ARTIST’S STATEMENT
I am interested in painting as a visual language. Abstraction allows an artist to bypass the literal meaning of an image and try to reach the viewer in unexpected ways. Color is my voice and line is my beat.
Throughout my career, I have been exploring ways of using color, line, form, space and rhythm to express what it is to be alive. My most recent work is totally abstract, but it retains a lot of the energy gleaned while observing living plants and flowers. I am painting their movement . That is what interests most, the way they present themselves, their powerful energy, and their gallant enthusiasm for life. I think of them as a metaphor for the human spirit.
Different kinds of plants have different ways of moving. Some are voluptuous and unfold with care. Lilies on a single plant often reach out and caress each other as they bloom. Their leaves take up a circular movement, and the berries form a musical counterpoint to the whole choreography….quite amazing. By contrast, a zig zag cactus grows in spurts and jumps, and then reaches out in a big sweeping flair with it’s mature arms to find the sun. The cyclamen are extraordinary because their leaves undulate almost like waves, while their flowers - some like pinwheels - some like birds, fly in a group seeking their light.
As a painter, with all of this going on in front of me, I try to capture these sensations, with paint, charcoal and linen into a visceral experience for the viewer, and to express my response to what I see.
It is important to explore as many contrasts, in as many ways as possible, to engage the eye of the viewer and keep it traveling around the surface of the canvas. Layered color, shifts in scale, and seeking the unexpected, begins to reveal the seduction, and the irresistible experience of being alive.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Born, New Orleans, La
EDUCATION
Sarah Lawrence College, Junior year Abroad, Paris
Art Student’s League, NYC; Studied with Marshal Glasier, Vincent Malta, Vaclav Vytlacil, Knox Martin
American University, summer painting course, Washington, DC
Corcoran School of Art, Washington, DC
Vermont Studio Center
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2018-19 Open Studio, Bell-Ans Center of creative Arts, Rockland County NY Bell-Ans Center
2017 Union Arts Center, Quincy Hall, Sparkill, NY February 18th through April 16th, 2017
2006-8 TOAST Open Artist Studio Tour, Tribeca, NYC
1976 AAMES GALLERY, Soho NY
The CENTURY ASSOCIATION Art Exhibitions, 7 WEST 43D STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10036 https://www.thecentury.org
2023 May Zinnias
2022 Summer Group Exhibition May & September
2022 Centurians Interpret Centurians
2021 Summer Group Exhibition May
2021 "Art in Isolation "Exhibit
2019 Woman Artists of the Century
2019 Exhibition of Professional Painters Nov '19-Jan '20
2018 "Water" Exhibition
2017 Exhibition of Professional Painters Nov '16-Jan '17
2016 "Natural Monte" Exhibition
2016 Century in Monochrome
2012 New Members Exhibition
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023 Jun "Bulbs to Blooming Gardens amidst Elegant Sculptures" The Rockefeller State Preserve Gallery, 125 Phelps Way, Rt. 117 Pleasantville, NY Curated by Audrey Leeds
2022 Oct 6 "The Color of Nature" Virtual Exhibit: Won Curator's Choice Gallery Award
2019 "Preserved Beauty: Peonies and Posies," at The Rockefeller State Preserve Gallery, 125 Phelps Way, Rt. 117 Pleasantville, NY
2017 "Celebration," The Rockefeller Gallery, at The Rockefeller State Preserve Gallery, 125 Phelps Way, Rt. 117 Pleasantville, NY
Curated by Audrey Leeds
2017 UNION ART CENTER, Piermont, NY Union Arts Center, Instagram Union Arts Center
2015 THE ELIZABETH V. SULLIVAN GALLERY Summer Exhibition,
Curated by Naomi Campbell, THE LEAGUE RESIDENCY AT VYT, Orangeburg, NY
2015 BELL-ANS CENTER OF CREATIVE ARTS,
Gallery opening, Anne Bell paintings, Tom Artin, Photography, Rockland County, NY
2014 BELL-ANS CENTER OF CREATIVE ARTS, Open Studios, Rockland County, NY
2012-17 THE CENTURY ASSOCIATION, Members Exhibition, NYC
2011 THE HOPPER HOUSE, Members Show, Nyack, NY
2008 CULTURAL CENTER, NYC
2007-8 ART GOTHAM, NYC
2007-8 SYNAGOGUE FOR THE ARTS, Curated by Veronica Nemic, NYC
2006 RIVER STONE ARTS, curated by Rachel Yarmolinsky, Haverstraw, NY
2005 JACKSON ART CENTER, Open Studios, Washington, DC
2003 THE ARTS CLUB OF WASHINGTON, Members Summer Exhibit, DC
1998 COVINGTON & BURLING, 2 person show, Washington,DC
1992 PROVINCETOWN ART ASSOCIATION and MUSEUM, Members Show, Mass.
1991 PROVINCETOWN ART ASSOCIATION and MUSEUM, curated by John Imber, Mass.
1983 JUST ABOVE MIDTOWN, “ART BIZ”, NYC
1974-77 AAMES GALLERY, Soho, NY
1972-3 ART STUDENT’S LEAGUE, Concours, Exhibit, NYC
1969 ROCKLAND FOUNDATION, NY
REVIEWS
1976 THE NEW YORK TIMES, by John Russell, Solo Show, Aames Gallery, Soho, NYC
1976 THE JOURNAL NEWS, by John Dalmus, “Soho Meets Artist From Grand View”
1969 THE JOURNAL NEWS, by Marietta Campbell, ROCKLAND FOUNDATION EXHIBIT
AWARDS
1979 New York City, C.A.P.S, semi finals , NY STATE FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS
acceptance V.A.R.S File ( Visual Artist Registry of Slides)
1972 ART STUDENTS LEAGUE, Thelka Bernays Merit Scholarship
1972 ART STUDENTS LEAGUE, Concours, Exhibit Award
