Jewel Day 2014: Catherine Witherell

If you sometimes struggle with your creative life and occasionally need a lift, visit the happydayart blog of artist Catherine Witherell.

She’s a creative tour de force, a jewelry maker, sculptor, printmaker, collagist, photographer, painter — to name only the most obvious.

Maker space in her head

Catherine’s online presence is one of happy and intense experimentation with traditional and new media.

She exhibits no fear, only interest, in the face of new materials and techniques.

Both her Facebook page and her blog reveal an artist who doesn’t hold back, an artist who finds great joy in the act of making and sharing what she’s learned.

To the right are a few images of Catherine’s metalwork.

Pendants, rings, beads – they all display the confident exploration of an artist for whom making art leads to happiness.

A wake-up call

A couple of years ago, Catherine was on the receiving end of a wake-up call.

She was doing a lot of soldering and using resins, spending many hours each day in her studio.

She became alarmed when red spots began to appear on her stomach and legs, prompting her to see a specialist.

This two-sided brooch can also be worn as a necklace. In the left image, a “cabochon” dome of distressed sterling silver is decorated with soldered-on copper The right image is the other side of the piece, which features a lace agate teardrop.

Although it couldn’t be determined precisely what had caused the spots, the specialist said that she must have been exposed to more toxins than her body could handle.

Catherine said that when you’re ardently involved in the process of making art, you don’t always think about potential health hazards.

She resolved to change her approach, beginning with ventilation.

Place of honor

Catherine purchased a Winged Sentry SS-200-WS for her studio.

Because the fume extractor makes a marked difference in the indoor-air quality of her studio, she says it occupies a place of honor.

In the photo the right, you see the fume extractor on a workbench in Catherine’s studio.

[She also calls it “the awesome Sentry Air unit.” We heart her for that.]

Physically, the unit’s ‘place of honor’ changes with Catherine’s work flow.

She loves that it’s easily moved to exactly where it needs to be.

Catherine recently finished these earrings, which are based on a design she saw on an ancient gold bracelet. They are made of sterling silver sheet metal, coiled sterling wire and brown pearls.

Brown pearls and Catherine’s insights about making art

Say what you want to do aloud to make it happen.

Let yourself sink into thinking about an art project, even if you can’t do the art project right now.

Think about making art all the time. It’s therapeutic.