Cat Tesla

In the mornings, the sky calls to me. I stumble outside to breathe in the day. Cerulean blue and a thousand shades of green greet me as I walk from the house to my studio here in Florida. Geckos dart, birds call, rabbits scurry. I collect sticks, leaves, and petals on the way. These sounds, sights and textures are my beginning. Painting connects me to a time in my youth of endless playing. The excitement of a new day. As I stand before the canvas, my daily questions are the same: what does this painting want to feel like? What could be?

I’m an explorer on the canvas. I love building layers using painting and drawing, scraping back, then adding more, and pouring glossy translucent glazes over the surface. My artwork provides the viewer with a bold graphic element from a distance, but up close they’re rewarded with rich organic details and texture. I use my whole self, mind and body, to create my work. Reaching high and stretching across. I combine the strong and the soft, the smooth and the rough, the thick and the thin. Things we’re all made of.

Since the COVID 19 Pandemic I find myself drawn to painting more and more abstractly, with small hints of nature peeking through. Painting is a deep dive act that happens within oneself...

Education:
-Associate’s Degree in Graphic Design, The Creative Circus (formerly the Southeastern Center for the Arts), Atlanta, GA, 1994
-M.S. in Genetic Counseling, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, 1988
-B.S. in Biology, University of Missouri-Columbia, 1986

Residencies & Additional Studies:
-2017 & 2018 International Artist in Residency Award, Chateau Orquevaux, Champagne-Ardenne, France
-2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 Individual Studies & 2 Master Residencies with Steve Aimone, Artist, Writer, and Author of “Expressive Drawing”, Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, FL
-2018 Residency with Theresa Girard, Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, FL
-2015, 2016 Studies with Nicholas Wilton, Artist & Teacher, Art2Life Program, Sausalito, CA

Selected Exhibitions: Solo
-September 2021, Cat Tesla Solo Exhibition "Breathe", Thomas Deans Fine Art, Atlanta, GA
-December 2019, Cat Tesla Solo Show, Art on Centre, Fernandina Beach, FL
-April 2014, ArtExpo NY, New York, NY
-March 2013, Solo Show, T. Clifton Gallery, Memphis, TN
-August-October, 2012, Quinlan Arts Center, Solo Show, Gainesville, GA
-2-08, ATLart[08], Cat Tesla Solo Show, Lagerquist Gallery, Atlanta, GA
-4-06, “Cat Tesla: New Works”, Solo Show, Canyon Road Contemporary Art, Santa Fe, NM
-7-04 “Outside of the Box”, solo show, Eastern Shore Art Center Gallery, Fairhope, AL

Two-Person & Group Shows
-March 23-26, 2023, Palm Beach Modern & Contemporary, Palm Beach, FL
-February 16-21, 2023, The Palm Beach Show, Palm Beach, FL
-January 25 - 29, 2023, Art Palm Beach
- June-August 2022 Summer Pleasures, Thomas Deans Fine Art, Atlanta, GA
-March 2022 Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary (Steidel Contemporary)
-February 2022 The Palm Beach Show (Steidel Contemporary)
-December 2021, CONTEXT Art Miami (Steidel Contemporary)
-October 2021,Bridgette Mayer Gallery Benefit Exhibition No 8, Philadelphia, PA
-September 2021, Hamptons Fine Art Fair (Steidel Contemporary)
-August 2021, Bridgehampton Market Art+Design (Steidel Contem...