Description

Succulent Garden Paperweight by Cathy Richardson. You have to look twice to realize that the succulents and stones encased in the glass are also glass! This flameworked glass paperweight is a 1 of 1 and is signed and dated 2023. Measures Approximately 3″ diameter x 2.75″ high

About the Artist:

Cathy Richardson

I was born in Washington D.C. and grew up in Falls Church, Virginia. I was interested in art at a young age and spent a lot of time learning to draw and paint. I also loved wandering in the woods near our house, helping my mother in her gardens and greenhouses, wandering on beaches near the Chesapeake Bay (when my father went fishing), and reading books. Through these early experiences, I developed a life-long love of both art and nature.

I chose not to study art in college however, instead, I pursued a career in geology (BA, MA, and Ph.D.). When research funding died in the 1980s, I returned to my first love—art and built a stained glass business. My images in stained glass drew heavily on nature—flowers, prairie grasses, trees, birds, sea creatures, and people. I admired the flowing organic lines in the work done by Art Nouveau artists such as Alphonse Mucha as well as some of the beautifully done old books and manuscripts with elaborate borders. Many of my paintings as well as my stained glass panels incorporated intricate borders that set off the naturalistic interiors. Other artistic influences at this time came from the abstract naturalism found in paintings of Georgia O’keefe, the soft beauty of the Impressionist painters, and the beautiful realism and sense of light in the 20th Century photographers—particularly Ansel Adams.

Throughout my artistic journey, I have retained a fascination for small details, the interplay of light, color, and textures. I depict natural settings in my current work and try to find a way to present each plant or animal in an environment that seems real and yet shows it off in an artistic composition. It is my hope that my paperweights catch the interest of the viewer and entice him into my tiny world to look in ever greater detail.

I met my husband at Boston University in 1967 and we married in 1971. My husband and I have traveled many paths over the long years. I have watched him become a geology professor, excellent teacher, and finally director of the Center for Teaching Excellence at Iowa State University. Later he was an associate provost at Bowling Green State University and then a Vice President at Winona State University. He is now retired and works with me every day at the studio keeping the books, working on my website, polishing and grinding paperweights, packing and shipping orders, and generally helping where needed. We have two children—our daughter, Meredith works for Fidelity in Raleigh, NC, and is married and the mother of two boys. Our son, Colin is happily married and living in Minneapolis, MN. He worked with me at the studio for a number of years and has now built his own studio to continue his career in glass.

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