Catherine Hillis
has enjoyed the arts all her life. She won awards for her artwork as a child and was a musician in high school and college. She acted and modeled in print and television ads as a youngster, later majoring in Theatre at the University of Georgia. She knew she would always be involved in the arts in some way.
After receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts, cum laude, from the University of Georgia, Hillis continued her Master of Fine Art studies at the University of Texas. Her journalist husband’s career took her to different cities, finally settling in the Virginia and Washington D.C. area, where she established her reputation as a fine art water color artist and a popular instructor. In late 2017, she moved to St. Simons Island, on the coast of southern Georgia, to continue her work, inspired by the low country, the beach and the spirit of the area.
Hillis works both in the studio and outdoors. During the past few years, the artist has traveled extensively to plein air competitions, fulfilling her love for painting nature and history. She is drawn to scenes that are often forgotten or neglected and finds the intrinsic beauty in them. Hillis believes that observation is her best teacher and she is known for the effect of light and movement in her work.
Hillis has won hundreds of awards and honors at competitive shows regionally and nationally. She’s earned eight Signature Memberships from national watercolor organizations and was one of 40 elected members of the prestigious Washington Society of Landscape Painters. The artist regularly competes in international watercolor exhibitions as well as plein air competitions and invitational shows. Her painting, “Gift From the Sea,” was recently included in an international watercolor exhibition in the Quingdao Laotian Museum of Art, China and she served as artist in residence in Dinan, France (2007) and at Hot Springs National Park (2010).
Catherine Hillis was a respected instructor teaching classes at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, VA and at Frederick Community College as well as workshops nationally and abroad. Her watercolor paintings are included in museum, corporate and personal collections and have been published in many venues, including Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine, Watercolor Artist Magazine, Plein Air Magazine, American Artist Magazine, Splash 12, Splash 14, Splash 18, the Artistic Touch series of water-media books, The Washington Post, the Best of America Watercolor Artists & Artisans, Volume 1 and the Best of Virginia Artists & Artisans 2005. Hillis teaches a series of brief watercolor lessons on MonkeySee.com.
Please visit www.catherinehillis.com for more information regarding galleries, original artwork and classes or email catherine.h.hillis@gmail.com.
Catherine Hillis Studios, LLC
www.thecharlesstreetgallery.com
