Born in New York City and raised on Long Island, Cathy always longed to spread her wings. As a college freshman, she attended Moore College of Art in Philadelphia but found it to be too structured. However, that summer she was inspired after traveling overseas and since that time, traveling has always stimulated Cathy. She has logged time in England, France, Italy, Greece, Israel, Spain, Monaco, Mexico, Panama, Belize, Costa Rica, Bermuda, the Virgin Islands, Turkey and Canada, in addition to most US States. So in the Fall of 1971, rather than return to Philly, Cathy decided to join her older sister in Boston.
She enrolled in the Museum of Fine Arts School in Boston and also double majored in education at Tufts University in nearby Medford. After receiving a working scholarship from the Museum School, Cathy moved into a loft/studio in the Jamaica Plain section of Boston, where she created ceramic sculptures, pottery and custom tiles. With her studio and scholarship in place, Cathy worked so hard that she graduated in two and a half years. Sadly, in 1976 Cathy lost her home, studio and her business when a conflagration destroyed the six-story factory building where her loft was located. A new era began.
Cathy also became drawn into a more commercial side of ceramics as she began a production pottery line that is both practical for everyday use but also very displayable as art. Named “gersonware” this business was formed to create and produce pottery for stores and galleries all over the country – and continued for 30 years. To learn more about About Cathy Gerson Studios go to https://cathygerson.com/sample-page/about-cathy-gerson-studios/
Commissions, whether pottery or tile, had been exciting departures from the steady pottery work supplied by gersonware. From extremely large urns decorating corporate hallways, to intimate custom architectural tile art installations, Cathy Gerson explored the freedom that clay allowed. In particular, she loved to sculpt tiles, to defy two dimensions and provide texture.
This recent focus on her tile creations has attracted a wide and diverse group of commissions from architectural to institutional. Inspiration that has driven kitchen back splashes, wall tile art for hospitals and corporate walls, outdoor pieces and many sizes of Gerson totems; pieces that are often infused with small found objects from Cathy’s travels. More recently Cathy has gone into the “car business” – recreating classic cars in sculpted, free form ceramic tile wall pieces that capture the style of the classic car, from the thirties to the present. Tile works that form the canvas for sculpted forms with unique and personal glazes and whimsical touches by Cathy who personally designs, cuts, glazes, assembles and sometimes installs her pieces.