I will definitely need some surgeries on it eventually. Luckily my left eye isn’t advancing as fast as my right! It also means I need to be more selective in how long I expose my eyes to melting glass. The UV from blowing glass certainly does not help! For the past few years, I have also been suffering from a type of retinopathy where fluid tears my retina on top of beginning cataracts and color blindness. I’ve had glasses since I was two for extreme nearsightedness and my mom was almost completely blind by the time she was 40, so losing my vision is something I’ve understood as a possibility all along. Your work also centers around your eyesight, can you share that part of your story and how it impacts what you create as an artist?
#Blown away winners series
I hope talking about mental health becomes as easy as talking about the weather because it is just as fluid and important.Ĭat assisted in the series 2 finale by George Kennard (left), Catherine Ayers, and Eric Meek from The Corning Museum of Glass. I hope in exposing myself, others will feel seen and validated because it can be hard to do that for yourself. Struggling with mental illness for so long has led me to be really good at masking, and I think my art is a way of exposing myself in a way that feels safe. Art has always been my diary and therapy it’s how I talk about my feelings without the words getting me in trouble.
At this point, I just think everyone has their own crazy that can’t be defined. I have been diagnosed with anxiety, SAD, BPD, ADHD, I even got schizophrenia once. The first time I remember wanting to not exist anymore I was six years old. I’ve struggled with mental health for as long as I can remember. Your work focuses a lot on mental health, why is this subject important to you, and what do you hope people learn from your work? I will forever be grateful for my followers on TikTok. Because of Tiktok, I went from losing all my work to growing my business to where it is now in just five months. The love the TikTok community had for the Unity Pumpkin was completely unexpected and overwhelming at times. TikTok was a major component, the rainbow felt a little defiant and unifying at the same time, racking up millions of views and totally changing my year. The first order in June was for 50 and by the end of the year, I had made almost 600! They just spoke to everyone that need for some color, joy, and unity. It went through a few inceptions before we landed on the right rainbow for the 2020 Unity Pumpkin. The Shops came to me with the idea of taking a color concept I had developed earlier and reworking it to fit the Pumpkin of the Year. I started off 2020 having every drop of work I had scheduled for 2020 vanish. Can you talk a bit about that? How was it to make the 2020 glass pumpkin and have the work be so popular? You make a lot of your work at The Studio and you sell your glass in The Shops. I have the most respect for the CMoG team and the finale would have been impossible without them. Honestly, it felt REALLY weird, but I knew I could trust them with any task and it would be conceived immaculately so I felt comfortable talking through my design and leaving it in their capable hands. How was it to work with the CMoG team for the finale of Blown Away? Cat choosing color bar as she begins designing her next piece. I got paid to learn firsthand from people at the top of their field and I could not be more grateful for the lessons the Museum has taught me. The Museum has taught me more than I think any school could have because of the constant stream of master glassblowers working and teaching here. But I couldn’t afford school after community college. I came to the Museum because, with all my heart, I wanted to become a better glass artist. You’ve been involved with The Corning Museum of Glass for a long time. My mom always tells me to go with my gut and I heard her voice in my head clear as day and I knew it was the right choice. Chris and I both had similar pieces, and everyone said “If your pieces go head to head, do you know yours can beat him,” and I just knew in my soul that I could. (Sorry, Cat, but we’re using it!)Īlso, the episode before the finale. The first episode where I threw up and almost passed out from the heat… OMG! Probably don’t use that, but it’s so funny looking back at it. What’s your most memorable experience from the show? Cat assisted by students and alumni from Sheridan College’s Bachelor of Craft and Design (Glass) program.
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