Cathy’s paintings are rooted in time spent outdoors, be it walking, watching or photographing. Water holds a particular fascination for her: its shifting surfaces, reflections, refractions, leaf litter drifting in a pond, and shadows dissolving into ripples.

She is drawn to threshold spaces that feel elemental, untouched, and deeply ancient. Places where forces like water, light, rock, and plant growth feel powerful, immediate, and timeless.

Back in her studio, she translates these fleeting moments into layered, atmospheric paintings. She pours, scumbles, and dissolves pigment, letting each surface evolve like a tide, revealing traces of what came before. Her process is both instinctive and deeply grounded in observation.

The paintings that result from this are not depictions but conversations with water, with light, with the seasons.

After more than twenty years painting full-time, including twelve years in the UK and France, Cathy continues to explore how painting can transform perception through the poetry of light.

Her work is founded on what she learned at the Painting School of Montmiral in Southwest France, where she deepened her understanding of colour theory and light, blending scientific insights with artistic intuition. This experience profoundly shaped her approach to painting, allowing her to explore the emotional resonance of colour and light in nature. 

Visitors are invited to wander through her studio, witness her artistic process and experience colour, light and the elemental forces of nature brought vividly alive.

* Cathy Layzell is our guest artist for 2025

www.cathylayzell.com | @cathylayzell