration of the lateral structures of the brain for the United States Dressage Federation Connections magazine to be published in an upcoming issue. The article will be about the critical need to wear a helmet at all times when riding. Fortunately, the USDF is changing their competition rules to accommodate helmet wearing at all levels.

Equestrian head/brain injuries are no joke. They can happen in an instant and change lives forever. So NOT worth the risk. Check it out.

Never Finished Learning....and Photo Shoots?

I took another hard look at the skeleton/bone illustration I recently posted; the one of the horse's head and neck. It was drawn back in December - February, right before I went into surgery for a new knee. Therein lay the problem! I can see now I rushed and wasn't careful.

Looking closely at the image, I see several anatomical errors, and they drive me crazy! I'll mark them up and post the image again for closer scrutiny. That's the good thing about stepping away from a piece for awhile: everything that you thought looked just fine before takes on a whole new perspective, and in this case, it needs fixin!

The hospital where I had my surgery (Martha Jefferson in Charlottesville) has decided that I was an ideal patient. They clearly did not talk to anyone involved in my recovery.

Tomorrow Martha Jeff is flying in photographers and a make-up artist to do a photo shoot. That's not something I've ever said before. They want to show me riding Miss Kiwi, a lovely mare at the farm next door, to show how well my knee works and how quickly I've been able to recover. Sure didn't seem that way at the time! Ms. Kiwi will be getting some serious bribery carrots.

Anyway, as evidenced by the photo left, clearly I am used to photo shoots with Brad & Angie, which was taken right after my surgery, at the Academy Awards. Gosh, I love Photoshop.

Hoping to post tomorrow, but it's going to be a busy day, what with make-up artists and all....

A Decent Introduction

Well, I leapt right into this blog, which at the moment is teaching how I paint an oil painting. However, I provided no introduction, background, or any kind of reasoning as to why I can or want to write this!


That's typical of me (hyperenergetic and jumping right into it), but confusing. Everything needs context. I don't believe in wordy blog posts (please let me know if that happens), so I'll just provide a bit at a time to establish credibility and offer a philosophy about painting, art, horses, and life.

I'm a fine artist and Board Certified Medical Illustrator. Since I was a kid I knew I'd be an artist, and that's what I've aimed for since grade school. Bragging rights: I've worked very, very hard and I've won lots of national and international awards for my artwork (http://www.catherinetwomey.com/awardsexhibitions/). I'm also a published author (articles & journals) which means I have no excuse for bad writing or editing. Mea culpa.

Regarding my past life (in this body) as a medical illustrator, I'm posting a piece that recently won the opportunity to be exhibited at the medical division of TED (http://www.ted.com/pages/registration), TEDMED. It was a great honor to be selected:

As you can see, my medical work is extremely realistic and detailed - along with accurate. I'm a Fellow of the Association of Medical Illustrators and consider it a noble and rewarding career (http://www.ami.org/)

Of late, however, because I want to and can, I've been focusing on my lifetime love of the fine arts. The goal is to loosen up from the medical illustration style, do wonderful paintings and/or sculptures, give back  a lifetime's worth of knowledge via teaching, and finally, to sell some of my work. 

What I'd like is to continue teaching, but invite you to freely ask any questions you may have about my process or anything else art related. Your input is greatly welcomed and important.

I hope to offer critiques in the future. One step at a time - I'm still trying to figure out what tags are vs. labels...

For a detailed resume, please follow this link to my website:


And thanks for your attention.

CT