Catherine M. Palmer lives in New Haven, Vermont where she is surrounded by the subject matter of her art: the people, animals, and gardens of a life on the farm. Her medium of choice is colored pencil. Colored pencil is a dry medium providing the control of detail that is characteristic of her work. While most of us have at least a school days memory of using colored pencils, Palmer uses artist grade pencils with a rich quantity of oil or wax based pigment. Colored pencil is a slow process so occasionally she adds some soft pastel to cover large background areas. It takes many layers of very light pressure to achieve a sense of depth and vibrancy of color.

Much of her art is autobiographical and seeks to capture the often overlooked angles and poses of an intimacy with Vermont’s agricultural heritage. With the increasing disappearance of small farm life, Palmer is often asked to do commissions of the animals and people still involved with this lifestyle. She most often works from her own photographs and prefers to do candid or un-posed images to capture the relationship of human and animal. Her style is soft realism with a bent towards illustration portraying the activities, colors, and interactions of rural living. It is an attempt to provide a tribute to the simple beauty of our working partners and garden visitors.