Come to the Community Art Center and meet September’s ‘Artist of the Month’ — Cathy Patton — lovingly called “The Rock Lady.”
Born is Michigan, Cathy Patton was raised in the world of art and music. Her father attained a position with the Philadelphia Orchestra shortly after her birth and the family moved to the Philadelphia area where she was raised. In 1982, Cathy married Tom Patton in Denmark. Together they lived in Germany until 1987, when they returned to the United States to raise their three children in the Catskill Mountains of New York.
Cathy’s first studies in art began when she was young child, often posing for her mother who worked in pastel and later water color. She majored in art during her high school years, receiving a background in creams, water color, drawing and drafting. She continued her art interests into adulthood, with painting, drawing and sewing.
While living in Germany, she completed the quilt, ‘Humble Beginnings’, which represented Possessions, Territories and Military Bases abroad in the first Great American Quilt Festival in 1986. It was the first quilt she had made.
Cathy began working with rock in 2011, when she joined several lapidary groups and came under the tutelage of several very patient friends who helped her to cultivated her skills first with stone, then wire and finally metal. In 2015 she and Tom moved to Indiana, to be closer to their children and grandchildren.
Cathy will be at the Community Art Center tomorrow (Friday) during ‘First Friday’, from 6-9 p.m. Her work is on display every day at the Community Art Center at 217 Ferry Street.
Open hours are Sunday through Thursday from noon to 4 p.m.; and Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.