MERCEDES CECILIA
I have been painting since I was a child, carrying my box of paints.
It was October of 1980 when I began painting the waters of the Catskill’s Mountains. That autumn was the first time in my adult life that I felt the sense of being at home, a deep feeling of interconnectedness with my environment, the community and the wonderful light of this area. Camping and painting in the Catskill’s State Parks during every season for 6 years, reassured me this is the place I wish to live. In June of 1986, I made these mountains my home. I live in Woodstock, NY. This is the place I love every day, in every season.
Following in the footsteps of the Hudson River Artists, I also celebrate our Hudson River, the Catskills Mountains, and want to preserve the aliveness of planet Earth and our communities.
I feel joy when the light plays on the surface of the waters, when trees, mountains and sky weave their forms with a lake, river, or stream. I am drawn by the movements of light revealing a tapestry of colors on the water. I love hearing the trees whisper to the wind, love watching their forms become one with the waters and the light. By painting in front of the same lakes and streams every month year after year, I observe and feel deeply the changes taking place in our environment and the effects of these changes on our communities, ourselves, wildlife, forests, and vegetable gardens.
I graduated from The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1986, and from Bard College with a Bachelor of Arts in 2008. I am grateful to all of my professors and mentors, whom with generosity they shared their love for Science and Art.
Every time I walk around Cooper Lake, The Ashokan Reservoir, Overlook Mountain, The Millstream, everywhere I see, continues to feel like a dream, just like in 1980 when I saw the Catskill’s Mountains and the light of this area for the first time. I wanted to live here.
– Mercedes Cecilia
Woodstock, New York
mercedesartjsj at gmail dot com
"Peruvian Buried Treasures" My Sweet Potatoes were accepted in the juried * First Ecological Art Exhibition-Woodstock Art Association and Museum. One of the things that make me feel at home is having my sweet potatoes germinate in water and seeing them grow inside of my home. Is a little way of being in the footsteps of my family, their footsteps follow me into the present. – Mercedes Cecilia
"My great grand aunt and my teachers taught me that The Keepers of Wisdom and Peace, the elders of Peru live Nature, while the new generations are involved with the culture. My great grand aunt used to teach us that culture created outside Nature is empty. A culture that destroys Nature does not even have a name." from: "Emails to my daughter" – Mercedes Cecilia
I also practice the art of Jin Shin Jyutsu Physio-Philosophy, the ancient, Japanese healing art promoting health and assisting our innate healing capacity. Please visit www.JinShinJyutsu-Mercedes.com
View my book Kusikiy: A Child from Taquile, Peru