Florida Artists Group

Artists Bio:

Lillian Verkins is an Altamonte Springs contemporary acrylic and mixed medium painter. Her canvases are filled with motion and expressive brushstrokes, oftentimes eliciting a meditative response.

Verkins didn’t start out as an artist.  After her husband’s death, she returned to college for a computer science degree.  A friend advised her to take a photojournalism class for an easy A.  She followed this advice.  Lillian states “ I fell in love at the first darkroom moment.  It was magic”.  Verkins found the art program therapeutic and helpful in escaping what she calls her “monkey mind”. Her concentration of study was photo-etching, using her own photo images in creating collages on copper plates.  She laughs as she states “I can actually invite a date to see my etchings”.

In 1987 she received her BFA from University of Central Florida after which she went to work for the State  in a non-artistic capacity.

In 2004 she was introduced to Oriental brush painting.  “It loosened me up” she states. The brush work was freeing and therapeutic just like the darkroom experience some 20 years ago.  Through the combination of her brush training and the new found ease of acrylics she has become successful in evoking the spirit of her subjects ranging from deep outer space to abstracts or palms swaying in a storm and figurative works.

Lillian states “art is extremely personal and therapeutic for me. It is my meditation place where I can go to forget everything and truly be in the present moment of creation and evolution”.

Artist Statement:

My paintings start with a big-bang of colors, which swirl into quiet spaces and are sometimes obliterated and reformed into new creations. The canvas is my edifice, where my meditations and my prayers are heard. Since I have no end image in mind, my hands and mind are free to explore where these layers take me.  Acrylic paints and mediums lend themselves well to my process.

Ultimately I want each one of these paintings to touch a chord within me.  Then, I believe I can touch you.

Exhibitions:

Solo Exhibitions

2018         From Whence We Came, Seminole State College Fine Art Gallery, Sanford/Lake Mary FL
2017         Atmospheres, Lake Eustis Museum of Art, Lake Eustis, FL
2016         Where to Find Respite, Gallery at Leu Garden House,  Orlando, FL
2014         Flux, Rose Room Gallery,  Peabody Auditorium, Daytona Beach, FL
2007         Paintings by Lillian Verkins, University Club of Winter Park, Winter Park, FL
1987         The Reality of an Illusion, BFA Exhibition, University of Central FL, Orlando,

Group  Exhibitions

2018         Existential Journeys at Museum of Arts and Sciences, Daytona Beach FL
                The Mennello Museum Invitational 2018,  Mennello Museum, Orlando FL.
                 Intuited Flux, CityArts Factory, Orlando, Fl
                 Nature’s Embrace,  CasselberryArt House, Casselberry, FL
2017         Theatrix, CityArts Factory, Orlando, Fl.
                 Studio A Project,  Harris House (ACA), New Smyrna Beach, Fl.
                 Experience Contemporary, Casselberry City Hall, Casselberry FL.
                 Echoes of the Soul,  Enterprise Heritage Center and Museum, Enterprise, FL
                 Members Exhibit, Arts league of Daytona Beach, Daytona, Fl
2016         Dream Catchers, The Henao Contemporary Center Gallery, Orlando, FL.
                 Art Spirit by Beaux Arts,  ACA Harris House, New Smyrna Beach, FL
                 Contemporary Notions,  Mayors Art Gallery, City of Orlando, Orlando
                 gARTen Celebration, Ormond Beach Memorial Museum, Ormond Beach, FL
                 Figuratively Speaking, Art League of Daytona Beach, Daytona Beach, FL
                 All About Color, The Casements, Ormond Beach, FL
                 Celebrating the Genius Of Women, Orlando Public Library, Orlando, FL
                 Love Potions, Leesburg Center for the Arts, Leesburg, FL
                 Members’ Exhibit, Art League of Daytona Beach, Daytona Beach, FL
2015         Annual Members’ Showcase, Art League of Daytona Beach, Daytona Beach, FL
                 10th Annual Juried Show,  International Society of Acrylic Painters-Florida,  Art on
                 1st., St. Petersburg, FL
                 Members’ Exhibit, Art League of Daytona Beach, Daytona Beach,
                 Mixing it Up, Art League of Daytona Beach, Daytona Beach, FL
                 Figuratively Speaking, Art League of Daytona Beach, Daytona Beach, FL
                 Members’ Showcase, Art League of Daytona Beach, Daytona Beach, FL
                 ArtistsRegistry.com Members’ Juried Exhibit, CityArts Factory, Orlando, FL
                 Florida Grown,  ArtistsRegistry.com Members Exhibit, 1st Thursday at Orlando
                 Museum of Art, Orlando, FL
                 Animals, 1st Thursday at Orlando Museum of Art, Orlando, FL
                 The Eclectic Knights, 1st Thursday at Orlando Museum of Art, Orlando, FL
                 The Art of Science and Healing, 1st Thursday at Orlando Museum of Art, Orlando, FL
                 The Illustrated Dream,  1st Thursday at Orlando Museum of Art, Orlando, FL
                 Jazz and Art Festival,  3 month exhibit Casselberry City Hall, Casselberry, FL
                 Nude-nite Orlando 2015, LB McLeod Rd. Orlando, FL
                 Gateway Members Show, Gateway Center for the Arts, DeBarry, FL
2008-14    Members exhibitions with ALOC,  ALDB, and Artists’ Workshop of New Smyrna Inc.

Awards   Total of 25 juried awards

2018        First Place Winner,  “UCF Eclectic Knights” 1st Thursday at OMA
                 First Place Winner, “Black, White and Shades of Gray” Art League of Daytona Beach
2017        First Place Winner, “Members Exhibit” Art league of Daytona Beach, Daytona, FL
2016        First Place winner “Celebrating the Genius of Women”
                exhibition by Women in the  Arts Inc. LLC, Orlando, FL
                Award of Distinction “Members’ Exhibit” at Art League of Daytona, Daytona, FL
2015        Best of Show, The Art of Science and Healing, 1st Thursday at Orlando Museum of
                 Art, Orlando, FL
                Best of Show,   Florida Grown,  ArtistsRegistry.com Members Exhibit, 1st
                 Thursday at Orlando Museum of Art, Orlando, FL
                First Place,  Members’ Showcase, Art League of Daytona Beach, Daytona Beach, FL
2013-15  2nd Place Award,  2 Awards of Distinction, 3 Achievement, 6 Honorable Mention
                 Awards and others
2013        First Place,  Members’ Show, Art League of Orange County, University Club. WP, FL
                 First Place, Members’ Exhibits, Artists’ Workshop of New Smyrna Inc., New Smyrna

Bibliography:

                  Duff-Hoppes, Jill, Altamonte Artist Finds Inspiration in the Cosmos, Altamonte/Wekiva Springs                   Life, Jan-Feb 2018, Vol. 9, P 31
                  Lee, Adrienne H., The Answer:Lillian Verkins,  Artborne, Vol.2, Issue 6. p. 43-44.
                  Cole, Christine, Large works, vivid colors highlight new Lake Eustis Museum of Art
                   exhibit,  Orlando Sentinel,  Jan. 5 2017
                   Chavez, Crystal,  “Atmospheric Poetry”, Spotlight-90.7 WMFE, Jan. 6, 2017
                  Garrick, Josh, Women in the Arts celebrates the “Genius of Women, Winter Park/ 
                  Maitland Observer, March 17, 2016, p. 18.
                  Veith, Lauren,  Artist Profile Lillian Verkins, Seminole Magazine, September/October
                  2015, p. 32-33.
                 Art Work of Lillian Verkins, Winter Park/Maitland Observer, June 7,  2007

Education:

1987         BFA,  cum laude, Studio Art, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL           
Also:        Creative Abstract Workshop with Sally Cooper, and workshops with Harold Garde,    
                 Louise Lachance, Sharon Bennett and Sue Reynolds.