Artist: Cathy Trachok

Size: 40" high x 48" wide

Media: Oil on Stretched Linen

Cathy Trachok was educated at the University of Nevada, Reno, where she received her BFA, and proceeded to Pasadena, California, to attend Art Center College of Design. After working for a greeting card company for a year in Los Angeles, Cathy switched to freelance, moved to Boston, and met her husband.

Since Boston, Cathy and her family has lived all over the country. She has pursued her illustration career, switching from commercial art to children's books, doing one or so books a year, with her latest being two books about polar bears and black bears. Mostly, she is enjoying the commissioned work, from portraits, to images of the beautiful Napa Valley, and everything in between.

The challenge of the Symphony painting took Cathy out of her usual comfort zone of realism.

Artist Statement: "I really explored the colors and movement of music. It was fun and frightening all at the same time. Being the one person in my family who isn't musical, I am surrounded, and the pressure was on. So I made everyone model for me, even going to Napa High School to photograph their band and orchestra to get the instruments correct. I'm thinking there will be more musical paintings in the future."