Painting has always been my creative refuge—a place where I feel at home. From the beginning, I was drawn to subjects carrying a sense of tradition, and I embraced traditional methods in my training. This foundation in value, shape, form, and color became essential, grounding me in a discipline that I still deeply respect. As my skills grew, so did a desire to find my unique voice. That exploration took time, coming later in life, with practice and missteps that ultimately shaped my work. My painting “Bottled Moments” reflects this journey, blending tradition with a more personal sense of expression. At its core, it’s a study of light and transparency, yet it goes beyond that, using vintage bottles as symbols of fragility and resilience. The glass, strong yet vulnerable, becomes a metaphor for life itself—easily shaped or shattered depending on how light, or life, touches it. In this piece, I’ve layered soft blues, greens, and violets to evoke a calm, introspective mood. The abstract background pattern serves as a quiet framework, supporting the bottles without overshadowing their form. Each bottle, with its unique shape and color, embodies individuality within a shared space. Together, they create a harmonious composition that invites viewers to see beauty in the ordinary and reflect on life’s quiet, enduring moments. For me, Bottled Moments is more than just an arrangement of objects. It’s a story, a "bottled" memory, capturing the duality of tradition and innovation that defines my journey as an artist. It invites others to pause and find meaning in the small, simple details that so often go unnoticed.

Catherine J Martzloff

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The idea that life is like a work of art feels inspiring to me. Viewing life as an ongoing journey of discovery full of lessons in perspective and relationships parallels the experience of painting. The ups and downs, twists and turns are so similar to how I move a paintbrush and it’s influence on the paintings color, texture and presence. As I consider my artistic journey, it began before my first breath. I arrived with a love for creating as I believe we all do. A more conscious desire to be an artist /painter began around age 7 or 8. Drawing, painting and working with color were activities where I could feel a connection unlike any other. Hours flew by like seconds as I entered the magical world of making something. I didn’t have words for the experience at that time but I understood on a deep level what this time provided for me and that was hope! Hope was something that seemed to dissipate for me as grew up. While there was creativity in the home, a lot of chaos and uncertainty also existed. Creating, in the way I did through drawing and coloring was a form of relief from how scared inside I felt all the time. It helped me know there was something that I could feel secure in. I clung to that feeling. My path since then has been one of searching for a way to honor that creative part of my being. For many years I “stuffed” my artistic desires and unknowingly traded in on them for the life I thought I was supposed to live; which wasn’t all bad. Inside my heart though parts of my soul were dying. It took an experience that turned my world upside down to “wake-up” and re-consider the path I was on. Slowly, I found some courage to face my artistic self and see where the art might take me. Painting has been a big part of my life for some years now. At the core, my paintings are inspired by the color of hope and the power of wonder in every day life. They are founded upon that 7 or 8 year old girls desire to share her dream and the possibility of something beyond difficult times and experiences. These paintings are visual stories of an examined life that’s still in process and evolving through the experience of painting. I’m learning it can be a simple and rich tapestry of adventure over tim