Collection: Cathryn Miles

I’m a contemporary landscape painter based in Roswell, Georgia. My work is expressive, textured and built with bold palette knife strokes. I use thick layers of color and intuitive mark- making to capture the movement and emotion I see in the land and sky –- shifting light, changing weather, and the natural rhythm of the world around us. Much of my inspiration comes from the Southeast, where I have lived most of my life. I have strong roots in the Atlanta area, but I’m equally shaped by time spent in the mountains, along rivers and creeks, and on the coast. These places stay with me, and I return to them often –- not just in memory, but in my work. In the studio, I paint using a combination of on-site sketches, memory and instinct, letting the landscapes evolve into something more abstract and personal.
My paintings aren’t realistic. They lean into feeling and atmosphere. A viewer once
described them as “Deibenkorn painting Constable” –- which felt just right. I admire both
artists, and that mix of structure and softness, of gesture and groundedness, is something I
strive for. I’ve also learned from the Impressionists –- working quickly, letting color value contrasts delineate the shapes, and allowing the viewer’s eye to complete the picture.
Although I’ve studied and taught fine art, I’ve never been drawn to academic painting. My style has developed over time through exploration –- following color, composition and a desire to simplify. If you lined up all my paintings from the last 50 years, you’d see a gradual shift toward abstraction and a clearer sense of my own voice.

These days, my paintings are less about place and more about perspective. They’re
metaphors for how I experience the world. I paint with the intent that my work will live in people’s homes, so I’m always thinking about how to balance deeper meaning with beauty – color, gesture and texture that feel both emotional and alive. I believe that landscapes carry spiritual weight –- through cloud movement, earth patterns and changing skies, we’re reminded of life’s cycles and our connection to something bigger.
My titles often come from phrases that pop into my head while I’m painting or something
I’ve read or heard. Further Up the Road, for example, is from an old Bobby Bland blues song. It can mean a lot of things: karma, moving forward or simply saying, “See ya later”. That idea – going your own way, following your own path –- feels close to what my entire painting journey has been about.
About ten years ago, I switched to using big palette knives and carpentry tools. It started as a practical choice (I am tough on brushes), but it opened up new possibilities. I fell in love with the feel of thick paint and the immediacy of slathering color straight onto the surface. After years of experimenting my current body of work is the result –- built from layers, messes, and breakthroughs in my home studio, where paint splatters on the floor and walls tell of past projects.