‍ About the Artist

For as long as Cathy can remember, art has been rooted in the place she first called home. Her earliest creative memories stem from the 32 years her father served as an art professor at their local college. As a child, she loved going to work with him, sitting in his office for hours, and drawing with his brightly colored markers on massive sheets of white paper. This foundational love for creativity eventually led her to Wake Forest University, where she earned her B.A. in Studio Art.

After graduating, Cathy taught art for five years before transitioning into a full-time freelance career specializing in oil portraits. For over 25 years, she had the privilege of capturing precious faces, receiving a steady stream of commissioned portraits every single month. However, a new direction emerged when she answered a call to ministry. She went on to earn a master’s degree in biblical counseling and a doctorate of education in Christian counseling. For the past 20 years, she has poured her heart into helping people find God’s help and hope in the hard places of life through Watershed Ministries, a non-profit organization she founded alongside her husband, Eric.

While the busyness of life and ministry eventually led to a season of creative stillness, God, in His grace, has recently restored Cathy's love for painting. Today, she is beautifully weaving her twin passions together. After decades of precise portraiture and deep ministry work, she is returning to the place she first fell in love with all those years ago in her father's office.

Moving away from the technical structure of portraits, Cathy is now painting freely and joyfully on large canvases, using vibrant, highly pigmented fluid acrylics reminiscent of those childhood markers. Every piece is an extension of her counseling heart and faith—each one a tangible prayer designed to bring God's light, love, and color into the viewer's life. Cathy is filled with excitement for this new season. As her artistic journey comes beautifully full circle, she reflects, “I am painting with my Heavenly Father now…it feels like I’ve come back to where I began, but with all the ups, downs, and in between that have shaped my life…and my painting now reflects this full circle.”

Artist Statement

I believe that creating art is a direct reflection of being an image-bearer of THE Creator. My work is an act of worship, designed to glorify God and exude the JOY of His creation. I am deeply inspired by the way God speaks through the natural world, and each piece begins as a prayerful expression of a specific passage in His Word. Working on large canvases, I use Golden Paints’ highly pigmented fluid acrylics to allow the paint to flow naturally across the surface, building expansive, vibrant paintings of color that translate these spiritual truths into visual experiences.

The fluid nature of the medium allows for a dynamic interplay of light and motion, capturing the profound love that surrounds us all. Each painting is created with a specific prayer: that it will speak directly to the heart of the person who needs its message most. By focusing on an intentionally radiant palette, I aim to bring a smile to each viewer's face and offer a visual sanctuary—reminding people of the persistent light, love, and beauty available to us all if we choose to see the beautiful colors of our world.

Dr. Cathy Tellefsen

• B.A. in Studio Art, Wake Forest University, 1987

• N.C. Public School Art Teacher, 1990-1995

• Recipient of Wilson Arts Counsel grant for the National Portrait Conference, 2003

• Established portrait artist, receiving monthly portrait commissions for 25 consecutive years.

• Founded Watershed Ministries, a non-profit biblical counseling ministry, 2014

• Masters in Biblical Counseling, 2016

• Doctorate of Education in Christian Counseling, 2024

• Began new painting direction, 2026