“The desire and ability to create comes from a calling of my heart. Creating art and encouraging others to create art is one of my passions. The process of creating is as exciting and enjoyable to me as viewing the final product.”
- DRW
My preferred medium is acrylics on canvas. In addition to acrylics I also enjoy watercolor because of the similarities of these two mediums. With an un-conventional style, my works reflect the transparent qualities of acrylic paints, and the possible opaqueness of watercolor paints. Enjoying a variety of mixed media in my creations, I will use whatever materials or techniques it takes to create the desired texture, look or emotion for a particular piece. Pulling out the essential elements of the subject and finding the best possible composition necessary to achieve the sentiment, I desire to create pieces that subtly inspire emotions or memories from viewers.
Natural creations are the basic inspiration for my art, particularly the repetitive lines, the shapes, and colors found in trees, flowers, plants, leaves, etc. The vein lines in leaves or flower petals that show movement from wind, the growth, posture and character of the leaf or petal. When working with these natural objects as subjects I look for that similar line, curve or shape and try to repeat it throughout the composition. Often my paintings resemble macro or close-up photography, with a shallow depth of field focusing on a main subject and blurred out backgrounds. Also influenced by geometric and color field art, I like to create both symmetrical and asymmetrical abstracts. Like the Dutch neo-plasticism painter, Piet Mondrian I rely on intuitive design and color theory when working with the colors, forms and light in my abstract paintings.
Upon viewing my portfolio you will find commissioned works from photographs of places or objects of sentimental value to clients. You will also see a variety of series and studies; Sunset Silhouettes, floral close-ups, nature drawings, landscapes, geometric hard edge abstracts, black and white acrylic paintings where I used sgraffito (similar to scratch art technique, working quickly to remove paint from the canvas to create the images), and non-objective stylized paintings.
Growing up in Walton, New York, in the heart of the Catskill Mountains, my interest in art started at a very early age. There were several artists in my life that I looked up to as a young child, including my father and my Great Grandmother. Art is something I always remember enjoying, as far back as a preschooler coloring with crayons. There was even a period of time where I remember only using the ‘red-orange’ and ‘orange-red’ crayons- for every picture. They were my favorite crayons. Amazingly I still like those colors today. I was always creating whether it was coloring, drawing, painting or later as teenager writing stories and poetry. Music also played an important role in my early years. Where I went to High School you chose a major course of study, I chose three, Music, Art and English.
After graduating from Walton High School in 1989, I went to college at Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania. Oddly enough, I entered as a business major, thinking only of a profitable future. It only took half a semester for me to decide that was the wrong career path for me. I needed to create. So, I changed my major to Studio Art and also minored in Philosophy. Music was still important to me so I joined the college band and percussion ensemble. Those four and a half years, I practically lived in the Fine Arts building. Then after receiving my BFA in December 1993 I moved to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and soon after married my husband and we started a family.
While living there I was still creating art every chance I had but given the fact that I had two small children those chances were at times few and far between. Even though my preferred mediums are Acrylics or Watercolors sometimes my only creative outlet was once again coloring with crayons. Sharing my passion for art has been one of the great experiences I have had with my children. Being a creative person has come in handy with raising a family. I use my talents to make lots of homemade decorations for parties, costumes and fun projects for the kids to do. Most of my artlife during the mid-late 1990’s to the mid 2000’s consisted of gifts for extended family and friends and a few commissioned paintings and projects. For two years I taught private art classes for Home-schooled children in Lititz,PA. In 1999 we moved to Cornwall, Pennsylvania where I volunteered my time and talents at Cornwall United Methodist Church. Then we moved again in the spring of 2005 to Avon Lake, in Northeast Ohio. With this move and our current lifestyle I have been blessed with both the time and opportunities to focus on my art as a career and I have been able to add considerably to my body of artwork. Now represented by the Artist Review Today Gallery in Cleveland and as an instructor for TrueNorth Cultural Arts Center, I enjoy Art in my life everyday .
- DRW
Resume
1993 BFA Lock Haven University, Lock Haven, PA
1996 Commissioned Acrylic painting
1997 Youth Art Instruction Lititz Recreation Center, Lititz, PA
1998 Private Art Instruction, Lititz and Manheim, PA
1999 Commissioned Acrylic painting
2000 designed stencil for Cornwall UMC Holiday Bazaar, Cornwall, PA
2003 Commissioned Watercolor paintings
2003 Commissioned illustrations for Lightkeeper Consulting, Mt.Gretna, PA 2005 Co-painted communion banner for Cornwall UMC, Cornwall, PA
2006 Co-painted mural/props for Bay Pres. Church, Bay Village, OH
2006 Commissioned Acrylic painting
2006-Present Private Art Instruction, Avon Lake, OH 2007 September- August 2008 Resident Artist/Instructor True North Cultural Arts, Avon Lake, OH 2008 Co-painted mural/props for Bay Pres. Church, Bay Village, OH
Exhibits/Shows
1989 Sidney Federal Credit Union, Walton, NY
1993 Lock Haven University, Lock Haven, PA
2002 God’s Great Gallery VBS, Cornwall UMC, Cornwall, PA
2007 Come and Create Spring Arts Fest, Galleria at Erieview, Cleveland, OH 2007 Works on display at Artist Review Today Gallery, Cleveland OH 2007 Colors and Shapes of Spring Show, TrueNorth Cultural Arts, Avon Lake, OH
2007 Encouragement, Hope and Healing Show, TrueNorth Cultural Arts, Avon Lake, OH
2007 JAR, June Art Review, Artist Review Today Gallery, Cleveland OH 2007 Community Art Show, TrueNorth Cultural Arts, Avon Lake, OH 2007 Water and Color Show, TNCA at French Creek Nature Center, Sheffield Village, OH 2007 Celebrate the Season Show, TNCA at French Creek Nature Center, Sheffield Village, OH 2008 Works on display at Artist Review Today Gallery, Cleveland OH 2008 January Resident Artists Show, TrueNorth Cultural Arts, Avon Lake, OH 2008 Contrasts Show, TNCA at French Creek Nature Center, Sheffield Village, OH 2008 Awakenings/Creation Show, TNCA at French Creek Nature Center, Sheffield Village, OH 2008 March Resident Artists Show, TrueNorth Cultural Arts, Avon Lake, OH 2008 JAR (June Art Review) A.R.T Gallery, Galleria at Erieview Mall, Cleveland, 2008 Simple Expressions Art Walk, Olmsted Falls, OH 2008 TrueNorth Artsfest, Miller Road Park, Avon Lake, OH 2008 Statement of the Night; Abstract Art Show- group show with Don Cox, M. Pappas and myself, Club Rockwell, Cleveland, OH 2008 July Resident Artists Open House, TrueNorth Cultural Arts,Avon Lake, OH
Galleries
Artist Review Today Gallery, Cleveland, OH Artefino Cafe and Gallery, Cleveland, OH Clifton Web Card and Gift Gallery, Avon Lake, OH
Private Collections New York, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Missouri, Georgia, Ohio.
