"God has created so much beauty in this world, and I feel privileged to see it and paint it in some way."

Artist Catherine McCargar creates impressionist landscape paintings that capture her deep admiration of Northern California and her travels. As a self-taught artist, she continuously learns and engages in weekly sessions with a group of plein air painters convening in the San Francisco Bay Area. Besides the great outdoors, Catherine paints in her home studio, filled with natural light and occasional clutter. Beyond painting, she enjoys tending to her garden, cooking seasonal vegetables, and hosting small dinner parties and get-togethers with her husband.

In this interview, Catherine talks about her process, inspirations, and journey as an artist.

What’s your home life like? What are your special interests?

I live happily with my husband, David, in Walnut Creek, California. We have a property, and both of us enjoy tending to it almost daily. I have worked for many years to develop perennial gardens, rather than lawns, surrounding our house. We love to entertain, and one of our goals is to make a space that is beautiful and relaxing for our guests. I am the cook in our home, and I do a lot of from-scratch food preparation. I delight in using fresh herbs from my garden, trying new recipes, and learning new cooking skills like making potato gnocchi.

What are you most proud of—whether in art or another part of your life?

I am pleased and delighted that, as a self-taught artist, many people can see and enjoy my art. It is why showing my work through UGallery has been such an honor for me. It is exciting to realize that through UGallery, clients from as far away as Singapore purchase my works. Likewise, I had the honor of painting a commissioned gift for my home city, Walnut Creek,  to our sister city in Noceto, Italy. Recently, I was pleased to be commissioned by my church, Grace Bible Church of Pleasant Hill in California, to create a painting for the Welcome Center in their foyer.

Do you have any studio rituals that help you get into a creative flow?

In addition to my own collection of photographs, I keep a collection of clippings and pictures to remind myself of new ideas, and sometimes I leaf through these images to get inspired anew. Occasionally, I create a color combination sample, like swatches on a design board, to place in front of me. It encourages a fresh approach to the colors of the subject I am about to paint. This approach is helpful when I use photos as a reference, and I want to express more of a mood or emotion than what can be seen in the photographs alone.

How do you structure your day?

In the morning, if there are no appointments, I might have a relaxed light breakfast and read Scripture, then work on a word puzzle to warm up to my day. When the weather is agreeable, which is very often here in California, I am drawn into the garden to do whatever needs doing. I have to admit, I do more gardening than painting in the daytime, and can easily lose track of the time. Eventually, I make dinner, and my husband and I enjoy it together. I work on paintings in the evening, but try to avoid painting too close to bedtime, as making art is more mentally stimulating than I’ve realized, and can leave me unable to slow my mind down enough to sleep.

Where do you find inspiration for your art?

Travel is always an inspiration for my art. It seems that the surprise of something beautiful or visually interesting in a new place makes me want to sit right there and paint it, or at least get a photo of it for a possible painting later. So many photographs, so little time! When I want to paint, I might look through all my photos, which I keep organized in computer photo files in my studio.

Tell us about your evolution as an artist.

I have always wanted to make art. I made many drawings when I was a young child, and took art classes in high school, but my parents discouraged me from pursuing art professionally. My father had artistic talent and studied art at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts when he was younger. The Great Depression, however, required him to focus on making a living, and he wanted me to be able to support myself. I went to college, became a medical technologist, got married, and raised four children. In those years, I only had time to dabble in art occasionally. Once the children were older, I was able to paint more often and pursue mastering watercolor. When I was invited to join a plein air group of artists in the San Francisco Bay Area, a whole new world was opened to me. I learned how to paint outside and gained a lot of insight from the other artists. I was able to show my work in group shows, local galleries, and eventually in UGallery online.

How do you decide when an artwork is finished?

I leave the work alone for periods of time, and when I return to it, I usually see something that needs adjusting. There comes a point when I realize another brush stroke is not going to improve what is there. Sometimes, after I’ve kept a painting for a while, I look at it critically and think I could have approached some aspect of it differently, and I just might plunge in and do a make-over.

What is the most interesting observation someone has made about your work?

Although I have a contemporary impressionistic style, I still paint many things realistically and blend the two styles in my work. People tell me they feel they are right there in the scene, or they might say that they feel they could just pick the fruit off the painting.

Is there an artwork from another artist that has had a significant impact on you?

John Singer Sargent’s work impresses me. He painted pomegranates and their leaves impressionistically, making them look luscious. He painted people and landscapes with the same effect. In a different style altogether, and right here at UGallery, I greatly admire the work of Mary Pratt. It is uniquely inviting, beautiful, and imaginative. She has a wonderful sense of color and its combinations. She is an inspiration to me to paint more adventurously, yet softly and charmingly.

What’s your favorite museum?

The Louvre is beyond impressive, but I didn’t have enough time to fully explore it. Near my home, my favorite museum is the Legion of Honor in San Francisco. There, one can see temporary exhibits of great artists like Monet or the Impressionists in a very approachable space. There is also on permanent display a massive painting by Konstantin Makovsky, The Russian Bride’s Attire, 1889. I visit it any time I am in the museum, and it puts one’s own work into perspective.

Is there anything else you’d like to share to help viewers better understand your work?

God has created so much beauty in this world, and I feel privileged to see it and paint it in some way. I hope the viewer can get excited and delighted about what I have painted and see more beauty in the real world for having enjoyed my paintings. Sometimes, when I am painting in a public area, passersby see me at work and then turn to where I am looking to see what was so interesting that I wanted to paint it. I love that.

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If you enjoyed this article about Catherine McCargar's life and artwork, we recommend reading about plein air artist Crystal DiPietro's interview.