Cathy Mark PORTRAYING NATURE IN ALL ITS BEAUTY gallery by Aaron Nava
Cathy’s artistic pursuits brought her to a vocational arts high school followed by David Thompson University in British Columbia for Fine Arts. After finishing a design course in London, Ontario, Cathy began work as a design consultant. Then she went on a studio tour that would change her career. “I have always worked in the art field. I was in a studio tour and I was placed with a blacksmith, so I just started using his equipment and it just went from there. “I really like working with the metal. I like the physicality of it. I like hammering,” she chuckles. “It’s just something I enjoy doing.”
10 OTTAWALIFE WINTER/SPRING 2021
Cathy Mark is a Scarborough-born artist who works with metals. But unlike some other artists, she says that this year has been good for her art. “In the initial lockdown I wasn’t that busy because all the galleries were closed, and so it was great because I had time to explore other things,” says Mark. “I was doing some stone carving, I got two solid months of carving stone and I really enjoy that. But once the galleries reopened it’s been a really busy season. With spending more time at home, I think people are buying things that they want to look beautiful in their homes, so art sales have been really good…Some of the galleries have been crazy busy this year, so it’s been a good year.” Cathy works from her home studio on the north shore of Lake Scugog. The stones, and driftwood are mostly collected from their 200-acre farm. “My husband does all the wood pieces, he carves the wood out for me,” Mark
