The Story Behind Kate McCavitt's "Primal Elegance" Series March 07 2021, 0 Comments

The following is written by one of our favorite people, Kate McCavitt. It brings us back to our favorite aspen groves and makes us fall even further in love with her rich in color, luminous in finish and dreamlike in style "Primal Elegance" series of paintings.

My first inspirations for the Primal Elegance Series of artworks came to me on my first extended road trip through New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming in the Autumn. Captivated by small stands of gold-leafed Aspen trees, I sense I am in a sacred place, with the silence persistent in my ears. I take photographs but decide to just “Be” with the trees. You can’t photograph this feeling. It was an interesting mix of melancholy and complete peace and I experienced a lovely absence of chatter in my head. Sitting with the aspens made me feel like I had no other thing to do, no other place to be and nobody to please but myself. I felt my thoughts floating away like the wind-swept leaves fluttering to the ground. I wanted to be able to find a way to convey that feeling through my paintings on a two-dimensional canvas.  My focus was on bringing the depth that I was experiencing….a Primal Elegance. 

These Primal Elegance paintings are an homage to my training in Asian Brush, with a minimalism of background that showcases the aspen group. The background is multi layered with metallics, transparent color washes, varnish layers and organic texture. The result is deep, fluid and organically dimensional. Negative space gives the eye a place to rest. Land is a suggestion. The trees are painted with metallics and light reflecting pigments, with individual and unique “personality markings.” The leaves are all luscious gold leaf in variegated colors of green, blue or black shade, individually and thoughtfully applied, with Holbein metallic gesso embellishments for the veining.

Kate amongst the trees!