Photo by Anastasia Chernoff
I was born in Columbia so I have definitely been here a long time! I received my degree in sociology from the University of South Carolina and got married shortly after graduation. I definitely thought that I would be someone who would save the world!
Being a part of the art world affords me the opportunity to meet and engage with so many people…and art is so healing and powerful…I do believe that artists have an impact on the world in a very positive manner. The arts show us who we are…where we come from…where we want to go. I have been drawing and painting for 30 years and feel that the journey is one that has enriched my life in so many ways. I am so fortunate to have had this in my life and I know that art is something that I can always do and make and create and share.
I started painting when my children were teenagers. I knew that I didn’t want to be an empty nester with no direction and I had always wanted to start painting, so I took some courses at Columbia College. From there, I went on to study with some wonderful artists at workshops out of town. Art became an important part of my life and I have never looked back.
I have always drawn and painted from life. I worked from a live model several times a week for 20 plus years, and although I also paint pure non-objective abstracts as well, figurative work remains my main focus.
I now work from reference materials of my own work…reworking an old painting, repainting an old drawing, reimagining an old image…Alex Powers used to tell me to do 5 or 6 interpretations of the same piece and this is how I work now. Different versions of the same subject yield new interpretations…more abstract, more color, more experimentation. This has allowed me a greater freedom in my work and has allowed me to continue working and growing during the pandemic.
I have sold over 900 pieces of art over the last 30 years…drawings and paintings…and I have photographed them all. So now I am able to take the work that I previously did and use the photo references to do new versions. Although the originals are long gone, the artist always retains ownership of the images, so I have lots of reference material to work from.
I do occasionally hire a model (not during the last year since the pandemic) and I will do commissions from photographs of people who want to be the subject of my work so I have that as well. The pandemic has actually offered me the opportunity to work more…grow more…and reach more people. I use social media to promote my work and because people are home and on social media more than ever, I find that I am reaching a larger audience than ever.
My conversations with my artist friends still happen…we still share our work and talk about art…just not in person. I look forward to the in person again…I really miss it…but it has not kept us from sharing and loving what we do.
I am also represented by galleries and interior designers, and they too, have found that the audiences for art have grown with the increasing use of social media. Art has sold really well this past year…the galleries and designers have sold my work as well. I think the focus of being at home gave the art buying public more time to look and reach out to artists for work. I have had several commissions as well and I think my connections to people who love art have grown.
So, for me, the art has not suffered during this time. I am so grateful for this and for the opportunity and the time to focus on this part of my life that I love so much.
One of the great pleasures of my art is the friends that I make…both with artists and patrons. I often have repeat sales to people who collect my art and these people often become my treasured friends; but in the meantime, we have email and text, Instagram and Facebook.
And I find that I can deliver the art easily…by shipping or meeting at an outdoor space and delivering the art from the trunk of my car. Curbside art deliveries!
My conversations with my artist friends still happen…we still share our work and talk about art…just not in person. I look forward to the in person again…I really miss it…but it has not kept us from sharing and loving what we do.
There is definitely a “magic” to painting someone in person…. “magic” to interact as artist and model…and “magic” to interact as artist to artist in a room full of working artists. But we have all had to adjust and I do believe that artists know how to adapt and grow in many different circumstances.
I see brilliant work on Instagram from artists all over the world. And they reach out and communicate with each other…I have artist connections all over the world now….someone in South America will like something that I post and reach out via private message and we share what we do. I think it is an amazing thing that is happening right now in the art world. I have always studied art and artists…people like Schiele and Modigliani and Picasso and Hoffman, Richter and Diebenkorn….I love their work…but the current artists are fantastic and creative and wonderful…and everyone shares their art on Instagram. So, we all learn and grow from each other.
I don’t have any shows coming up but I do show my work on Facebook, Instagram, and on my website plus I am represented by the Anne Neilson Fine Art Gallery in Charlotte and Meredith Christenberry Designs in Columbia. I retain the right to represent myself and sell my own work in Columbia so people are free to call me and come by my studio in the Arcade on Main…1332 Main Street…Suite 221 upstairs. I am back working in the studio again after a year of working mostly at home. And I do insist on people wearing a mask in the studio until we are free of this virus, but I do have a lot of work on the walls in the studio and it is always visible whether I am there or not.
I would end by saying that this year has truly been a nightmare for all of us. We have not been able to spend time with the people we love most…children, grandchildren, friends, parents. My Dad died in June and my Mom and my family and I have had to navigate his loss in the midst of a pandemic, but we survived the struggle and for that, we are grateful.
So many people have lost so much…and the world has suffered so much…but hopefully, we have all grown and learned something about ourselves and our lives; and as we return to normality, perhaps we will take some good from the experience and move forward into our lives stronger, healthier, more knowledgeable, and perhaps, happier….knowing that we did survive and now have more opportunities to live and laugh and love.
And of course, create.