ArtistsNetwork.com 31Find a Model’s
Inner Child
Most of Cavanaugh’s
paintings are portraits of
close friends and family. Each
begins with a photo shoot
during which she attempts to
capture the unique presence
and inner beauty of each
individual. “I’m most excited
to paint people who have an
honesty to them,” she says.
“Children are the benchmark.
They possess an openness
that’s hard for adults to
match. As I photograph my
subjects, I try to get them to
open up and be present with
vulnerability—like a child.”Evermore (watercolor
on clay panel, 30x40)Cavanaugh admits that it’s diffi cult
to fi ght off the desire to overwork a
painting, but recording the progres-
sion of each work has helped her
avoid it. “When I started photograph-
ing the stages of my process with
every painting several years ago,” she
says, “I began to see the beauty in
leaving areas unrefi ned.”
CREATIVE EVOLUTION
ONE STEP AT A TIME
Cavanaugh uses a process she calls
“micro-evolution” to avoid compla-
cency and push herself toward
continued creative development in
practical ways. “I describe it as ‘step-
ping stones,’ ” she says. “After a
painting that I’m working on is com-
plete, I search for what was successful
about it. I then take those successes—
it might be a certain paint, or water
technique, or model, or composi-
tion—and I apply it to my next
painting. So, one painting becomes a
stepping stone to the next, and so on.
I let the process grow organically and
change with each painting.”
Two of Cavanaugh’s most impor-
tant creative discoveries have come
about during home repair and
remodeling projects. Up until 2005,
the artist had been painting mainly in
oil. Th at’s when a carpenter doing
construction work on her home
noticed her artwork. He asked if she
could paint a family portrait for him
in a barter exchange for the courtyard
he was building. “But his wife loved
watercolor,” Cavanaugh says. “I
thought, ‘I’m sure I can fi gure it out.’ ”
Indeed, with some trial and error,
she fi nished the portrait in watercolor.