Informed by more than 25 years of experience in the design world, French artist Cathy Cruz takes inspiration from a unique perspective, which spans architecture, furnishings, textiles, and sustainability.
Cathy has always been a creative maker of things. Growing up in France, she learned drawing, crafting, sewing and embroidery from family members. In her teenage & adult years, she experimented with paint, pastels, collage, monotype printing, and pottery.
After a successful career of 22 years in commercial and residential interior design, she embarked on a second career as green building consultant. But it wasn’t until a few years ago that she realized she had neglected the kind of art that she truly wanted to make: abstract expressive paintings and mixed media collages. Like many people she found herself living in a fast pace environment with time constraints and responsibilities, and she had to set aside her creativity to take care of her family and her business. A moment of epiphany came to her when she met two women artists and was invited to participate in a neurodivergent creatives group. The following day she pulled out all her art supplies from her garage and set up a small studio space in her living room. A painting that was started ten years prior was the first piece she decided to complete. And ever since that instant, she has not stopped creating on a daily basis, letting her creativity bloom.
Her goal is to share this experience with people by encouraging them to pick up where they left off or begin their new art practice. The name of her studio was inspired by the words “Be You” and “You are You” that she painted intuitively and almost unconsciously. She is passionate about helping others release their fear and self-judgement to move forward in their creative path.
At the core of her art practice, she advocates the following:
No experience making art is necessary.
Everyone can make art because it is what makes us human. It is part of our DNA as story tellers.
Move beyond the idea of creating anything specific. Be free and enjoy the process.
Avoid comparing yourself to other artists.
Every adult is allowed to paint like a child and to connect with the little girl or boy inside of them.
Children are encouraged to be messy and to explore different art mediums.
Cathy approaches art intuitively by giving herself entirely to the process of discovery.
When she starts a piece, she works fast and spontaneously without much advanced planning, and often painting to music. Her creative process involves building layers and making expressive marks with various tools and materials. Cathy gradually moves from a spontaneous gestural way to a more focused process becoming aware of composition, balance, and contrast. In this stage, the moves are more deliberate as she analyzes the line work, the values of colors, and the contrast between quiet and loud areas.
As a highly sensitive person (HSP) and empath, Cathy has the emotional capacity to feel deeply moved by energy, light, colors, and movement found in her environment. Whether in Nature or in the man-made world of cities, she records patterns and shapes in her mind. She is fascinated by textures, and patinas created by age, organic forms found in plants and rocks, as well as geometric and abstract shapes found in architecture.