Catherine Lee grew up in a family of artists, and art has long been a big part of her life, including painting and directing children’s theater. But more recently, Lee, of Amherst, discovered a new medium — photography — and she’s focused on images of the Valley’s rural life.
“I have lived in this Valley since I was five, and these beautiful barns and farms, fields and mountains are my home,” she says.
Lee also explains that after battling a rare form of cancer 11 years ago, taking photos, especially at sunrise and sunset, “is a gift of a new day and a gift of another day…. This is the reason for my pictures. I want to capture beauty around me and share it.”
Hampshire Life: Talk about the work you’re currently doing. What does it involve, and what are you trying to achieve?
Catherine Lee: I photograph farms, barns and landscape in the Pioneer Valley. I always have my camera. I never stop looking for beautiful pictures. I am influenced by my passion for art history and my desire to create fascinating works that imitate the paintings of my favorite artists and capture a moment in time. I feel blessed to live here and see beautiful farms, barns and breathtaking landscape.
HL: What do you draw inspiration from?
CL: I am fascinated with the artistic study of the changing effects of light. I often photograph the same landscape at various hours of the day, in different weather and different seasons. I love how light changes color, changes shadows, changes mood and creates an entirely different photograph with the same subject.
HL: How do you know when your work is finished?
CL: I know when my photographs are finished when I want to frame them.
HL: Have you ever had a “mistake” — a project that seemed to be going south — turn into a wonderful discovery instead?
CL: I began taking photographs to use for reference to paint. I soon realized that the photographs were stunning on their own, so I began my journey to capture the beauty of the Valley through my camera lens. My first show opened in March of 2018, and it’s been steady ever since. So it wasn’t so much a mistake as a change of course.
HL: Name two artists you admire or who have influenced your work. What about their art appeals to you?
CL: Claude Monet and Andrew Wyeth. Monet painted the same subject in different light, working in the open air and capturing natural light. And Andrew Wyeth created canvases imbued with the mysteriousness of the real world, thus challenging traditional notions of reality.
But I have to say the two most influential artists in my life are my brother, Jeremiah Patterson, who is a realist painter, and my father, William Patterson, who often painted in the open air in the farm fields surrounding my childhood home.
HL: If you weren’t an artist, what do you think you’d be?
CL: A children’s book writer. Everything else I would like to do I’ve been lucky enough to have already done: being a mom to four beautiful girls; teaching art to children; and directing theater.
HL: Do you listen to music while you’re working? What kind?
CL: I listen to my favorite songs off my daughter Caylin Lee’s country album, “Revenge.”
HL: What do you do when you’re stuck?
CL: If I need inspiration to produce more work, I look through my art history books, I go for a hike or I drive to a new place to find more farms.
— Steve Pfarrer
Catherine Lee’s photos can be seen through June at the Sunderland Public Library and at Coldwell Banker Upton-Massamont Realty, 112 Main St., Northampton. There is a reception for the artist on June 5 at 6 p.m. at Sunderland Library, and Lee’s photos will also be part of Arts Night Out in Northampton June 14.
Her work can also be seen at artbycatherinelee.wordpress.com and on Instagram and Facebook.