The Songs We Sing
9.5x9.5 in. matted + framed watercolor and ink paintings (6x6 in. unframed)
Exhibited at Change Boutique as part of Madison Museum of Contemporary Art’s spring Gallery Night
May 6-8, 2022
series has sold out - email with interest in greeting card 10-packs
she sends me news of bluejays - SOLD
and then it turned into a white blade (red-tailed hawk) - SOLD
Have you ever been so happy in your life? (goldfinch)- SOLD
God is everywhere (sparrow) - SOLD
the only thing without questions (bluebird) - SOLD
What are we sure of? (robins) - SOLD
I came to sing (cardinal pair) - SOLD
to be the music of the body (cardinal pair) - SOLD
nobody owns the hearts of birds (nuthatch) - SOLD
red bird came all winter (cardinal) - SOLD
better than knowing something (owl) - SOLD
in touch with something real (owl) - SOLD
like burning moons (owl) - SOLD
original paintings have sold out
pack of 10 assorted greeting cards available for $40
email elizabeth.katt.art@gmail.com with inquires/to order
“Finally I saw that worrying had come to nothing.
And I gave it up. And took my old body
and went out into the morning,
and sang.”
- from “I Worried” by Mary Oliver
Artist Statement
These last few years have been incredibly challenging for most people, from the planetary level, to the global, to the national, to the intimately personal: climate change, the pandemic and its social, physical, and mental health impacts; oppression in all forms. So many women in my life and orbit have been teetering on the ledge of a pit - depression, burnout, or breakdown. And yet, they continue to exude beauty and strength and power. They continue to shed, grow and transform all while nurturing their loved ones and the planet. They continue to inspire me.
I have found my own recharge and restoration in nature, art and music, more than ever before. In these last two years, painting has helped me access and communicate feelings and sentiments that are deeper or beyond the words I can access. Time with music and immersed in nature has done the same. These are the themes that hold the center of my work.
“The Songs We Sing” is primarily an exhibit inspired by and titled for the poetry of Mary Oliver. For years, I’ve been drawn to Oliver’s gift of describing the details of her experiences in nature to convey through metaphor themes of identity, growth, grief, longing, transformation, worry, happiness and love; and the paths that nature provides to finding clarity, healing, solace and ourselves. To finding our voice, even when it’s as wordless as birdsong.