Portrait of Cathy Abramson
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Cathy Abramson

Painting, Visual / Media

About the Artist

Abramson maintains a studio at Artists & Makers Studios 1 in Rockville and she is a gallery artist at District Arts, a commercial gallery in Frederick, MD. Her work is currently in the Washingtonia Collection of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. In 2018 she participated in The Doors of Make Room and was featured in a segment on WUSA9 about low income housing and art. In 2017 she completed a three year program in traditional oil painting techniques at the Compass Atelier in Rockville, MD. In 2016 she was listed as a Finalist in the Portraits/Figures category of The Artist’s Magazine Annual Art Competition. She spent most of her career working as Art Director for NOVA Research Company where she designed publications and exhibits for NIH. In 2005, she illustrated Wild Washington: Animal Sculptures A to Z, and in 1997, Simple Secrets of Parenting: Easy as ABC. For a number of years she co-owned Grapevine Graphics, a local graphic design firm. She began her career in graphic design and editorial illustration, working as the art director for The Washington Monthly, a political magazine. She has been exhibiting in solo and juried shows throughout the Mid-Atlantic Region for the past 25 years and has work in many public and private collections.

Featured Work

Photos

This painting is based on images I took during a photo shoot at the Dupont Underground in Washington, DC. I loved the way the model hugged herself and seemed to be wrapped in her own world and dreams. And, what’s not to love about her pink hair.
This painting shows a woman looking through a window at ghosted images. She is lost in her own thoughts and contemplates a series of ghosted images and reflections. Private collection.
Study of an underpass on Magazine street in New Orleans. The slant of the light and the supports reminded me of a cathedral. Private collection.
A couple of years ago I taught an art workshop at a Interfaith Works in Rockville, MD. I was able to take photos of several women who were residents. I wanted to show the dignity and hint at the life stories of these women.
This painting is of a building under construction in Washington, DC. Elements of the original building had to be preserved and the massive columns on the lower levels remain. I loved the interplay of light and shadow on this building in a transitional neighborhood. the painting was in the BMRE show at UMUC, 4th Biennial Maryland Regional Juried Art Exhibition.
The young woman in this painting was hard at work in a tailor shop on T Street NW in Washington, DC. She was striking in her black smock against the yellow walls and froth of ball and wedding gowns in the background.