Cathy McClelland has been an artist most of her life; her imagination took form after she saw “The Nutcracker” ballet when she was 5 years old. She was impressed with the pageantry, the costumes, the colors and the dance and started painting shortly after that.
“‘The Nutcracker’ is where the magical part of my journey started,” McClelland says.
She was born and raised in Fairfield where McClelland’s neighbor gave her space to paint; she had her first art show when she was 8 years old at a local library.
McClelland studied illustration at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. It was there where she learned the basics of graphic design, drawing and other art forms, which helped her carve a creative career path in North Lake Tahoe when she moved here in 1979. A couple who owned Hot Cha CHA dress shop and Cantina Los Tres Hombres saw her work and hired McClelland to create their logos, menus and paint a mural on the side of their restaurant in South Lake Tahoe; it was the first mural she did. McClelland also worked as the art director for The Tahoe Weekly in the late 1990s.
“I hope that my paintings speak to somebody’s heart; I want them to heal people.” – Cathy McClelland
As people started noticing her work, McClelland soon branched off, doing murals all over the country and in people’s homes in Tahoe. She completed a few murals on canvas for Mike Love of the Beach Boys for his Incline Village, Nev., home. She completed panels that he put up like wallpaper in his home’s alcoves. She created many murals for 30 years and says she is grateful for the people and businesses who gave her the ideas and then trusted what she did with them.
Over the past few decades, McClelland also got into giclee printmaking, ceramics and mixed-media sculptures. A few years ago, she created and released a Star Tarot deck and is working on her second edition now. It’s amazing to see the intricacy of designs that integrate the symbolism, nature, mysteries of life and cycles of spiritual evolution in these tarot card decks, meant to help one delve into a deeper understanding of the world around her or him.
Along with working on the second edition Oracle deck, McClelland is continuing to paint animals, goddesses, fairy spirits, labyrinths and other magical images in various sized artworks. She uses acrylics most often, crafting her pieces on watercolor or gesso boards. McClelland says working on a 9-inch-by-12-inch painting in acrylics can take a full day to manifest and dry when she’s using a wet-on-wet process.
“As the subject matter evolves, it can take 3 to 4 days,” she says.
Sometimes an art piece can even take months if McClelland steps away from a piece for a while to get a new perspective on it.
“Each piece has its own kind of timing. I like to look at them like children. I go through this love/hate relationship as it evolves into this piece and then they’re off on their own and speak to somebody else in a different way. I think that all paintings that exist are for somebody out there,” she says.
While she admits that her artwork isn’t for everyone, she has found her audience.
“I’m different from other artists because [my art] speaks to that spiritual realm. Sometimes people will come into my booth and just start crying. I think it moves their totality of the world. I hope that my paintings speak to somebody’s heart; I want them to heal people,” she says.
While managing her art business is a lot to balance, McClelland hopes to continue to explore new ideas and expand on the platform she has created, taking the magical/spiritual realm to a deeper level.
“I don’t think artists ever retire. My goal is to have more time to create, and I hope that my artwork can improve people’s lives,” she says. | cathymcclelland.com
