SPOTLIGHT: On Cathy Dorris

 

FACULTY NAME: Cathy Dorris

BIRTHPLACE:  Kansas

CURRENT RESIDENCE:  Southern Oregon

NECESSARY JOB:  This is it.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN DOING ART?   I can't ever remember NOT doing art.

AT WHAT AGE DID YOU BEGIN CREATING AND WHY? 
Around age 5 , I found that if you rubbed an old brick on the sidewalk and spit into the powder, that it made a wonderful paint.  Grass rubbings worked, too.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PART OF TEACHING? 
Walking through the creative process with others is like catching the most fantastic sunset and having someone to share it with.  I love it when a student sees that, "They CAN."

WHAT DO YOU FIND MOST CHALLENGING ABOUT TEACHING?  
The business side.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO IN YOUR SPARE TIME? 
Conga Drumming.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE TYPE OF ART MEDIUM? 
Paper Clays, the abundance of different surface treatments, earth elements, fibers, recycled materials.

WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE ARTIST? 
Hundreds of them.  I saw an Armando Lopez sculpture in Santa Fe that moved me to tears.

WHAT IS ONE INTERESTING (trivial) FACT THAT EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT YOU? 
I would rather go to a huge junkyard sale for my birthday than fly to Chicago to shop and see a favorite musician. 

FAVORITE IMAGE AND DETAIL WHY.  
This is one of my favorite paintings because it was done by my cat.  It is called, "Dumped Over Paint Waters III."

Cathy’s Website: http://cathydorris.com/