Being an artist is more about how you think than what you create. Like most artists, I resist the temptation to see things the way I’m “supposed to,” and look for new approaches, new angles, new framing. When I have a camera in my hand, I stop being on the social plane and go deep inside to find my intuitive self. Don’t invite me to attend your wedding AND ask me to take pictures. I can either take pictures, OR I can attend the wedding. Now, I have been known to take pictures for a while and then return to the event, so go ahead and ask.

While this may sound like a contradiction, the difference is in the way I am looking at the situation. If I’m seeking the “suchness” of a look, a pose, a combination of textures . . . or simply the way a piece of cake looks crushed on a plate, I stop being. Yes, this state of mind is very Zen. But then my training in clay follows the footsteps of Bernard Leach who brought the Japanese way of clay to the West. That training, combined with the study of the Chinese art of Taijiquan and Chinese Traditional Medicine, influence my view of the world on a fundamental level.

Catherine A. McCormick, M.A. — April 2007