Cathie Cooper

Cathie grew up in London before moving out West for university. She liked it so much, she stayed! A lover of both theatre and art, she spent some time painting sets at the National Theatre before becoming a stage manager, prop maker, teacher and then artist. Cathie has exhibited in various venues around Bristol, including The Island and Room 212, while supporting local mental health charities - an issue very close to her heart. Most of her artwork is small-scale, often no bigger than 20x20cm (a vast change from the scale required for theatre) and uses a combination of finger-painted strokes, fine detail and vibrant colour to capture the spectacle of the unexpectedly beautiful things in life. Expect to see white vans in city streets, warm lights on dark nights and lots of clouds. Sometimes Cathie craves working on something larger so every year or two she completes a 'big project painting' which she uses to continually develop her practice. She also creates limited edition lino print Christmas cards, with new designs each year. These are always very popular and have become a collectors' item for those who receive them.