Catherine Detraves

I was born and raised in Paris France in 1962, where I went to Lycee Moliere and lived till I was 21. I met my first husband in Chicago when I was 18 and we were married a year later.
After a couple of years in Paris where he was finishing his studies, we moved back to Chicago and I worked in retail for 7 years. I was hired by one of the most exclusive boutiques in the country at the time: Ultimo. There I learned a lot about fashion and developed a solid sense of style, coupled with a deep appreciation for beautiful clothes, fashion photography and everything revolving around design, art and architecture.
The owner of Ultimo was branching out and asked me to be the manager and buyer of her new free standing Sonia Rykiel boutique. I welcomed the challenge and remained at the helm of the store until I moved to Los Angeles in 1990, with my second husband. As I settled-in on the west coast, I decided it was time to go back to school and I enrolled in community college while also working as a kindergarten teacher’s aid. It was probably the most rewarding job I have ever had! After a couple of years I transferred to UCLA, as a psychology major. Then I became pregnant with my twin baby girls, Camille and Daisy and it took me a while to get my BA in Psychology. I intended to pursue teaching credentials and a masters degree but the challenges of motherhood convinced me otherwise. I stayed at home with my daughters and felt very fulfilled being a mom in lovely Manhattan Beach.
After I divorced my second husband in 2009, I started doodling on a larger scale. It was no longer on post-its on my desk, or in notebooks margins, it was on 8x11 sheets at first and then on 18x 24 formats. My kids were ready to go to college and I had all the time in the world to be creative. I felt free and inspired. I am lucky to have been strongly encouraged to pursue and expand my drawings by a dear friend who is herself an artist. She is a Fine Arts photographer and the fact that she saw something in me gave me the courage to start thinking of myself as an artist. I collaborated with her and drew on a selection of her photographs.
In 2017 I realized that I needed a studio if I really wanted to develop my art further. I wanted to start painting and working on bigger pieces. I also started making pieces for my friends, acquaintances and family. I met another artist, a talented painter who has a great career and he has mentored and pushed me these past couple of years. I am very grateful for all the wonderful and supportive people in my life and I am ready to make a real career out of my art.