An announcement from the local office of The Wilderness Society in Sylva:

A collection of handmade books titled ‘Writing Down the Inner Wild’ by Kathrine Cays, artist-in-residence at The Rickman Store in the Cowee Community of Macon County, will be on display during the month of December at The Wilderness Society’s southeastern regional office in Sylva, NC. All are welcome to come meet the artist at the opening reception! Please join us from 6:00 – 9:00 pm on Friday December 2, 2011 at the Downtowner Building, 563 West Main Street, Sylva. This reception coincides with Sylva After Dark, a first Friday celebration where the public is invited to stroll through downtown Sylva for an evening of arts, dining, music, shopping, and more.

Since the early 1990’s Kathrine Cays' work has depicted elements from the natural world. In 2001 she began to involve minerals, metals, insects, and found objects onto her canvases and panels, as well as into her sculptural works. Cays sources spiritual wisdom and relationships to develop her central theme, which includes the placement of people within human constructions, the natural world and spiritual realms.

Kathrine Cays was born in rural Pennsylvania. She received her Bachelor Degree in Studio Art and Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Recently, she has exhibited her work in North Carolina at The Raleigh Art Exchange Gallery in Raleigh, The Hyphen coffee shop in Fuquay Varina, at numerous exhibitions at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and The Artery Gallery in Chapel Hill. Her painting, Selah II, 2010, was acquired by The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is included in their permanent art collection which is housed on the university campus.

The Wilderness Society is the leading public-lands conservation organization working to protect wilderness and inspire Americans to care for our wild places. Founded in 1935, and now with more than 500,000 members and supporters, TWS has led the effort to permanently protect 110 million acres of wilderness and to ensure sound management of our shared national lands. www.wilderness.org