Catherine Tallmadge

Born and raised on the Western Slope of Colorado, Cate Tallmadge spent most of her formative years in idyllic Carbondale. She moved to Chicago in 2003 and enrolled at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, graduating in 2006 with a BFA in Fiber and Material Studies. In 2013 she could no longer ignore the siren song of the mountains and was soon Colorado bound. At first the move back to Carbondale was just going to be a pit stop on the road to some new exciting place. A great job opportunity at Main Street Gallery and The Framer opened up and the move back home became a more permanent one. Now Cate can't imagine living and creating anywhere else.

Cate's work is drawn from idiosyncratic inspirations and produced in a variety of media. Whether she is combining images to produce anthropomorphised animal portraits, or lifelike botanical paper sculptures her work is rooted in a love of art history and the natural world around her. "I have always been a maker. Whether it's painting, drawing, weaving, embroidery, botanical sculpture, cooking, or picture framing I am always working on something. I get antsy if my hands aren’t busy, if there isn’t paint under my nails, pencil shavings in my hair or stray threads stuck to my clothes.”