Catherine Hillis My paintings can be described as traditional landscapes, still lifes and figures, but I try to use my unique perspective to draw the viewer into the world as I see it, incorporating humor or beauty whenever possible in unexpected places.

White boats become abstracted shapes of bouncing color. A dilapidated, old building comes to life with the inescapable charm of a one-time beauty queen whose walls reveal a rich, mysterious history. To my eye, New York City, “the city which never sleeps,” is a wonderland of endless shapes of color, motion and energy. Colorful street graffiti in Bucharest is a modern masterpiece set in a bustling urban landscape.

During the 2020 Pandemic, I discovered the gift of time and I used it to experiment with my medium, painting on unusual surfaces and making my own paper. Throughout my career, I have admired, studied and found inspiration in the masters of my medium, Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, Edward Hopper and Andrew Wyeth. I have proudly served as a member of the faculty at the re-known Art League School in Alexandria, Virginia; Frederick Community College in Maryland, and in many art centers across the USA and around the world. I continue each year to conduct workshops nationally and internationally.

Awards

2019 Best Manchester by the Sea painting in Cape Ann Plein Air; Best in Show at Piedmont Plein Air in High Point, NC in 2015; the 2018 Guerilla Painter Award(Seven Canyons) in Sedona Plein Air; 3rd Place in the 2019 Quick Draw in Parrsboro International Plein Air, Honorable Mention in Shadows on the Teche, 2016; Award of Merit, Gadsden, Alabama, 2016; an Honorable Mention in the 2015 Curacao Plein Air Quick Draw; Best Nocturnal in Mountain Maryland Plein Air in 2014 and Honorable Mention in 2012 and Juror's Choice in Ellicott City, Maryland, 2013; Bold Brush “Best Watercolor” Awards in 2018 and 2019; as well as awards from the New England Watercolor