Catherine Howie, “Hudsonian”

 iPhonographer, Catherine Howie, will be the featured artist at the Art Bank for August. Her show, “Hudsonian” will open in the Feature Room, August 7th as part of the IDADA First Friday Art Tour. Admission is free. “Since seeing THE VOYAGE OF LIFE series by Thomas Cole in the National Gallery of Art when I was in high school, I have been captivated by works of the Hudson River School,” says Howie. “In every painting the artists added details—a reward for looking closer. In each of my works for this show the viewer will find a pay-off for staying with an image longer than normal. I absolutely love it when I see the ‘Aha!’ in a patron’s eyes! The interaction between art and viewer is electric!”

Howie will debut new work for this show that is more than an artistic “Where’s Waldo.”  “My art constantly interprets and challenges me to work through the big questions – Who am I? Why am I here? How do society and community work well?” Howie has created a Facebook page (“Hudsonian at the Art Bank”) to help facilitate interaction with viewers throughout the month.)

Catherine, a Yooper from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, grew up hiking through the backwoods and searching for agates on the shore of Lake Superior which honed her appreciation for nature’s beauty— from grand vistas to almost unnoticeable details. She is an active blogger, fiber and paper artist, a photographer, and a student of creativity.  Tomas, her husband of 33 years, and Catherine share their Fishers, Indiana home with their two Border Collies. They are parents of two grown sons and the unbiased grandparents of the sweetest little girl in the world.

Catherine is the Worship Arts Director and Urban Outreach Pastor of Trinity Church in Fishers; she and Tomas co-direct Halcyon Arts, a department of Artists in Christian Testimony, International based in Nashville, TN. Her iPhonography, which has been exhibited at the Art Bank Gallery since 2010, has been published in local magazines and featured in ministry settings. Several painters in the Hudson River School believed one of God’s most powerful manifestations happens through the beauty and power inherent in nature. 

The Hudson River School artists often painted on-site, finishing their large-scale masterpieces in studio. iPhonographers use a similar process—often shooting a dozen or more shots that are later combined into one sizable image. “Immediacy with the subject matter and the creative process combine old and new—creative artistry blended with current technology into this new and dynamic art medium,” says Howie.