"I usually start with a reference image that I found, either from a personal photo album, online image, a magazine, or from a film. Sometimes I’ll use multiple references and collage them together in my head as I’m painting. It helps to have a beginning reference that sparks an idea for me, and then as I paint the image on the canvas turns into something quite different. I try to leave space for my imagination to alter the painting whenever the right idea strikes me. This can occur while sketching an idea prior to the painting, but most of the time it happens on the canvas.."

– Cathleen Clarke, 2023

"A similar theme appears in Feather by Feather, inspired by a song by Smog, where I envisioned hands morphing into birds. Birds are so symbolic to me, and they’re a common motif throughout my work.

In Letting Go, I wanted to express our human desire to be closer to a higher power, especially in difficult times. I became obsessed with George Harrison’s album All Things Must Pass and was inspired by the way he expresses this desire through music. I’m doing much better now, by the way."

– Cathleen Clarke, 2023