We’re looking forward to introducing you to Catherine Moore. Check out our conversation below.
Catherine, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
Let’s see…the first 90 minutes after I get up, or when I get to my studio? Let me answer both.
When I get up, I have to “wake up”. This means sometimes scrolling through social media and then doing a crossword or playing Wordle and/or Connections. Just something to focus the mind. Then it’s to the kitchen to cook a nice big breakfast – that means eggs, fruit, avocado, sometimes toast, sometimes bacon. Basically I fill a plate. I have to have a cup of tea always. Gotta have energy to power through the day! During breakfast, I often watch a show on TV. Sometimes it’s just catching up with a series I’ve been watching, or feeling like I’m back in my childhood watching The Price is Right.
Once I get to my studio, which is just a few steps from the living room, I ease into the day. I do some admin type work – emails, filing, calendaring, any website updates, that sort of thing. The art work I do changes depending on what project I have to do and where I am in the process. I may start with some warm up sketches if I’m in early stages and need to get some compositions done, or I may set up my palette and jump right into painting – especially when nearing deadline!
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am an artist and illustrator by trade. That means I actually create art for a living. Most of the time I create oil and/or acrylic paintings for galleries, but I have done commercial illustration work for various clients over the years. I seem to be doing a bit less of that recently, but would love to do more.
Through the creative process I am able to explore both external components of life as well as the inner workings of my own psyche. I am fascinated with the magic and mystery of what we do not yet understand as well as the complete beauty of what is already proven and tangible. Like many, I am also consumed by the world of pop culture, and I love to create narrative works inspired by some of my favorite genres of movies, books, and folklore. These stories are often shrouded in the supernatural and the darker parts of one’s imagination. Bringing elements of these worlds together in my work helps me share a bit of myself with the viewer, and hope I connect to something inside of them.
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
When I was about five or six years old, I would perform magic tricks in my closet…by myself, for myself. One time I placed a quarter under an upside-down plastic Cheerios cereal bowl on the carpeted floor. I proceeded to vigorously move the bowl back and forth and in circular motions. Faster and faster I moved the bowl with my little hands. I remember saying something to the effect of, “Abracadabra! And just like that…the quarter has disappeared!” I lifted the bowl, and sure enough. The quarter was gone.
Now, I figure that during my energetic movements of the bowl, at some point the quarter flew out from underneath and likely lodged itself in the corner of my closet. But for quite some time, I believed I could actually do magic, like I was some sort of witch. As a grew older, I realize that that isn’t exactly true. But, damn if I don’t keep trying. Maybe I need to find that Cheerios bowl.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
I think a lot of artists suffer, at least to some extent. There is such a process we go through to really hone our craft and to become the artists we think we can be. I am no different. I’ve faced many challenges in my career as well as my personal life and all have been teaching moments. I don’t think you learn from success. Success feels good. It’s what you strive for, but it’s the challenges, suffering, and failures that you learn from.
Suffering causes reflection. It makes you search for ways out of the current predicament and helps you get to a better place. To advance in your career or to make necessary changes to grow personally. Every stage of my career and personal life that I achieve is due to struggling in the past and finding new ways to move forward.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. Is the public version of you the real you?
I think for the most part, the public version of me is the real me. But it’s really only a part of the real me. I know there are things I reserve for close friends and family. I don’t let everything out into the public, and I’m not sure the public would even want or care to see all of me. That being said, I’m not going to change aspects of my character or my values in order to fit into certain parts of society. I am not afraid of using my voice and taking a stand when necessary. There seems to be a greater need for that during these times.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: What will you regret not doing?
Being someone in the middle age of life, I am finding myself confronting some regrets of things I didn’t do. I really wished I would have pushed harder earlier in my career to try and work for an animation or movie studio working in visual development. I focused more on family and working to build a career doing art in whatever way I could, but that meant I had to keep putting off portfolio and skill building for visual development. I do believe it’s never too late to follow your dreams, but I think, unless I’m doing something for myself, this may be one that I have to let go. We don’t always get to do exactly what we want, but if we’re lucky, we’ll come close.
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