Thomas Cates

Artist Statement

About Martie Zelt
I just wanted to study with Martie.
She taught a silkscreen class and I took it twice.
This was at The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, in the mid-1970's.
She was a terrific teacher.
The classes were focused on print making techniques and workshop practices.
Martie worked with us conveying her knowledge and experience by example.           
You could tell that art was really important to her, that she loved it.
We went to see one of the original silkscreen editions of Josef Albers's "Interaction of Color".
We went to the Rosenwald collection at Alverthorpe and held a Toulouse-Lautrec drawing in our hands.
She taught me how to behave at art openings.
Years later we re-connected.
We are still friends.

Making Art
In 1998, I co-founded THE LAND/an art site, and my attention shifted from studio work to the many responsibilities of an administrator of a 501(c)3 arts organization.
During this time I explored adapting painting to outdoor site-specific installations, place-based and interactive projects involving drawings and ancient Pueblo pot shards.
My work shown here at "Warehouse 110" represents a return to painting, drawing, and print making that is less directed by external stimulus.
An unencumbered approach that allows me to concentrate on visual fundamentals. The goal is to create something meaningful. Something that has its own special frequency.

- Thomas Cates

  February 2020