Cathy Locke is a figurative artist whose work has been featured in dozens of museum shows and collected by civic-educational institutions and private patrons worldwide.
This year, her paintings were selected for special exhibits at the Triton Museum in San Jose—where she won first prize in painting—and at San Francisco’s prestigious DeYoung Museum.
What do you do?
I paint, host live model drawing sessions in my private studio, manage an online art community (musings-on-art.org) and am in final edits on my first book on European and Russian art during the Romanov dynasty.
Where do you live? In Novato’s Indian Valley.
How long have you lived in Marin?
I first moved to Marin in the late 1970s, then left to attend Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.
I moved back in the late 1980s and have lived here ever since.
Where can we find you when you’re not painting?
Exploring the coast, our local mountains and wineries, and the many hiking trails within an easy drive of my home. This is truly one of the world’s most beautiful areas to live.
If you had to convince someone how awesome Marin is, where would you take them?
If not to one of our local hiking trails, it would be to one of our many fine restaurants, such as Don Antonio Trattoria. For anyone coming to visit from San Francisco, I would encourage them to take the ferry to Larkspur.
What’s one thing Marin is missing? We need more art galleries, especially those that feature living Marin County artists.
What’s one bit of advice you’d share with your fellow Marinites?
Make a point once a week to explore a new part of Marin.
If you could invite anyone to a special dinner, who would they be?
They would be a trailblazing woman artist. Some that come to mind include Marie Bashkirtseff, Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun and Amelie Beaury-Saurel.
What is some advice you wish you knew 20 years ago?
Don’t listen to your father. There ARE lots of opportunities for creative people.
What is something that in 20 years from now will seem cringeworthy?
I hope it’s the logjam on that stretch of Highway 101 from Novato to Petaluma. They’ve been working on that highway ever since I moved back here!
Big question. What is one thing you’d do to change the world?
Encourage creative people to follow their hearts and pursue their chosen art form, whether it’s as a career or as an essential pursuit in their free time.
Nish Nadaraja was on the founding team at Yelp, serves on the San Anselmo Arts Commission and attempts to play pickleball at Fairfax’s Cañon Club.
If I wanted to see her work, can you at least tell me where in the first or second paragraph?
So all you do is ask these interesting people the same mundane questions each time?