Southern Indiana’s watercolor artist, Cathy Hillegas
Students enrolled in Cathy Hillegas’ advanced watercolor class at Arts Alliance of Southern Indiana (AASI) on Market Street in New Albany are grateful to be there, learning with a Master.
Advanced student and artist Judy Wasson summed up her experience: “My skills have taken a leap forward under Cathy’s guidance. She is a generous and constructive teacher who brings out each student’s unique gifts.”
A former student and artist, Cathy Thorpe, saluted Hillegas’ talent: “She is a magician with a brush.”
“In order to teach, I have to learn, so teaching pushes me to grow as an artist.”
Cathy Hillegas, local Southern Indiana artist
For Hillegas, teaching is as rewarding as painting. The two activities do not compete in her life. “In order to teach, I have to learn,” Hillegas said, “so teaching pushes me to grow as an artist. It is also gratifying to watch my students move forward. When a student sells a work or gets accepted into a show, I am elated, proud of their achievement.”
The classroom space at AASI appeals to Hillegas, who often paints there after class.
“The light is first-rate,” she said. “There is a monarch garden on the grounds that I have often photographed and painted, and it is quiet.”
Hillegas has been teaching watercolor painting classes for 24 years. She began teaching at Preston Arts Center in New Albany in 2000.
“I was invited to teach the same watercolor class in which I had been a student,” Hillegas said. When that business closed 12 years ago, she taught at the Mary Anderson Center for the Arts at Mount St. Francis and other venues before settling at AASI.
Painting is not Hillegas’ first career. She pursed counseling, interpreting for the deaf and writing in her younger years. But painting and drawing were always part of her life.
Painting is not Hillegas’ first career. She pursed counseling, interpreting for the deaf and writing in her younger years. But painting and drawing were always part of her life.
“Both of my parents loved to draw and paint and encouraged me to do the same,” she said.
The story of how she turned back to art and became a full-time artist is fascinating. Her mother had been captivated by a watercolor painting of a mill, offered for sale at an art show at Spring Mill Park. Hillegas, then around 37, secretly purchased the painting as a Christmas gift for her mother. As she waited for Christmas to arrive, she studied the artwork.
“I decided that I wanted to learn to paint like that; it was a powerful feeling,” she said. When Hillegas gave her mother the gift, her mother offered, in return, to pay for the two of them to take watercolor classes. “After those classes,” Hillegas said, “I was hooked.”
Within a few years of that first watercolor class in 1993, Hillegas began winning contests and awards and was invited to exhibit her work in some prestigious art shows.
In 2020, her painting “Rise Up” was accepted into the National Watercolor Society’s 100th International Exhibition. In 2021, her work “Autumn Fire” was accepted into the 101st exhibition, only this time she received the Winsor & Newton Award and was granted signature status in the National Watercolor Society.
“Rise Up” is a painting of bare white sycamore branches against a bright blue winter sky filled with light that cascades over the tree, revealing minute details of the bark.
“Light transforms the mundane, making colors glow, illuminating details and causing unexpected color to spill into shadow. For example, I had passed by that tree every day for years, without paying much attention, until one day the light was brilliant. I grabbed my camera and immediately began snapping shots.”
Cathy Hillegas, local Southern Indiana artist
“I am particularly drawn to objects or scenes that are filled with light,” Hillegas said. “Light transforms the mundane, making colors glow, illuminating details and causing unexpected color to spill into shadow. For example, I had passed by that tree every day for years, without paying much attention, until one day the light was brilliant. I grabbed my camera and immediately began snapping shots.”
Hillegas eventually spent over 200 hours painting the complex composition.
The reference photos for “Autumn Fire” were taken while Hillegas was hiking at Mount St. Francis.
“I have loved spending time outdoors in nature since childhood,” she said. “Family time often included long walks in the woods where my father would teach me the names of wildflowers and trees. I have developed a spiritual connection to nature.”
This is evident in her painting and in her conversation. When asked if her paintings have more detail and more color than can actually be found in nature, she is firm about nature’s splendor: “If you really look at nature, you will see so much color, even in the shadows. If you look, you will see it,” she said.
One of the judges for the Winsor & Newton Award referred to Hillegas’ painting as “hyperrealism,” a genre of painting that looks like a high-resolution photo. When Hillegas takes the reference photos for her paintings, she sometimes holds the camera just a few inches from the object, zooming in to capture the most intimate details of the natural world.
One of the judges for the Winsor & Newton Award referred to Hillegas’ painting as “hyperrealism,” a genre of painting that looks like a high-resolution photo. When Hillegas takes the reference photos for her paintings, she sometimes holds the camera just a few inches from the object, zooming in to capture the most intimate details of the natural world.
The process by which Hillegas creates a painting is both painstaking and intuitive. She begins with a detailed drawing, very lightly penciled because watercolor will not hide pencil marks.
“The key to creating the effect of light in a watercolor is to leave the white paper untouched,” Hillegas said. “White paint will not achieve the same effect. It makes the painting chalky.”
So, she begins the painting by applying a masking fluid to the parts of the painting where she wants to keep the paper dry and free of paint — where she wants light. After applying the masking fluid, pale colors are painted first, and darker colors last. While each layer is drying, Hillegas thinks about the painting.
“I am not a fast painter,” she said. “I spend as much time stepping back and thinking about the piece as I do applying paint.” Perhaps this is the point where her brush with magic happens. •
The watercolors of Cathy Hillegas will be on display in her solo show, “Chasing the Light,”at Harrison County Arts in Corydon from July 12 to Sept. 7. There will be an opening reception for this show on Saturday, July 13, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. You can also check out her work at cathyhillegas.com.
Story by Judy Cato
Photos by Lorraine Hughes (except where noted)
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