The Pelican Feeder
About Catherine Pring

"A teacher at primary school told me the secret to making good art is to really look.  If you can learn how to look and pay attention and notice things - then you can make good art.  I think that’s true.

And it’s not that daunting, is it?  To look at something - see it, feel it and transcribe.  Anyone can do that.  You’ve just got to actually do it - persistently Be prepared to fail, learn, get better, be honest about what you’ve made, what worked, what didn’t and then do the next one.  That’s the work and play of it.

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So, my artistic story…

I went to Kingston to do a foundation course and try out lots of different practises and then went to Canterbury College of Art (Kent Institute of Art and Design now) and specialised in printmaking.

I love drawing and painting but there’s something about printmaking that makes you take chances – you can’t be perfect.  The very process takes away some of your control – accidents happen very easily.  And you are guessing what your print is going to look like, often working in a reverse image.  It’s not until you ink up the plate and take a proof can you really see if it’s worked or not – there’s a magical surprise element.  Ta dah!

There is some work pre-Cyprus that I’m pleased with but my real artistic journey, my real-life journey even, started there.

I specialised in printmaking at Canterbury and we had lots of facilities at the college and it was a structured course.  Cyprus College of Art had no printmaking facilities and we were largely self-led.  It was drawing and painting for me and I couldn’t even make a stretcher.  I floundered.  Stass Paraskos, the college director (who taught painting at Canterbury as well) helped me find my path and awoke my passion for making art.  The other students helped me figure out how to make a stretcher.

Stass was passionate about art and he treated all the students as artists, with respect.  He took us seriously so we started taking ourselves seriously.  He took a child-like delight in art and the beauty of the world around him.  What I most hear him say in my memory is ‘look at this, the colours are beautiful’ - about a work of art, a piece of pottery or a flowering shrub in an old oil drum.  He was very alive, awake, inspiring.

Stass invited me to help him with a commissioned mural he was doing - Adam and Eve Before the Fall.  It was delightful, delicious paint play in the sun and an absolute honour - I got inspired, encouraged and into a creative routine.

And then I got going with my own work.

In this website, I want to communicate my experience, share my adventures and see if they resonate with anyone else."

-Catherine Pring

The Pelican Feeder

£1,400

“The starting point for this painting was remembering my time in Kato Paphos, Cyprus. The pelicans would wander the harbour, hoping for fish. When I began the painting, it was quite conventional. There was even an actual pelican. But I wasn’t happy with the it. I needed a flight of fancy to take it to the next level.  
I rotated the canvas 90 degrees clockwise so that the woman became an Angel. Pelicans are a symbol of piety, sacrifice and humanity. There is a legend that says pelicans peck their breasts until they bleed, so they can feed their blood to their children. So the painting became about love - motherly love or love from the universe. I don’t know. But it’s about trusting that the universe has your back and enjoying the golden life moments. I painted over the pelican and added a young woman, lying on the beach, her feet in the water, fish in abundance. The universe will provide. Life is good. Enjoy the moment.”
-Catherine Pring

About Catherine Pring

"A teacher at primary school told me the secret to making good art is to really look.  If you can learn how to look and pay attention and notice things - then you can make good art.  I think that’s true.

And it’s not that daunting, is it?  To look at something - see it, feel it and transcribe.  Anyone can do that.  You’ve just got to actually do it - persistently Be prepared to fail, learn, get better, be honest about what you’ve made, what worked, what didn’t and then do the next one.  That’s the work and play of it.

---------------------------

So, my artistic story…

I went to Kingston to do a foundation course and try out lots of different practises and then went to Canterbury College of Art (Kent Institute of Art and Design now) and specialised in printmaking.

I love drawing and painting but there’s something about printmaking that makes you take chances – you can’t be perfect.  The very process takes away some of your control – accidents happen very easily.  And you are guessing what your print is going to look like, often working in a reverse image.  It’s not until you ink up the plate and take a proof can you really see if it’s worked or not – there’s a magical surprise element.  Ta dah!

There is some work pre-Cyprus that I’m pleased with but my real artistic journey, my real-life journey even, started there.

I specialised in printmaking at Canterbury and we had lots of facilities at the college and it was a structured course.  Cyprus College of Art had no printmaking facilities and we were largely self-led.  It was drawing and painting for me and I couldn’t even make a stretcher.  I floundered.  Stass Paraskos, the college director (who taught painting at Canterbury as well) helped me find my path and awoke my passion for making art.  The other students helped me figure out how to make a stretcher.

Stass was passionate about art and he treated all the students as artists, with respect.  He took us seriously so we started taking ourselves seriously.  He took a child-like delight in art and the beauty of the world around him.  What I most hear him say in my memory is ‘look at this, the colours are beautiful’ - about a work of art, a piece of pottery or a flowering shrub in an old oil drum.  He was very alive, awake, inspiring.

Stass invited me to help him with a commissioned mural he was doing - Adam and Eve Before the Fall.  It was delightful, delicious paint play in the sun and an absolute honour - I got inspired, encouraged and into a creative routine.

And then I got going with my own work.

In this website, I want to communicate my experience, share my adventures and see if they resonate with anyone else."

-Catherine Pring