Stories behind art are fascinating. Artists use their brushes, paint, canvases, and tools to create stories like writers use a pen and paper. Here artists reveal the inspiration behind their masterpieces. It’s a rare opportunity to not guess but hear how the work was born, first hand.  

One Artist. One Story

Cathleen Klibanoff is a self-taught artist and storyteller, author, and lifestyle coach. In her art, she celebrates texture, color and movement. Her work is primarily figure based. Travel is one of her biggest passions, yet she builds her stories around people, not places.

“Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain. And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy;
And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields. And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief.”

– Kahlil Gibran

Bruised, Not Broken by Cathleen Klibanoff. Mixed Media Sculpture, July 2020

“Bruised Not Broken reflects the wabi-sabi quality of a life lived.  Portraiture is intimate and tricky.  A portraitist is not a documentarian but rather a channel that broadcasts the hidden message that lies beneath the subjects’ surface.  This resin sculpture was inspired by the men and women who show up in the arena, fighting to be heard and understood.  The strength and courage to sustain come from the soul’s voice celebrating the smallest victories.  That voice can be seen and felt like the fragile flower that miraculously defies nature, appearing undaunted in the crack of concrete.”

Follow Cathleen Klibanoff on Social Media: Instagram @Cathleenklibart, Website www.QueenCathleen.com