We were lucky to catch up with Cathy Horvath Buchanan recently and have shared our conversation below.

Cathy, appreciate you joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I started making art as a kid, as we all do because we’re free to express whatever is in our little heads. It was just always who I was and what I did.

I grew up in the country, spending the summers on my own, since my friends lived further than a bike ride away. During that time I loved putting pencil to paper and being delightfully surprised when what I created actually looked like the thing. As a kid, the surprised admiration of my family and friends when they saw my drawings made me feel like what I was doing was special, and it spurred me on to keep going.

That natural drawing ability consumed my young years as I obsessively observed objects, fields, flowers, farm buildings, animals, birds, the sky, everything in my line of sight… trying to figure out how to realistically capture and convey to other people what I was seeing.

I also went to the local library (pre-internet) and repeatedly took out art books on my favorite artists: Lauren Harris, Tom Thomson, Andrew Wyeth, Georgia O’keeffe, and Emily Carr,.. to name a few. I was amazed with how they saw the world, and the unique artistic filter they each had in order to express it.

As I grew older my desire to somehow turn my love of creating into a full time occupation led me to art school. After 3 years I graduated, with my diploma and paintbrush in hand, ready to go out into the world to make art.

In the fullness of my youthful ignorance I didn’t realize what a long winding road the artist’s journey would be. Turns out there’s actually is no destination as an artist, there’s only the art that you create to record your journey along the way. Each painting I make is an expression of what I’m thinking, seeing and feeling at that particular point in time, and when I put them all together it tells the story of how I got to where I am both personally and artistically.

Cathy, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I paint the things I would like to see, have seen, or am currently seeing, that light me up. Often it’s the way sunlight hits a landscape, flower or clouds, to create dramatic highlights and shadows turning it into something spectacular. It’s these kinds of special moments I want to capture and keep. The emotion I’m striving to share is one of joy, so that folks who view my art can take part and bring a piece of that joy and beauty into their lives as well.

As a kid I was very sensitive to my rural surroundings and spent a lot of time just looking around. I would make art so that I could keep a record of my impressions of what I found interesting or beautiful, and that evoked a pleasurable emotion in me. I remember drawing plants, trees, birds, rocks, fields and barns, because that was what I saw everyday. I use more color in my art than I did back then, but even after all these years I still make art for the same reason, keeping impressions and pleasurable emotions.

The other half of the equation is making artwork that resonates and recreates that same pleasurable emotion in others. That’s how all the arts work, the creation part fulfills the artist, and the consumption part of the art fulfills the viewer/listener. Essentially my goal is to make myself and others happy at the same time… as an artist, this is a gift I was given to share.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

Often the journey to being an artist is fraught with well intentioned loved ones trying to disuade you from the path in an attempt to hang their own limiting beliefs on you. .

What non-artistic people often don’t realize is that being a sensitive creative person and also needing to express that, isn’t something you choose, it’s just who you are.

Often artistic people are also introverts, struggling with their creativity in order to make something unique. That can only be achieved through private exploration, by reaching into your heart and soul in an attempt to give voice to your light. The second part of that is, in order for that creativity to have an impact on others, you also need to have the courage and confidence in your personal expression to share it openly with the world! You leave your new creation, and by extension yourself, vulnerable and open to criticism not only by strangers but by those closest to you.

Especially when you’re starting out on the creative path, any negative words can break through the fragile shield that protects your ego. Confidence is hard won and too easily disturbed. I know many folks who abandoned hopes of an artistic career in their early years based on a few misplaced negative words from someone whose opinion they valued.

Even if you’ve been a professional artist for years, as I have, sitting down at the easel is still daunting, the idea that anything is possible as long as it fits within the rectangle of this piece of stretched canvas. The thought that you could create something that might be of benefit to the world is liberating, intimidating, scary, exciting, and fraught with artistic mindset issues around confidence, value, and self-worth.

All that happens before even dipping the paintbrush in the paint to make the first mark.

I’ve created thousands of paintings, and for those just starting their artistic journey, I can tell you that it does get easier over time. Each painting hones your skills. Each experiment both successful and unsuccessful, adds to your knowledge of what is possible, each piece gives you just a bit more confidence in your ability to convey your vision, express your artistic voice, and stand in the face of criticism.

When a collector purchases an original painting, all of that is part of what they are buying. All the years of dedicated time to build the skills and mindset to create a work of art that actually has value to the world.

Creating art, any art, is not easy. Creating good art requires time, sacrifice and dedication. Creating great art is akin to flying with the angels when mind, spirit, and experience come together to form a vision of unique clarity and beauty.

It’s with those lofty ideals in my head and heart that every day I sit in my studio in front of a canvas, trying to conjure magic. Maybe I’ll succeed and maybe not. Every day is different, but for me and for artists all over the world, the journey and the chance to bring something unique into the world is worth all the effort and courage to overcome self-doubt, with hopes of creating beauty in the world where it didn’t exist before.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I think the most rewarding part of being an artist is the journey you take.

‘Artist’ is a loaded label, the long tradition and history of those labeled as ‘artist’ has influence how that label is perceived. It means you’re gifted, talented, special, your vision is elevated. It’s a lot to live up to, but at the same time when you have the confidence to label yourself an ‘artist ‘it’s as though you give yourself permission to be different in the world and how you see the world. That permission lets you put on the ‘artist glasses’ and open yourself to seeing and thinking about everything you are seeing through that lens.

If painting is a type of organized seeing, it follows that it takes time to consider, understand and organize what you’re seeing while also being sensitive to the emotions that you’re feeling as you see it, (whatever it is). People who are not artists rarely take that sort of time to perceive the world around them. That time is a luxury that artist have to afford themselves, as that is the only way to fully immerse yourself in creativity. The more time and thought that is committed to the inspiration, creative process, and skills in crafting the vision, the better the resulting art will be.

If it is in your nature, then leaning into being an artist is a gift to yourself, but it’s a gift that requires a lifetime unwrap.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://cathyhorvathbuchanan.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/cathyhorvathbuchanan/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/SoloWorkStudio.CathyHorvathBuchanan
• Other: Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/soloworkstudio/

Image Credits
All images copyright Cathy Horvath Buchanan