Statement
The earth beats and hums with zillions of systems perfectly calibrated to maintain the balance of life. What we actually see is temporary, but the unseen is where the magic lies. Landscapes are like memories-- layers upon layers of history are recorded in one person’s psyche or one plot of land. Not just human memories, but those of all the plants and animals with whom we share this planet. Like people, the landscape reinvents itself. It heals when its wounded, but sometimes it scars for life. Elements of the whole are nurtured or rubbed away. I draw inspiration from the land around me. My work is an ongoing exploration, which endeavors to portray the natural world and those who live in it as strangely beautiful -- yet enormously fragile.
Biography
I recently moved to the Charlottesville area from Champaign, Illinois where I lived for thirty years. My academic degrees include a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture with an Art Minor from Virginia Tech and a Master of Landscape Architecture from University of Illinois. I've painted much of my life, and began exhibiting professionally in the Midwest (including Chicago and St Louis) over the past fifteen years. I'm particularly drawn to cultural and natural patterns in the landscape, as well as human behavior in a variety of settings. In the pursuit of helping create a more peaceful world of coexistence, I was ordained as an inter spiritual minister through a seminary in NYC in 2015. My studies of Eastern and Western religions and indigenous faiths also infuse my work. I happily live outside of Charlottesville with my husband, my dog and cat, and my mom.
Solo/Two/Three Person Exhibitions
2019, 2021, 2022 Boneyard Arts Festival, Texture Home, Champaign, Illinois
2014 Imagined Landscape, Fermilab, Batavia, Illinois
2014 “Observing American Culture,” (with Robin Riggs) Woman Made Gallery, Chicago
2012 “Habitat,” Indigo Artist Co-Op, Champaign, IL
2011 “American Made,” Open Studios, Vincennes, IN
2006 Woman Made Gallery, Chicago (June/July)
2004 Verde Gallery (Gallery 2), Champaign, IL
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023 All Media Show, Crossroads Art Center, Richmond, Va
2019 Art Saint Louis XXXXV, The Exhibition
2019 Jones Gallery Regional Group Exhibition, Kansas City
2015 “Around the Block,” Parkland College, Champaign, Ill
2011 “American Dream: A Juxtaposition’” Woman Made Gallery, Chicago
2009/2008 Swope Art Museum, Wabash Valley Juried Exhibition,
Terre Haute, IN
2008 “The Art of Real Estate,” Gallery 180, Illinois Art Institute - Chicago
2007 All Star Smiles, Bolingbrook, IL
2006 Dangenart Gallery, Nashville, TN
2006 Art Attack, The Gallery at Gordon Beach Inn, Union Pier, MI
2006 Holiday Treasures Exhibition, McLean County Art Center,
Bloomington, IL
2005 “Modern Landscape,” Springfield Art Association, Springfield, IL
2005 Annual Members’ Show, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago
2003 Springer Cultural Center, Champaign, IL
Awards
2008 Illinois Art Institute, Chicago Permanent Collection Purchase Award
2008 Indiana State University Permanent Collection Purchase Award, Wabash Valley Juried Exhibition
1998 Best in Show, Illinois State Town and Country Art Show,
Judge: Jerry Savage, Professor of Art, University of Illinois
Publications
Book cover, Survivor’s Picnic, by Debra Bruce, 2012
Featured artist: “Perceptions of the Landscape,” by Jodi Heckel, At Home in Central Illinois, July/Aug/Sept 2012
Book cover, House Where a Woman, Poems by Lori Wilson, 2008
Book cover, Eden in the Rearview Mirror, Poems by Susan Elbe, 2007
Selected Collections
Art-in-Architecture Illinois Commission, Sociology Department, Lincoln Hall, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
Lowell Cancer Center, Lowell Massachusetts. Commission
Mills Breast Cancer Institute, Urbana, Illinois. Commission
Springer Cultural Center, Champaign, Illinois
Woman’s Health Practice, Champaign, Illinois
Educational Background
2015 One Spirit Interfaith Seminary, New York City, New York
1987 Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture, Art minor
Virginia Polytechnic & State University, Blacksburg, Virginia
1994 Master of Landscape Architecture,
University of Illinois, Champaign, Illinois
About me
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