Rebecca A. Stone-Danahy

Santa

2011-12-09T17:44:00.000-05:00

Rebecca A. Stone-Danahy. Santa. 18" x 24" Pastel on Ampersand Paper

Studios at 625 Trade Street Holiday Window including Santa

This is probably the fastest portrait that I have ever done! I spent roughly 4 hours painting it with pastels and just did it for fun to have in the studio holiday window. Then, I framed it in a used frame from the Junior League rummage sale. As it turned out, the general public that came into the studio space seemed to really love Santa. Perhaps the lesson is to not sweat over portraits, or perhaps the lesson is that everyone loves Santa! At any rate, Santa was recently sold at the Whimsical Women art show in Pfafftown, NC a few weeks ago. His new owner was removing her wedding portrait from an easel in the living room to give him a new home. What greater compliment could I receive than that?

2011-12-03T16:02:00.000-05:00

Rebecca A. Stone-Danahy. Self-Portrait. 18" x 24" Pastel on Ampersand Paper.

I forget why I actually started this self-portrait except that I like to do a self-portrait periodically. I think it is important to draw the human face and because I have created so many self-portraits in my career, it is an easy way for me to experiment with changing my drawing/painting style and explore new techniques. The portrait isn't done. But, I've abandoned it for a while as I was able to work out some mark-making and color theory issues that I had been exploring. To be continued at a later date...

I Made Him Promise That I Would Never Work Tobacco Again

2010-12-15T08:55:00.000-05:00

Rebecca A. Stone-Danahy. I Made Him Promise That I Would Never Work Tobacco Again. Mixed Media with Image Transfer on Arches Hot Press Paper. September 2010.

I started this artwork about a year ago. While working on it at my studio during a gallery hop, a woman came into my space and began sharing with me her personal story of growing up on a tobacco farm. She shared about family, culture, and the intense labor in harvesting flue-cured tobacco. As her story unfolded, I decided that this work of art would be about the labor of tobacco and the people behind tobacco as a product. Before my guest left my space, she shared with me her story of accepting her husband's proposal for marriage. As her soon-to-be fiancee was on his knee, she informed me that she made him promise that she would never work tobacco again. When he promised, she accepted the engagement!

I appreciated this story so much that I decided the imagery in the piece would revolve around it. I began by layering images onto the blank surface and then building up the tobacco landscape around and over the imagery. As part of my process, I use both historical images and drawing simultaneously as I build my image for the sole purpose of telling a story. My images in this artwork are centered around the labor, hard work, and people behind the sale of tobacco in the early and mid-20th Century.

The History of the Junior League of Winston-Salem

2010-09-18T13:25:00.002-04:00

This artwork was created for the Junior League of Winston-Salem bi-annual publication, WOWS (Words of Winston-Salem). I had the idea to incorporate images based on the history of the organization through my previous work with the tobacco landscapes. As the work evolved, however, I realized that I could create a new landscape based on historical images related to the organization collaged together as part of the background. Hidden in the background, for example, at the top and in the sky are images of women from the 20's, 30's and 40's that worked together in the JLWS. The skyline consists of the buildings and non-profits that the JLWS has started in the community - Sciworks, Horizons Residential Care Center, the Ronald McDonald House and the Children's Museum (and these are just a few). The field is contains images of women working together for the Race for the Cure in the 1980's and at a fundraiser/dinner party hosted in what I believe is the 40's. Finally the flower pot contains the portrait of Mary Herriman, the founder of the Junior League organization (which she started at age 19 in New York). The leaves are women dancing in a burlesque style show that the organization hosted in the 40's and 50's as a fundraiser, and the flowers contain our recent JLWS Presidents including, Past-President, Pam Ball, Leah Crowley our current President, Heather Parker and President-Elect Meredith Masten. One flower is left blank in symbolism of the future!

Rebecca A. Stone-Danahy. The History of the Junior League of Winston-Salem. Mixed Media: Image Transfers, Water-soluble crayon, and Pastel on Arches Hot Press Watercolor Paper. 27" x 27". 2010.

Celebrating A New Era: The Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts

2010-09-18T12:23:00.004-04:00

This artwork, created in 2010, marks the progression of the Sawtooth Center for Visual Arts. By researching the history of the organization from its early founding years as the Arts and Crafts Association through the evolution into the Milton Center for the Arts, I focused on demonstrating the historical time line of the organization through the buildings it has inhabited in Winston-Salem to its newly renovated structure. Further, by capitalizing on the historic sawtooth-like roof line, I created a new cityscape that culminates in the rising sun - which is also the new Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts logo. This artwork is meant to celebrate the past, present, and future!

I partnered with Sherri Nielson, Executive Director of the Milton Rhodes Center of the Arts to better understand the history of the organization! Our collaborative efforts are part of the auction process for the Arts-Based Elementary School in Winston-Salem. This artwork is being donated to the Arts-Based Elementary School annual auction.

Rebecca A. Stone-Danahy. Celebrating a New Era: The Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts. Mixed Media, 12" x 16". 2010

2009-11-11T22:18:00.003-05:00

I donated this framed photograph today to the Veteran's Hospital in Salisbury, NC in honor of my colleagues father, Dr. A. Frank Dalton. Dr. Dalton was a POW of WWII captured when his plane went down during the invasion of Normandy. The Veterans in attendance gave a standing ovation to the presentation of the artwork and to a moving speech in memory of Dr. Dalton. I was told today by a Veteran that when Veterans enter the hospital, they want to see work like this on the walls. As I thought about my career as an artist and art educator, I realized that this was an easy problem to fix and I plan to donate more work in the future.

Tobacco Memories

2009-09-23T13:42:00.002-04:00

This image is a representation of the memories of tobacco farming. The original underpainting has imagery of tobacco and the collection of tobacco from the early to mid-20th C. The top layer of the painting is imagery from a tobacco landscape photographed over the summer. The painting is meant to be interpreted as more of a dreamscape - a collision of the past and present.

Rebecca A. Stone-Danahy. Tobacco Memories. Aquarelle Sticks on Arches hot press paper. 24" x 30".

Tobacco History

2009-09-13T19:28:00.003-04:00

This painting is 36" x 48" and is an interpretation of a slide my grandfather took somewhere along the Blue Ridge Parkway. The tobacco featured in this image is Burley tobacco and is typically grown in the mountain region. However, currently Burley tobacco as a product is becoming more favorable for tobacco farmers because the leaves get higher prices than flu-cured tobacco. The Burley tobacco is harvested by the stalk and hung in the barns to dry whereas the flu-cured tobacco is harvest by the leaf, stacked in drying containers, and then cured through heat (hence the name flu-cured tobacco).

This image was taken in 1963. The three young children have worked the day and the sun is setting to the far left. They stand in a field of grass that softly contrasts the hard angles of the tractor and wagons storing the Burley tobacco. I have estimated that the boy in the middle is the oldest and is most likely about 12 or 13. It is obvious to me by his dress and stance that he is in charge of his younger brothers and together they share a good bit of responsibility in managing the farm.

Once the Burley tobacco is harvested, the community gathers for a chicken stew party which involves music, beverage, and chicken stew simmered on an open fire in a large cast-iron kettle.

Tobacco Series

2009-09-13T19:23:00.003-04:00

As I investigate the past and paint the present, I find that there are many similarities. I am fortunate to live in Winston-Salem, to have a cultural history of tobacco farming surrounding me and to be able to interview and talk with folks who grew up working on the tobacco fields or who still own them. My current focus is to contrast the cultural history of tobacco farming in Winston-Salem and North Carolina with present day imagery.

This watercolor is the first study of 12 that I plan to study time and the American landscape through the culture of tobacco farming.

Artist's Statement

2009-09-13T19:10:00.003-04:00

My work is a of study time and place through visual imagery and written dialogue of the past in comparison to the present. My grandfather was an amateur photographer who happened to invest in great cameras and only use Ektrachrome slide film. He died in 1963 and his slides were stored in a cardboard box in the basement of several houses over the years. Several years ago, I inherited "the box". In it are hundreds of Ektrachrome slides that have not been viewed in 50+ years - that is until I began sorting, cataloging, and digitally scanning the images. And, as I do so, I have been developing topics around the slides – such as Halloween, the Fourth of July, graveyards, farms, etc. I am currently planning go to the same locations (many of the slides are marked with adresses) or find similar locations to study. Although my grandfather resided in Pennsylvania, many of the slides are from the Blue Ridge Parkway and landscapes in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina. Further, there are images of amusement parks that no longer exist or American traditions that have long been forgotten – such as caravanning in costume on Halloween.

I plan to incorporate my grandfather’s images into my paintings and create works of art using the following methods:
1) The slides will be scanned at a high resolution and developed into large prints (16 x 20 and larger) that will be matted and framed,
2) I will create large paintings of some of the slides (my current painting is 54” x 60”),
3) I plan to develop themes based on the found images (my current themes are tobacco fields and gardens),
4) I will travel to original locations (many are noted on the slides) or find new locations (such as existing tobacco fields in NC) to create plein air paintings to create a visual contrast and study of time and place from the past to the present,
5) I will take digital photographs that I will frame to further contrast time and place, and
6) I will take black and white photographs to develop in the darkroom with processes appropriate to creating the visual contrast of time and place. These photographs will also be framed and part of the installation.
7) Finally, I plan to create several large mixed media works of image transfers of my own photographs, my grandfather’s photographs, and my paintings into one composition.

Although my grandfather and my grandmother are not alive, I have been reviewing the slides with my father and am in the process of writing stories of the images to post with the work. The goal is to create a dialogue with the viewer that tells a story of the past and draws the viewer into places long forgotten. Even an image as simple as a garden can have a story behind it that captivates and brings the viewer into the artwork through imagination and personal, shared experiences.

Seascape. 16" x 20". Oil Paint on Canvas

2009-08-11T18:09:00.004-04:00

I received an Regional Artist Project Grant from the Arts Council of Winston-Salem in 2008 to study time and the American landscape through visual imagery and written dialogue of the past in comparison to the present.
My grandfather was a photographer who died in 1963. I inherited hundreds of Ektrachrome slides that are in good to excellent condition and have not been viewed in 50+ years. Over the past few years, I have been sorting and scanning the images at a high resolution to store digitally. As I work, I have been able to categorize the slides by subject matter such as Halloween, the Fourth of July, graveyards, farms, etc.
I found this photograph of my grandmother in the collection and decided it was a composition that I could not pass up. The contrast of the rocky landscape of the New England coast to the blue water and the red jacket was perfect to paint! I especially enjoyed painting my grandmother in what appeared to be her 40's. This is the first painting to my study of time and the American landscape. I hope to visit the coast soon and take new photographs and compare if the landscape has changed. Lucky for me, my grandfather labeled his slides with addresses and dates!

White House Christmas Tree Ornament

2009-08-11T18:07:00.008-04:00

In spring of 2008, I was selected to paint an ornament for the White House Christmas Tree by Congresswoman Virginia Foxx. I was to paint something that represented my state and when I received the ornament in the mail, it was a plastic silver globe. I did not know what to do! That is until I finished the Seascape painting of my grandmother. I felt the round surface of the ornament was perfect for painting the ocean and sky and after a bit of research on NC and rummaging through my grandfather's slides of images of old boats and beach scenes, I created this ornament. It is a combination of my imagination and imagery from the 1950's to the present lighthouse on our NC Coast. To me, it was a perfect combination of my art grant in the execution of the ornament! I was able to go to the White House to view the tree (what an amazing experience I shall never forget) and now the ornament is in the permanent collection of Mr. and Mrs. George W. Bush.

The Dump It Out Truck

2009-08-11T07:53:00.004-04:00

Now that I have nieces and nephews, I've started creating artwork for their bedrooms. Sometimes I draw toys (as pictured here), their names illustrated, or an interest that he/she might have. These are fun, high energy drawings or illustrations that I enjoy doing and plan to create more in the future.

Dump Truck. 18" x 24". Charcoal and Pastel. For Logan, age 3. He calls it the "Dump It Out Truck."

Missouri Landscape. 14" x 11". Oil Paint on Board.

2009-08-10T13:45:00.003-04:00

From memory and photographs, I created this image. I intentionally went for bold shapes, diagonals, and interesting value and intensities in colors. I tried to be looser in execution and more expressive in how I was painting. Once it was finished I placed it in the window of my studio and it sold in five days!

Sunday Brunch. 18" x 24". Oil Paint on Canvas

2009-08-10T13:40:00.003-04:00

This painting was started in my workshop with Connie Winters but completed on my own. I spent a long time painting it and really focused on making sure my value and color intensities were correct to truly show light and shadow in the painting. I also especially focused on the glass surface of the window so that it was more life-like and had character. The quaintness of the painting and the warm colors are especially inviting in this artwork.

Summer Garden. 18" x 24". Oil Paint on Canvas.

2009-08-10T13:36:00.004-04:00

I completed this painting in my second workshop with Connie Winters. It was during this time that I learned to stop early in my paintings to keep them loose, focus on shape, and redraw effectively to define shapes. This painting is one of my most popular images sold in my art cards.

Missouri Sunset. 11" x 14". Pastel on Pastel Paper.

2009-08-10T13:29:00.004-04:00

My parent's lived in Missouri for 12 years and had great views from their property of old farms and wonderful trees. Working from photographs, I explored the concept of a landscape in pastels while trying to also be more expressive in my work. I especially like this pastel painting - maybe because I like old barns and structures and the rural landscape. The fence with the Black-Eyed Susans is very whimsical to me and brings back childhood memories of carefree summer days spent outside walking, picking flowers, and taking in the summer sun.

The Five Stages of Grief: Denial

2009-08-10T11:14:00.003-04:00

Denial. What a hard word to illustrate! I created this self-portrait using watercolor, water-soluble crayon, ink, and netting on clay board. This project is another example of a demonstration piece that I started with my students on how to use clay board. I'm no expert in watercolor but clay board is a very forgiving surface and makes it much easier than on paper (at least for me!). I think I overworked this piece but on the other hand, it works for the message that I am trying to show; what it might look like to be in "denial". I again incorporated text much more boldly into this portrait and used netting from an orange bag to cover part of the face. I chose to do this because I believe that in order to deny something, one has to see it for what it truly is. Thus, I left one eye viewing clearly while the other is behind the net.

The Five Stages of Grief Series: Acceptance

2009-08-10T10:48:00.003-04:00

This portrait actually started in my sketchbook as a drawing assignment that I was doing with my students on how to draw the parts of the face. I drew all the features separately and then while drawing, I went ahead and finished the portrait. What was fun for me was because I really started this as an exercise rather than a serious portrait, I kept it loose, used my eraser for mark-making, and added text into the shadows. I like to write and sometimes I warm up for drawing/painting by free association writing. I went back into my writings and copied some of the text into the drawing here. I like text in artwork as I think it adds another layer to the drawing and adds hidden or mysterious meanings that are left to the viewer to interpret.

The Five Stages of Grief Series: Sadness

2009-08-10T10:43:00.004-04:00

So, after completing this portrait, I got the idea that I would create self-portraits demonstrating the five stages of grief: anger, denial, sadness, acceptance, and joy. This was done in Prismacolor Art Stix and part of this drawing was to explore the media so that I could do a better job teaching how to use it.

The Five Stages of Grief - Anger!

2009-08-08T20:18:00.005-04:00

After I started teaching high school visual arts, I needed to learn and teach more in-depth techniques for self-portrait work. Using a charcoal pencil, eraser, and white charcoal pencil on gray charcoal paper I spent 35 hours making this anger face in the mirror! Wow. A lot can be resolved while making an anger face for a long period of time! Essentially, I learned here that the eyes are to be completed first because they make or break a portrait and if the eyes are not correct than the portrait is not work doing. I also pushed to have more expression in this portrait than I had ever done before and tried to emphasize bone structure and muscle formation to do so. I tease my students that this is what I look like at the end of the day!

2009-08-08T19:23:00.004-04:00

About the same time that I got back into painting, I completed this portrait of my daughter in pastels. I started leasing studio space in the Arts District of Winston-Salem at Studios @ 625 Trade Street. I realized that I could not work at home any longer! In the process of creating this portrait, I noticed that a child (I have no idea who...) had drug his/her fingers down through the middle of the painting. That was enough for me to find studio space! My daughter, Cailly, was five when I took this picture and I wanted to get a portrait of her before she got too much older. I did a photo shoot one morning in the spring and I thought this image was very sweet. I attempted it in pastels because I had not ever done a portrait in pastels and I wanted the challenge. I learned a lot in this piece - especially about working in pastels and how to do portraits. I especially like the snapshot quality to the artwork with her hair blowing across her face. Pastels are tricky because the artist has to have the right color in the pastel and the colors can't be mixed like they can with paint. I invested quite a bit of money trying to find the right colors for hair and skin tone!

Study in Red

2009-08-08T19:16:00.004-04:00

This painting represents my first attempt back at oils since college. I took a workshop with Connie Winters (a great painter!) and she taught me more about painting than I had ever learned before. I started this painting in her workshop and finished it on my own later. Thanks to Connie, I know now how to easily paint in oils without a huge clean-up. Connie also helped me to find my painting style which is heavily influenced by Cezanne's theory that every object can be broken down in to geometric shapes and that if the value and intensity of a color is correct, a brush stroke can define an object (as opposed to layers of glazes to obtain the correct color). I also liked Connie's method of re-drawing back into a painting to define edges and shapes. It works with my painting style and with the completion of this painting, I felt like I was truly ready to paint again and learn.

Prayer to St. Michael

2009-08-08T15:09:00.005-04:00

I took a sabbatical from teaching for one year after my daughter was born and was commissioned by a police officer in Palm Beach, FL to create an image of St. Michael leading two S.W.A.T. team officers into an unknown situation. The cross that St. Michael is holding was designed by the police officer and he wanted me to incorporate it into the image. I spent approximately 90 hours working on this image as I had never done a full-detail drawing with figures in graphite before. I had my husband pose with a wood dowel for the body of St. Michael and the face, hair, and wings were created through my imagination of what St. Michael ought to look like. As I researched St. Michael, there were a lot of wimpy interpretations (mainly from the 15th-17th C.) of what St. Michael looked like. However, as the Archangel of War, I felt he needed to be very powerful and masculine. So, I drew him as such. The S.W.A.T. officers were from catalogs for police paraphernalia and the guy on the bottom was actually reversed in the reference picture. In other words, I drew him in mirror image. Finally, when I was finished, I decided that smoke would help make the whole scene more mysterious so I incorporated that below St. Michael and in front of the officers and then wrote the Prayer to St. Michael in the darker parts of the smoke.

2009-08-08T09:36:00.004-04:00

After college and grad school, I fumbled around in the creation of art. I started teaching and well, teaching takes a lot of time in planning and preparation for classes. I had good attempts to work on paintings but really didn't finish anything big for a long time. I did a lot of little gift type projects and struggled with where and how to paint outside of school. I taught middle school for seven years and then took a job teaching Pre-K through 12th grade for a year. During this time, I also got married and had a daughter, Cailly. About ten years from college, and after I had taken a job teaching high school, I emerged and started dabbling in pastels. This is my very first attempt at pastel drawing and I literally set up a still life in my classroom and drew for a few hours just to see how I would like it. As I recall, the pastels were found in my room and I made use of what had been leftover from previous projects by the previous art instructor. After this, I was hooked! Pastels are an excellent combination of painting and drawing and a great break for me in between paintings.

Weaving

2009-08-07T08:05:00.004-04:00

I love the feeling and smell of fibers in my hands - especially when attached to a loom! There is something very tangible about the process of shuttling fiber back and forth in the creation of a weaving - whether it is to be used or created for decoration. I've done many weavings; most of which have been given away as gifts. From scarves to blankets. This, however, is an example of a weaving that is purely for decorative purposes. I had the idea in grad school that I could create a frame and wrap my fibers on it. Then, I could paint the fibers using a fabric paint, let dry, and then feed through the loom. On this particular piece, I also used mixed media in the process of weaving. My grandmother was a quilter and when she died, I received a large box of her quilting fabrics and scraps. I wove some of the fabric into this piece as well as other found items around my studio. I used color horizontally and the vertical fibers were white - but I had painted them as well. This is a more abstract piece and was meant to be experimental in my quest to combine my love of fibers and painting. Someday, I will purchase a loom and spend much time on it!

Figure Drawing!

2009-08-06T10:24:00.004-04:00

I've taken a lot of figure drawing classes in my day! At first, drawing the figure was difficult. However, I quickly grew to love the challenges of the drawing the human body. I especially think the contours, values, and various proportions of each different model are fascinating and figure drawing is one of my most favorite exercises. Although I won't bore the reader here with many examples of figures that I have drawn, I will include this piece. Although I have since sold it, I enjoy looking at it from time to time as I like the geometric shapes (back to the influence of Cezanne again), the method of creating value (in which I lay down large blocks of charcoal and then use my eraser to pull out the lights), and the method of drawing using diagrammatic lines to measure and pull the proportion of the figure together. Most importantly, however, the figure is a good example of foreshortening (the illusion of the figure going back into space) and the ability to leave parts of a drawing unfinished (to me, I find this exciting in a drawing). It is a reminder to me to keep my work loose and not overdo it (easier said than done!).

Monet

2009-08-06T08:20:00.006-04:00

This painting is a study of Monet. Given my lack of knowledge at the time of art history, I was drawn to Impressionism because A) it was something I had heard of before and B) I liked the colors. I again was assigned to replicate a master painting in my second painting class in school. Again, I opened up my art history book and painted this from a very small image in the book. The painting is 18" x 24" and is in oils. I know I spent hours creating this and when I was done - I was surprised at the depth in the landscape and the colors. Of course, it was easier because I was copying a master painting. However, I did have to mix the colors and have some knowledge of value and color intensity. During class time, we were not given much advice on color theory or painting technique. I guess my professors assumed that we had that before coming to school? All I know is that I was teaching myself at this time and had the painting ready for the critique. It was with this painting that I decided that I could have a career as a painter.

Cezanne Study

2009-08-06T08:14:00.004-04:00

About the same time that I was taking printmaking and ceramics in college, I began painting classes. This is one of my first paintings in oil. I had no idea what I was doing and really had never been taught how to use oil (except for one painting that I did in high school in oil paints) and we were basically given the assignment to choose a master painting and replicate it. I chose Cezanne which is interesting to me because I would later incorporate part of his painting style into my current method of working. At the time, however, I really didn't know much about Cezanne and I probably just liked the geometric shapes within the painting and the colors. I painted this from a very small photograph in my art history book! There are issues within this painting but because I did not have a lot of supervision in its creation and really had no idea what I was doing, I again realized that I had potential as an artist. I also realized that I loved painting.

Chinese Tiger

2009-08-06T08:04:00.004-04:00

I don't have a lot of experience in sculpture. However, I am especially attached to this piece in ceramics. It is hand-built using the coil construction method and is hollow. I built is looking only at a 2" x 3" black and white photograph of the original ceramic tiger from the 4th C. This is a replica but I interpreted the colors. This piece was another turning point in my emerging career to become an artist as I realized that I had the capacity to create something that was representational without much knowledge or instruction at the time.

Mango Trees - Aquatint Printmaking

2009-03-17T12:41:00.003-04:00

During my tenur of printmaking in college, we visited a green house for drawing. This is a mango tree although I had no idea what mango was and so when I drew it I created these pear-like shapes because the mangos seemed so foreign to me! We went back to the classroom and transferred our drawings to a zinc plate and then etched this through the aquatint process. This was my first attempt at aquatinting and I was very pleased with the results. Despite the new media, I continued to have success at this point in my career with virtually every project thrown my way! I was convinced that I had a career as an artist in front of me!

Cubist Still Life

2008-12-11T18:23:00.003-05:00

I am especially attached to this early work. I created it about my sophomore or junior year of college. The assignment was to create a painting of a still life based on the multiple perspectives of Cubism. In creating this piece, I learned to let loose my painting style and go for the bold, angular shapes and colors. I figured out what colors I like to blend together and ultimately felt like I had begun some mastery of painting in oils. Much of what I have learned in technique in oil painting was self-taught at this time as it was very rarely demonstrated in class. After this painting, however, I felt much more comfortable and also began to feel like I had an emerging voice. Of course, I would forget all about that for the next 20 years or so until I started painting seriously again. I gave this painting to an aunt and uncle and they hung it on the wall for a while and then ultimately gave it back to me. Most of my other paintings from this time period were given away or thrown away. Such was the life of a college student traveling a long distance to go home - there just wasn't room in the luggage for large paintings!

Artist Statement

2008-12-10T13:57:00.002-05:00

"A picture must be an amiable thing, joyous and pretty - yes, pretty! There are enough troublesome things in life without inventing others."

--Renoir

Rebecca A. Stone-Danahy

Artist’s Statement

I was in kindergarten when I first proclaimed I would be an artist. I remember coloring and announcing to my neighbor that I could fill a large area in fast movements without leaving white spaces between the lines. Surely, I was destined to be great! Growing up in rural Ohio, I did not have many chances for visual arts in school. Fortunately, I participated in 4-H and gained plenty of experience sewing, restoring furniture, baking (bread making but I also may be the only person you meet that actually took the fine art of microwaving), and other activities that involved aesthetics. Little did I know that it was all part of the training that would provide a solid foundation for a career in the visual arts.

In high school I took a random assortment of art electives from drawing to enameling. I was fortunate to have a wonderful art instructor, Ron Hules, who has an MFA; which was miraculous considering the size of the town. I learned a little bit about a lot of things and began to understand that art was more than the random doodles or copied work that I had always busied myself with. I went to college as a fine art and creative writing dual major. I quickly dropped creative writing and realized that art was it for me. I received a Bachelor and Masters in Art Education from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Teaching is the best choice I could have made out of college. Through teaching, I continue to grow intellectually as well as in the physical production of art. I teach what I know and much of what I don’t know or have never done before. I teach under the assumption that my students are creative, smart, and intuitive learners and together, we can solve any problem.

My art is therefore about learning.

I constantly try new ideas and new approaches to drawing, painting, and design. Recently, I have been dabbling in the dark room and developing black and white images that I have taken. While continuing with this, I have also been experimenting with scanning in color negatives from Kodachrome film and reproducing them digitally. There is so much to learn in the world of art. Teaching forces me to stay current, explore new paths, and grow.

A few years ago, I was teaching a segment on art history and was pontificating on the Expressionist and Abstract Expressionist movement. It struck me in the middle of class how bold and daring the artists were. These artists were involved in the complex process of expressive mark-making. I realized how glorious a line could be! I find that in my own drawing and painting the process of mark-making to define value, texture, shape, and form exciting. While the content and subjects I choose are not abstract, I love the process of producing marks and the freedom in letting the mark(s) speak to the viewer.

Someone once told me, “Those who can do and those who can’t teach”. I beg to differ. I’m a better artist because I teach. And, I’m a better teacher because I do art. It’s taken me since kindergarten to proclaim it, but I now know that I am an artist! After all, I can color without leaving white spaces between the lines…perhaps I am destined to be great.

2008-12-10T13:43:00.006-05:00

In creating this blog, I am picking a starting point in my work and I've decided that this image is a good place to begin. It is my first self-portrait and one of my very early oil paintings. I think I was about 19 when I created this. It is quite large at 36" x 48". When I showed up for the critique, everyone had done small expressionist portraits and I had created this huge painting. I was embarrassed. But, ultimately, I am glad that I did it as it was an excercise in realism and it forced me to develop a painting style. I see lots of mistakes in this painting but I also know how untrained I was as an artist. In looking at this work, I am reminded of what I can become with more knowledge and time.
During this time period, a professor told me that every artist has something to say. I didn't know what I had to say and it took me another 20 years to find it.