Today we’d like to introduce you to Cat Quintanilla.
Cat, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Well briefly, a native East Austinite and Rainey Street kid of the fifties, graduate of UT with a BFA in graphic design. Operated an advertising design shop for 25 years then defected to fine art as a sculptor, mainly stone. Have operated a carving studio since then also teaching at The Contemporary and SW School of art. The last ten years have been filled with building a community of fellow artists here and at my second art studio in Guanajuato Mexican (birthplace of my Father). My direction has flowed toward experiencing, learning and sharing the disciplines of Mexican Arte Popular or The Art of the People. My goal is to help seed the hunger of the cultural voids that have been awakened of late not just by being a maker- seller but by creating a more sensory two way experiential path. This is personal not transactional as living with art should be. Cat (StoneCarverCat) Quintanilla
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Smooth. Of course not. Life gets in the way but my one constant has been the companionship of my art making.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
After my defection from commercial art I found my place as a contemporary stone carver with gallery carvings in marble, alabaster and limestone as well as a place as a known public artist in large scale sculpture shown in sculpture parks across Texas. My solo show in late 2019 at the MACC in Austin highlighted a large trove of these sculptures. I still carve stone as a constant but have moved toward more cultural pieces as I recover my own heritage and have included sculpture in primitive clay, lino-carved prints and Mexicanismo style Cartoneria (paper sculpture). My works have always been created with the goal to evoke wonder and to perhaps bring a smile to those that experience their company.
What are your plans for the future?
As with every other artist, the post pandemic and political turmoil of the last ten years has changed me. My resolve is stronger than ever to be who I am not what is conventionally expected under the definition of “successful artist”. I hope to expand sharing the visceral joy of being an art person on the pedestrian level with what I make with my own two hands.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.stonecarvercat.com
- Instagram: @stonecarvercat www.instagram.com/stonecarvercat
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@catquintanillastonecarverc6371
