Catherine Black

Director • Actor

Tag: America

  • Morning Shadows

    morning shadows - Benevolence 3 in Fergus by Catherine Black

    What I did not know that morning I took off from Fergus to LA, was that my inner world would never be the same again. Everything that had been in the shadows would come into the light and there could be no more hiding. I don’t know if it was because I pushed myself to drive 12 to 14 hours a day. I don’t know if was the desolate roads to seemingly nowhere and the sheer vastness of the geography that expanded my mind. Or was it the cold hard reality that I would never go home again. Maybe it was simply the stars. Whatever it was, this was the beginning of a new life.

  • One Province and 5 states later

    Benevolence 1 by Catherine Black in IL

    Lost a day in Chicago. One Province and 5 states later I brush my teeth at 70 miles per hour to save time. Finally abandoning the Inner State for the Old Oregon Trail- US 20 West! Just like the original settlers of the West. So beautiful. I am so happy, so free, in love and excited. With my fresh Canadian Maple Syrup my aunt Nancy gave me at my side. Magic Hour opp somewhere between Stockton township and Woodbine township IL. I want to walk through this wood gate and follow the path to the setting sun.
    We stopped driving around 2 am in the only hotel open in Fort Dodge Iowa, 6 states later. Slept soundly in the dirty honeymoon suite, in a King size bed, conveniently situated right beside a jacuzzi.

  • From the beginning

    Researching for the role has got to be my favorite task of acting. Of course I love to perform, but I really couldn’t have one without the other. However much time I am given, I will take it, and I will do nothing but indulge from the moment I am set loose. This is where it get’s into my blood, into my bones and becomes intimate. There is a waking up in the middle of the night obsessive kind of thing, where characters become apart of me. For the role of Ann, I had about 2 months to prepare. I read everything I could on The Donner Party, and that time period in America. I even traced Ann’s genealogy back to England. I was obsessed. When I’m done with a role it is impossible to say how long she will linger with me. Sometime, I couldn’t get away fast enough, and sometimes, she never leaves. Part of my letting go of Ann involved having my own Westward Expansion.

    My journey began at my 6th generation family farm in Fergus Ontario Canada. After a hot humid night on the front porch, we woke at 6am to fresh farm eggs, fruit and coffee made by my aunt Nancy, took a tour of the old barn before it gets torn down and the giant silo’s full of spelt, snapped a few photo’s and headed for the border!

    At the border I got the same immigration officer that gave me a hard time 4 years ago. With 2 suitcases and a cat for my 1st pilot season, he cut my trip in half, and said “I’ll be watching you” as I walked away. It was nice to see him again green card in hand! We then drove 4 states and I called my 3 year old niece Emma. She cracked my heart wide open screaming “WHERE ARE YOU?!!” “WHERE ARE YOU!!??!!” I LOOOOOVE YOU!!!!”

    Here is Benevolence 3 and Red Dance at the beginning of their tour from Canada to LA, across the old Oregon trail and down the coast to California.

    Benevolence 3 by Catherine Black in Fergus

    Red Dance in Fergus

  • Red Dance in Redwoods

    Red Dance In Red Woods

  • Photographed Paintings Across The Oregon Trail And Down The Coast

    After researching the role of Ann Fosdick in The Donner Party I became fascinated with the first settlers who traveled West. Having left my own Country and home in Canada to chase sunshine and dreams, I decided to fully explore the route they took back in 1846. I drove 4 of my favorite paintings from my family farm in Fergus Ontario Canada, across the old Oregon Trail and down the coast. At every turn that caught my fancy, and every day at magic hour, I lugged my oils paintings, painted on 4’x 6′ slabs of ply wood, out of the van. Here is Red Dance in the Redwoods after sleeping in the car because I thought I could drive all night.

    Red Dance By Catherine Black in Red Woods in the morning