Meet Catherine Chauvin | Printmaker and educator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Catherine Chauvin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Catherine, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking.
I am a very cautious person by nature – but risk and going out of one’s comfort zone is essential in our time. It makes me queasy now to think of the risks artists take – that anyone takes.

The biggest “jumps” I made in my life have meant everything in my career.
I quit a job in a frame shop to move from New York to Michigan and started teaching.
I quit a teaching job to go to the Tamarind Institute of Lithography, moving from Michigan to New Mexico, putting my dog in a pickup truck and getting a bad haircut on the way to change everything – maybe a quarter life crisis?

Each jump was terrifying, but helped me undeniably.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My current work examines landscape and human interruptions of landscapes, creating works incorporating traditional and experimental printmaking processes. Environmental concerns are both in the front of my mind and so varied, that I have been struggling to address all of them visually in different ways.
Living in Colorado, being in the West provides a definite focus, as I continue to learn about our specific areas of concern and places where we can help our landscape.

The strength of my work is in the process of printmaking, which grounds it. Drawing is a key and how ideas focus or float through my head while drawing for a print is important for me.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I always take visitors to Red Rocks!!!
Golden Gate Park is also amazing – maybe Brainard Lake for a hike or snowshoe –
Art friends enjoy Walker Fine Art, the MCA, Robischon Gallery and a stop at Rockmount Ranch Wear to dream about boots…

City O City is a great place for a meal before or after the DAM, and visitors enjoy supporting my quest for tacos, Tacos Selene in Aurora or North County….

Last minute concerts aren’t really affordable in Denver, but if we’re lucky, maybe Levitt Pavilion for an outdoor show?

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
The network of artist friends and support is really strong in printmaking and Colorado –
There are also several groups of artists in Denver who are so inspiring – Mo’Print in particular for me.

I am also truly fortunate to have a group of women I met at the Jentel Artist residency 10 years ago, and we meet up almost every year. They live all over, from Kentucky, to Montana to California, and I am privileged to have critiques, challenges and endless conversations with them.

It’s interesting also, to reflect on the role students play – they have no idea how much they keep me going.

Website: https://catherine-chauvin.squarespace.com

Instagram: @cathchauvinstudio

Image Credits
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