Portrait photo by gakimedia.com
Catherine Durrett was born in Atlanta, Georgia, to artist parents Barbara McFadyen and Joe Durrett. Traveling and living across America with her brother, Catherine was exposed to an inspiring, complex cross section of people with their everyday joys and struggles. Along the way, her parents’ artwork - bold, colorful serigraphs and detailed ‘pen and ink’ etchings – helped shape Catherine's emerging style.
Endangered species was a favorite topic in her teens, with Catherine capturing the color, beauty and oftentimes strange nature of creatures. A love of books, language and colloquialisms dominate her current subject matter, often inspired by fairy tales, Aesop’s fables and silly stories. She paints in acrylic on canvas, but also plays with mixed media. Catherine’s work embodies a rich, graphic style inviting the viewer to laugh at life.
Besides her parents, Catherine’s muses include Alphonse Mucha, Peter Max, Maxfield Parrish, Georgia O’ Keefe and Kathe Kollwitz.
Ms. Durrett honed her artistic skills at Portland Art Museum School, Atlanta College of Art, Art Institute of Atlanta, NYC School of Visual Arts, NYC Pratt Phoenix and private tutoring. She has worked in various fields including model making for television and print ads; 2-D animation for an interactive educational CD; architectural photography; and commercial illustration. Her own business, *Pena Haku, includes murals, faux treatments, trompe l’oeil and paintings. Catherine has enjoyed group and solo shows in New York City; published art in Jezebel magazine in Atlanta, Georgia; and painted four panels for the original AIDS Quilt hanging in the White House.
Catherine delights in finding the humor in everyday life. Her paintings are an original blend of irony and a touch of whimsy.
“I love that people laugh when they see my art.”
She also likes the French spelling of her last name. It’s fancy!
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