Catherine Raef-Dunnigan

“Travel Through An Artist’s Eyes”

My interest in becoming an artist began as a little girl watching her grandfather sketching at the kitchen table and being in awe of the paintings he had done as a teenager in rural Illinois. She has sketched and drawn and painted ever since.

I studied drawing at the American Academy of Art in Chicago many years ago. When I retired from a successful marketing career six years ago, I joined the DuPage Art League and took classes in color theory, acrylic and oil painting and workshops in palette knife painting. In addition, I studied color pencil with Beechtree Studio in Geneva, IL.

As a landscape artist, I like to bring people to a specific place and time. My husband and I are avid travelers and photographers. These photos serve as references for much of my work. When possible, I take time for plein aire painting or drawing.

I work in four media; equally comfortable in acrylic, oil, color pencil, and graphite. My choice is based on the subject matter along with when and where I will be working. As a painter, I works with a limited palette and mixes her own colors. As a color pencil artist, I carefully layer colors to create depth and a level of detail that brings my subjects to life.

Outside of art fairs, my work has been displayed at the Kavanagh Gallery in St. Charles, the Hopkins Art Center in Minnesota and in the DuPage Art League gallery in Wheaton where I have earned awards for both painting and color pencil, including Best in Show. My color pencil window series was recently featured in Color Pencil Magazine. My art is owned by collectors in Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin, California, and New Mexico.