A Personal Statement and Art Interview for NYSWA, 100 year Anniversary
The New York Society of Woman Artists had its 100 year anniversary this year. This is a statement regarding the interview questions they asked.
Question:
What is your background ?
I have been painting since I was a child. I was always interested in seeing paintings and learning about the work of many artists in art history. As a child, I frequently went to NYC museums and also had the privilege to travel to Europe visiting many museums with my parents.
As a teenager, I was very influenced by the SOHO Artist Cooperative in NYC because my favorite high school teacher was one of the artists
living in a wonderful loft, as a juried in painter. My energetic teacher introduced me to the downtown world in the late 60's. I was very excited by the downtown artists at the time. I continued to travel and visit museums.
At museums, I used to love seeing paintings, pretending I lived within them.
Later in the 70's went to study art and psychology at Skidmore college and thoroughly enjoyed the fines arts program there exploring all the medias they offered.
I was moved by how art could be used therapeutically in the community and volunteered for several years doing art at the local psychiatric hospital and working in the Child Care Center at Skidmore College.
After graduating Skidmore, I went to Pratt in the late 70's and studied to become an art therapist. I received my Masters Degree , M.P.S. in Art Therapy in 1979. For10 years, I enjoyed working as a art therapist and doing art psychotherapy along with the hospital psychiatrists. I also was the Director of the internship program for all volunteers at Rye Psychiatric Hospital Center. (This hospital has recently closed.) During this time I studied print making at SUNY Purchase and Pratt's Printmaking Annex in NYC. I taught Art Therapy at SUNY Purchase in 1980.
I later became a member of Silvermine Guild at Silvermine Arts Center and also served on their Board of Directors for three years. I have been a Artist Member since 1990.
As an artist, I have been in numerous juried shows, have had one person shows and have been generously bestowed numerous awards. See resume.
I have been privileged to belong different art societies including
NYSWA, which is just having their 100th Anniversary. At this organization, I had the honor to work beside and learn from other women artists.
Question:
What is your reason for painting?
I just love painting. I am especially interested in studying color and light and how it penetrates a surface and accents the forms in nature. Abstracting the landscape is challenging and fun. Painting is something I must do to feel alive.
Painting is mediative and analytical for me. I like solving its problems and creating its mysteries. Especially now with Covid, and the imposed isolation, using art as vehicle for mediation has been so important. I enjoy feeling the connection to the landscape while painting my abstractions of the it. This painting "flow" allows me to feel very grounded and connected to the earth.
My concern now, as an artist, is to consider how important it is to be sensitive to the environment. I hope through sharing visually, I can help the viewer gain a greater appreciation for nature.
(For example, in my painting about sea life, I sometimes add degraded plastic as part of the my medium to express my point of view regarding how important it is to become aware of the choices we make as a society concerning the environment. I hope in some way, I can increase sensitivity to the environmental care by doing this.)