November 20 – December 14, 2025
Virtual Artist Talk: Monday, December 1, 7–8 p.m.
Our season of exhibits focused on mystery, mysticism and meaning concluded with Portals and Paintings by Connecticut artist, Catherine Nogas-Steinberg. In 2019, the Gallery first exhibited her series The Mary Paintings: Expressions of the Divine Feminine. Her current exhibition was centered on the concept of how slow gazing can induce a state of meditation. She reflects on a discussion with a friend: “The idea we discussed was allowing oneself to stop and gaze when struck by an image, or opening, that pulls us into a painting on a deeper level. This portal, or gateway, can carry us into a deep, meditative experience, sometimes introducing us to new dimensions of the psyche. The experience can be pleasant or not, but enlightening for sure.”
Portals and Paintings was a series of acrylic and oil works in which the color and light reflected is believed to be transformative and healing. Steinberg observes “that light and energy vibrations from colors and shapes can help change moods, alter self-limiting perceptions, and open our psyches for change and growth.” When creating, Steinberg starts with color, or shapes, from her dreams and visions. She then engages the creative process by working intuitively. The result is an image manifested with the energy gathered and layered with the formal elements and principles of design. Works are nonobjective, abstract paintings full of dynamic motion and feeling.
Steinberg is also a shamanic practitioner, artist, author, and an expressive arts workshop facilitator in Connecticut and New Mexico. She regularly runs annual retreats and various expressive arts workshops that intersect her shamanic practice.
Catherine Nogas-Steinberg, LMFT, is a licensed marriage and family therapist. Moreover, she has been a practicing artist since 1985, and since 2005, has shown her work through the CT Shoreline Arts Trail. She has studied with Italian artist, Alexander Shundi, at the Wooster Art School (CT) and Arts on the Lake (NY); with Susan Ferri of Santa Fe, NM; and more recently with Gwen Fox of Taos, NM.
Steinberg earned a B.A. degree from Mount Holyoke College and a M.A. degree from the University of Connecticut. She has over forty years of psychotherapy experience with individuals, couples, families and groups in Guilford, CT. Recently, she published her memoir, “Eating Chocolate & Watching the Moon—Spiritual Awakening through Loss and Karmic Resolution.” Her book is currently nominated for The Ian Book of the Year Award for within the Spiritual Non-Fiction category.
For more information on Catherine Steinberg, visit her website
