Catherine began painting 26 years ago, a self-taught watercolourist living in Muskoka with her husband Michael. Over the years her subjects often included homes, cottages and children.

"egg tempera must be seen to be appreciated"

O'Mara now draws upon the untouched parts of Muskoka for subject matter. Algonquin Park and Limberlost Wildlife Reserve are close to home and the fields, forests and waters that surround her are rendered in paintings that invite the viewer "into the woods" with an intimate perspective of nature. Along with this progression of subject matter came a progression regarding the medium itself. She began experimenting with egg tempera.

A medium often abandoned by artists as too limiting; ultimately developing her own approach to this ancient medium that she now works with exclusively - loving it’s soft lustrous finish and brilliant colour.

I have taken another Renaissance technique and I am using it in a more modern way. Renaissance painters and craftsmen used gesso to create build-up, carved, relieved or repousse effects not only in moldings and decoration but also as fundamental elements of design.

My plan to get a textured or raised effect requires a division of technique, obtaining the textural element by building it up in plaster on the panel and then applying the egg tempera in the normal paint thickness.” I am working on a birch series using this technique and see great possibilities for this new medium.

Birch series 4 - unfinished

O'Mara Studio
RR#4 Huntsville ON
Canada
P1H 2J6

tel:(705) 635-2093
email: Catherine_omara@yahoo.ca

12 km east of Huntsville
along Hwy 60 turn
left at Limberlost Rd,
continue 10 km to studio