Rock-like bodies embedded with gem-like faces—that’s how sculptor Catharine Brown describes her figurative creations that are on special exhibit through March 26 at Blue Spiral 1 Gallery in downtown Asheville.

Like a lot of artists, Catharine discovered her creative side quite early in life. Unlike, I would guess, just about every other artist, she began her artistic career by “painting” dogwood trees. The story begs for an explanation.

“I grew up in a little town in northern New Jersey across from a skating pond surrounded by acres of dogwoods my grandfather planted,” says Catharine. “When I was around four years old, my mother gave me a little bucket with water and a brush and showed me how I could ‘paint’ the dogwood bark and watch it turn from gray to black. This opened a door in my psyche that has never closed.”

Her mother also encouraged her with art classes, trips to museums, many books around the house, and ample art supplies. “My grandmother, who lived next door, had a dear friend who was a professional artist who came to visit often. She treated all us kids to art lessons and set an early example for me that it was possible to have a profession in the arts.”

Catharine earned her Master of Fine Arts Degree from the University of Massachusetts where, she says, enjoyed printmaking, painting, and drawing. “But” she adds, “when I started studying ceramics, I knew I had found a natural means of expression.”

After spending the next 30 years of her career working in clay, however, she felt a strong urge to delve into a “transparent medium.” She’d been interested in glass, but “back in the late 1960s when I was going to grad school, it was rare for women to go into glass because then the medium was best handled by heavily muscled men who were hefting large amounts of liquid glass from furnaces. By the time I seriously considered studying glass again in the 1990s, women were involved in other approaches to creating with glass.” She took advantage of Penland School’s excellent glass department, and was able to take classes in several techniques before settling on casting.

It was only recently that Catharine began combining the elements of clay and glass. “Basically, I love the two media because they both allow for an expression in three dimensions. The clay shows subtle shadows and picks up fine textures. The glass is such a luscious contrast with its light holding properties.” She explains, “The stone-like ceramic ‘bodies’ suggest our intrinsic connection to the earth, and the translucent cast glass faces refer to the animating spirit within all beings/matter.”

Catharine’s clay-and-glass sculptures arose, she says, from a desire to add another dimension to the landscape. “My lifelong passion of gardening led me to create a stroll garden on our half acre... As the garden matured, I saw wonderful settings for sculpture. Although this work can be naturally displayed in interiors, it is intended for garden settings as well.

“Part of the play of making this art is finding a niche for each piece and seeing how its energy adds new context to garden,” says Catharine. “The work invites passersby to set aside daily concerns and tune into the silence and beauty around and within.”

You can reach the artist by email at catharinebrownstudio@gmail.com, and by phone at 828.713.3482.