About Catherine Oswald

I am an American Woman and have the privilege and freedom to do as I choose. I paint because I know no other way and it is my choice to live through this expressive device and paint how and what I want.

It’s me and I painted it. Arguably I am the best bang for my buck as a model, muse, and inspiration. We are all born naked and I intend to paint and draw my body for the rest of my days.

I was born in Washington D.C. but grew up in California where I attended private schools and focused on fine art, dance, and performance arts. I have been painting and drawing all my life. I have kept journal sketches and drawings on bits of paper and postcards since 1986. I was a cheerleader in high school and did nude modeling in college. I have always been interested in my body, sex, and exhibitionism.

I credit my high school art teacher Stephen Oderkirk for organizing me into the visual arts and drawing and painting. Robert Gray at UCLA encouraged me to move to Santa Cruz where I studied with Patrick Aherne, Toni McElrath, Eduardo Carillo, Hardy Hansen and Marjorie Portnow.

I don’t like art dealers or the art business. I sell direct to people who like my art and seek patronage for my brass ring attempt at producing analog fine art in the digital age.

I started and ran my own gallery and frame shop for a while in Southern California, but closed the business down to pursue a postcard journal of my travels chasing wildflowers. I finished a 120 page book documenting those travels: Postcard Journal of a Traveling Artist.

I have just finished my second book: Haiku on a Dime./Bukowski Shotgun Weddings/Postcards to Myself. This new postcard journal book will focus on nude self figure work and issues of sexual expression and freedom. These Journal Cards are from 2007 - 2009 Postcard Journal entries.

I started and own my corporation and web site, www.fauvearts.com as a way of bringing my work to the widest audience possible for appreciation or rejection. Just want to get my work out there.

To read more about my life and pursuits check out my blog: www.myspace.com/catherineoswald or you can contact me at fauvearts@gmail.com

If I am not at my studio ranch, the rest of the time I am on the road selling original art and limited edition prints. Check the website for FauveArts News and Happenings.

I really liked the following from Susie Bright who I have always admired.

Susie Bright 1993 - Introduction of The Best American Erotica 1993

"The Perfect example of the sexually illiterate rut we're in is our vocabulary: Erotica and Pornography. That's it. Two words, and the tiresome debate over what each stands for. Always a symbol of class difference, "erotica" and "pornography" are like neighborhoods that don't think much of each other, and it's obvious who lives on the wrong side of the tracks.

Pornography is usually called out as a put-down, except when people want to insinuate just how down and dirty exciting their subject is. Erotica is usually used as a compliment, except when it's delivered with sarcasm from the skeptic who doesn't believe that anything hanging in a museum could turn anyone on.

At its worst, the label of pornography is a trick: cheap or expensive, but a con all the same. It says, "I know your sordid guilty secret, now pay up and get out."

At is best, pornography is a dead-honest hard-on, the blush spreading across the breast. Despite pornography's animated parade of stereotypes and predictable taboos, it tells no lie. It is like the ultimate four-letter word that accepts no substitutes.

Erotica, at its worst, is pretentious and trite, with or without the politically correct afterglow. It's snobbish, yet transparent. It won't scare the horses, but by the same token, it doesn't transport you at all. Yet at its very best, erotica is a sensual and sexual aesthetic with a mind of its own. It is the only concept, however fragile, that gives consideration to sex as art."

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