About the Author

When Cathy was younger, she wanted to be an English professor, yet her commitment to the artist’s life began when she pinned up the quote, “Become the change you seek from the world” next to a 48" × 48" (122cm × 122cm) canvas and decided to paint her own stories instead.

Since then, her paintings have become a place to restore the sense of wonder, love and freedom she remembered from childhood. They are a place to daydream and a space left open for magic. She likes to use all kinds of “non-regulation” stuff in her paintings: fire-tempting beeswax cooked on a hotplate, torn paper, melted oil sticks and song lyrics. Her grandmother called her “Sunshine Girl” when she was growing up, and this may be why she can never resist sprinkling in a few rhinestones at the last minute.

Cathy has been a successful working artist for over a decade, and her “stories in paint” have touched audiences worldwide. Her large encaustic paintings have been exhibited at Artexpo New York at the Javits Convention Center, and she has a loyal following of collectors that seek her work on Etsy. Her work has been featured in Artful Blogging, Decor8, Real Simple and UncommonGoods, as well as on American Greetings and Graphique de France stationary. As the featured artist on Sherpani’s eco-friendly Elements line, her artwork graced handbags worldwide in stores like REI and T.J. Maxx. Most recently, she has designed stencils for StencilGirl and was the cover artist for Incite 3: The Art of Storytelling. Cathy has a master of arts in literature from Colorado State University.

Visit cathynichols.com to see more of Cathy’s artwork and to join her community of storytellers.