Artist's Statement
My paintings are inspired by the awkward freedom of children’s drawings. Sometimes I derive my main image from a drawing that I’ve been given by a child, although lately I’ve taken to drawing images myself (see below). I am also inspired by my own emotions as well as the work of the many 20th century artists who used, or were themselves inspired by, children’s drawings in their artwork.
I have found that I can achieve the uninhibited lines of a child’s drawing by making the initial sketches for a painting with my left hand and drawing the images upside down. The more I do this, the better I’ve become at making the drawings look “too good” (dang art degree!) so recently, I’ve also been closing my eyes while I draw. My desired end result of a child-like, not childish, painting is harder to do than you might think, and I continually strive to express on canvas exactly the visual image and emotion of the painting already existing in my head before I even set pencil to paper or paint to canvas.
My technique involves smooth areas as well as more textured areas where I’ve applied layers of paint, all interrupted by graffiti-like pencil scratchings and drawings of faces (emotions) and, sometimes, words. Background paint is applied using brush, fingertip and, more recently, my entire hand. A very recent development involves pouring paint onto the canvas while it is on the floor, outlining with a raised texture, my main, child-like drawing, so it remains apparent while I work the background layers over it.
I hope my paintings grab your attention with an initial, bold image, then draw you in where many details and emotions can be seen. (Just as we experience with real people - we get an initial impression of someone but when we get closer (know someone better) we can see all of their emotions, complexities, and know details about them.) My work, at its simplest, represents different emotions. I don’t try to inject a deep meaning into my paintings, but rather strive to pull an initial, undeniable reaction from the viewer. I find that people either instantly like my work, or they don’t like it at all, which informs me that I’ve achieved my objective.
Resume
EDUCATION:
- May, 1987, Bachelor of Arts Degree in Fine Art, Mount Mary College, Milwaukee, WI
AWARDS:
- HONORARY PAINTING AWARD, East Lansing Art Festival, East Lansing, MI, May 2007
- MERIT AWARD, PAINTING, Lincolnshire Art Festival, Lincolnshire, IL, July 2006
- FIRST PLACE, Painting, Wells Street Art Festival, Chicago, IL, June 2005
- OUTSTANDING NEWCOMER AWARD, Old Capitol Art Fair, Springfield, IL, May 2004
- EXCELLENCE AWARD, Art In The Park, Oak Park, IL, May 2003
- MERIT AWARD, Prairie Arts Festival, Schaumburg, IL, May 2002
- MERIT AWARD, Audubon Art Fair, Milwaukee, WI, June 2001
- PURCHASE AWARD, Riverwalk Fine Art Fair, Naperville, IL, September 1999
- BEST OF SHOW, Tallman Arts Festival, Janesville, WI, August 1997
- 2ND PLACE, Painting, Oshkosh Public Museum Art Fair, Oshkosh, WI, July 1997
- AWARD OF EXCELLENCE, Art In The Market, Arlington Heights, IL, August 1996
- HONORABLE MENTION, Art In The Park, Downer’s Grove, IL, June 1995 & 1996
- BEST OF SHOW, Fine Art, Holy Hill Arts & Crafts Fair, Hubertus, WI, September 1995
SELECTED SHOWINGS AND EXHIBITIONS:
- JOHN MICHAEL KOHLER ARTS FESTIVAL, Sheboygan, WI, JULY 2007
- GOLDCOAST ART FAIR, Chicago, IL, August, 2006-2007
- BUCKTOWN ARTS FEST, Chicago, IL, August 2005 - 2007
- WELLS STREET ART FESTIVAL, Chicago, IL, June 1995, 1997–2006
- 57th STREET ART FAIR, Chicago, IL, June 2005
- PEORIA FINE ART FAIR, Peoria, IL, September 2000, 2002–2007
- OLD CAPITOL ART FAIR, Springfield, IL, May 2004 & 2005
- NAPERVILLE RIVERWALK FINE ART FAIR, Naperville, IL, September 1999-2006
- ART FAIR ON THE SQUARE, Madison, WI, July 2000 & 2004
- ART FAIR OFF THE SQUARE, Madison, WI, July 1997, 1998 & 2001
- UPTOWN ART FAIR, Minneapolis, MN August 2004
- PORT CLINTON ART FESTIVAL, Highland Park, IL, August 2000-2003
- ART IN THE PARK, Oak Park, IL, May 1998-2000, 2002 & 2003
- WINTER ART FESTIVAL (WAAC), Madison, WI, November 1995-2003
- STARVING ARTISTS SHOW, Mount Mary College, Milwaukee, WI, Sept. 1994-2002
- CHICAGO TRIBUNE ART FESTIVAL, Chicago, IL, July 1999, 2000 & 2002
- GALLERY NIGHT, Milwaukee, WI, April 2000 & 2001
- SOLO EXHIBITION, The Gallery at Post 814, Milwaukee, WI, April 20th – July 9th, 2001
MEDIA:
- NEWSPAPER ARTICLE, “Paintings Are Surely Not Child’s Play”,
The Menomonee Falls News, July 2005
- TV APPEARANCE, Fox 6 Wake-Up News, Milwaukee,
Interview With Molly Fay, May 28, 1999
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