Cathy Haight

Nature is the subject that challenges me to create beauty – the kind that brings hope and peace. For more than forty years, my favorite subject has been the extraordinary landscapes of New Mexico. As a hiker, I get to experience being in the places that influence my art. While I realize that I am standing on the shoulders of the art giants that came before me, my goal is to create images that have not been seen before by using my own artistic voice. When I learned about evidence-based design, I became especially interested in hanging my work in healing environments. Research has shown that certain types of art can speed healing while decreasing the use of drugs. It is a great honor for me that my batiks and oils are in hospitals. The batik procedure has interested me for many years now. It is a medium that is seldom seen in this country. I take it as a challenge to both raise the bar of the quality of the work and to open the eyes of viewers to the possibilities of the medium. I am still constantly intrigued. Please see my website for an explanation of the basic batik procedure.

When I was nine, I took private oil painting lessons. My batiking began when I took a short course in 1973; it was advanced by studying in Indonesia in 1981. Youthful travels in Latin America and the Pacific awakened in me a sense of color. Four years spent on San Andres Island, Colombia, still influence my way of looking at life. These days, I create fine art batiks and large oil paintings in my studio in the foothills of Albuquerque. And I paint small plein air oils when we travel six months a year in the motor home. In the past, I have also enjoyed working in enamels and silversmithing. I minored in Art at Northwestern University. In 1981, I studied in Jogjakarta, Java, with the director of the Batik Institute there, Bambang Oetoro. And in 1998-2008, I attended plein air oil painting workshops with Brian O’Connor, Robert Grogan, Kenn Backhaus, Ralph Oberg, Leo Neufeld, Morgan Samuel Price, and Camille Przewodek. I am honored to have my batiks and oils in these public collections: RedLeaf Center for Women & Family Healing (Minneapolis, MN), Fort Bliss Medical Center (El Paso, TX), Mount Carmel Health Medical Center (Grove City, OH), Cerrillos Hills State Park Visitor Center (Cerrillos, NM), City of Albuquerque (NM) Municipal Collection, Presbyterian Rust Medical Center (Rio Rancho, NM), Northeastern Georgia Healthcare Center (Brazelton, GA), Bernalillo County Courthouse (Albuquerque, NM), San Juan College (Kirtland, NM), and Valencia County (Belen, NM).

2-D, Painting (all materials)