Florida Artists Group

Artist Statement:

As an artist, I feel that art simply needs to be an experience with nature.  I enjoy exploring the many layers of color, shape, texture, and motion that nature has to offer.  Using these elements, I create an image that reflects my personal experience, emotion and vision.  Having always been a plein air painter, I seek inspiration and creative expression from the world around me; attempting to capture that world on-site, with immediate reaction to changing light, time of day, and the mood of the moment.  Through the media of acrylics and oils, my art has moved toward more abstract representation by giving less information and more personal interpretation. 

Biography:

A professional artist since 1964, I attended Harris Institute of Art in Nashville and later went on to study at the Atlanta College of Art. I have studied under such renowned artists as Joseph Perrin (Atlanta, Georgia) and Wolf Kahn (Sebasco, Maine), and have been teaching various art forms to other artists and students since 1970. I have held many leadership positions in the art community such as the Vice President, local chapter of the National Women’s Caucus for the Arts: President, Petticoat Painters; President, Florida Suncoast Watercolor Society; and Area Chairman, Florida Artist Group, Inc. and won numerous awards for my art, including the prestigious Fonchen Lord Memorial Award, Jacksonville Museum of Contemporary Art, juried by David Levy, Director of the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. 

My teaching experience includes teaching pottery, book making, mono types, and painting (watercolors and acrylics), having taught such groups as teachers, other professional artists, and the general public. Some of my teaching experience includes teaching continuing education classes at Oglethorpe University (Atlanta, Georgia); teaching recertification classes at Holy Innocence Episcopal School (Atlanta, Georgia); and teaching at a retreat for the Women’s Contemporary Artists (Ellenton, Florida). I have also juried numerous art exhibits throughout Florida.

My paintings are exhibited in corporate and private collections in Georgia, Florida, New York, Hawaii, Maine, Switzerland, and Venezuela. I currently exhibit in my Main Street Studio located in the heart of the art district in Sarasota, Florida.

Exhibition and Awards:

1982         The Arts, A Multimedia Art Exhibit, Piedmont Park, GA 
1982         Southern Homes Two Person Show, Norcross, GA 
1984         Dr. and Mrs. Fred Thomas, One Person Show, Gainesville, Ga 
1985         The Atelier, Marks and Line Movement, Atlanta, GA 
1986         Chastain Art Center, Painting on Location, Atlanta, GA 
1986         Quenlon Museum, Monteagle Painters, Gainesville, GA
1986         Bernau Women’s College Museum, National Invitational, GA
1986         Dekalb Annual Exhibition, Decator, GA
1986         Swan Coach House Gallery Invitational, Atlanta, GA
1988         Historic Savannah Foundation Exhibition, Savannah, GA
1989         Longboat Key Arts Center, Longboat Key, FL   *First Place
1990         Hilton Leech Studio, Three Person Show, Color and Spirit, Sarasota, FL
1990         J. E. Voorhees Gallery, Sarasota, FL
1991         Barrier Island Group for the Arts, Annual Juried Art Exhibit, Sanibel Island, FL
1991         Sarasota Arts Center, Eye of the Beholder, Sarasota, FL   *First Place
1992         Manatee Community College, Solo Exhibit, Venice, FL
1997         Sarasota Arts Center, Sarasota, FL  *Second Place
1998         Florida Suncoast Watercolor Society, FL  *Third Place
1998         Art League of Manatee County, Female Expressions – Approaching the Millennium,
                 A Statewide New Works Exhibition, Bradenton, FL  *Award of Excellence
1999         Celery Barn Gallery, Three Person Show, Sarasota, FL
1999         Art League of Manatee, Interiors, Bradenton, FL  *Third Place
2000         The Isleford Dock Gallery, Isleford, Maine
2000         Venice Art Center, Figures, Venice, FL *First Place
2000         Mableton Cultural Center, Things that Pour, Mableton, GA
2000         The Mable House, Two Sisters, Woodstock, GA
2001         Burns Court Gallery, Women Contemporary Artists, Sarasota, FL
2002         Big Arts Gallery, Sanibel, FL
2004         Harmony Gallery, One Person Show, Sarasota, FL
2005         Musuem of Botany and the Arts, Selby Botanical Gardens,
                 Women Contemporary Artists, Sarasota, FL 
2005         The Weedon Island Preserve Cultural and Natural History Center Invitational, Tampa, FL 
2005         Venice Art Center, Two Person Show, Imagination, Venice, FL
2006         The Sarasota County Arts Council, Center for the Arts and Humanities, Two Person Show,                            Sarasota, FL 
2007         Historic Spanish Point, Petticoat Painters, Osprey, FL 
2007         Venice Art Center, Venice, FL   *Second Place
2009         Selby Gallery, Ringling College of Art, Petticoat Painters, Sarasota, FL
2011         Longboat Key Center for the Arts, Petticoat Painter, Longboat Key, FL
2012         Manatee Art Center, Women Contemporary Artists, Bradenton, FL *Second Place