See “Ruin, ” one of my “World on Fire” paintings.
Chicago Alliance of Visual Artists’ Later Impressions 2024 exhibit at the Elmhurst Art Museum.
Location:
150 S. Cottage Hill Avenue | Elmhurst, IL 60126
Artists’ Reception: June 15, 2024
6:00 to 8:00pm
Parking in the lot adjacent to the museum
Blowup
Ruin
Wine and light horderves served
“Blowup” depicts a crew of hotshots struggling to put out a wildfire when they are suddenly driven back by a an unexpected surge of flames . . . a blowup. See seven other paintings including “Ruin” in my series on the destruction wrought by climate change. The scale of ruin is frightening and the intense fire storms a warning that we seem incapable of heeding.
In addition, see a few other recent landscapes of the Moselle River, Amsterdam Harbor, and Portland, Maine harbor.
 Water, Water Everywhere!
See “Double Exposure” at the North Shore Art League’s “Water” show.
Location: 620 Lincoln Ave. | Winnetka, IL 60093 “Double Exposure” is a view of the Amsterdam Harbor from the Movenpick Hotel just after sunset. I took photos of the sunset and then discovered my reflection and that of my hotel room were in the photos. The double exposure appealed to me and makes for an intriguing painting. For a more typical waterscape, see another of my oil paintings, “The Old Stump on the Moselle River” which is also on exhibit. |
Recognition – My latest painting “Double Exposure” was selected for the National Oil and Acrylics (NOAPS) Associate Online Exhibition. Its a view of the Amstedam Harbor just after sunset with a reflection of me in my hotel room taking the photograph upon which I based the painting.
Double Exposure
New Studio Opened in Ravenswood Corridor of Chicago – When Ann Ponce, with whom I and a group of women artists studied for over 10 years, decided to sell her home and studio, the news was bittersweet. But we artists are resilient. The 20 women who painted with Ann at her studio and relied on her inspiration and vast knowledge had to scramble. We still hope that once she builds her new studio in Northbrook that our group will reconvene. But until then, some of us decided to paint in a large studio in Austen rented by Vicki, one of our members; some decided to gather in each other’s homes in Hyde Park to paint; and those of us who lived on the North side of Chicago or in the northern suburbs decided to find a studio. I rented a small studio at 4659 N. Ravenswood with the support of other North siders and Ponce Painters opened on August 1. We’re usually there on Wednesdays and occasionally on other days.
With the opening of the new studio, Ponce Painters decided to participate in this year’s Ravenswood Art Walk scheduled September 16 and 17. See https://ravenswoodchicago.org/signature-events/ravenswood-artwalk/ for details. Six of us will have paintings for sale. Participating artists are: Mary Pat Byrne, Meredith Dytch, Maria McCabe, Cathleen Hanna, Carolyn Pereira, and me. Pick up an original art work and enjoy a stroll along the Ravenswood corridor with lots of art , crafts, food and drink. When you’re at Ponce Painters Studio, you can also visit Bill Bartelt’s studio located in the same building. He is a remarkably talented watercolorist. Drop by and say hello.
My paintings are part of the National Willa Cather Center’s “Visions Seen in the Air: An Invitational Exhibition.”
The Center’s celebration of Willa Cather’s 150th year honors her artistic legacy as one of American’s greatest authors. The title of the new work–Clouds of Golden Coreopsis–created for the invitational exhibit is drawn directly from Cather’s evocative essay “Nebraska: The End of the First Cycle.”
I painted Prairie Old Timer below in 2021 after a visit to the Cather prairie and the restored farmhouse of Annie Pavelka, the woman who inspired My Antonia. For more info see http://willacather.org
New York City at Midnight, the watercolor to the left was inspired by Georgia O’Keefe’s paintings of NYC. It is currently on exhibit at the North Shore Art League as part of its “Inspired by…” show running from April 18 through May 29, 2023.
Location: North Shore Art League| 620 Lincoln Ave.| Winnetka, IL 60093
Cather frequently traveled from Red Cloud, Nebraska to Greenwich Village New York, stopping in Chicago to visit friends and the Art Institute where she first saw the Jules Breton painting of the same title. She was struck by the painting just as her character is later transfixed by it. My painting and her novel both borrow the title of French painter’s canvas.
“inchworks,” the North Shore Art League’s 16th annual small works show, will include two of my new fire paintings.
“Conflagration” above and “Inferno” below capture our world on fire. They are part of my new series inspired by the ravages of climate change on our planet.
Both painting are on exhibit at NSAL’s “inchworks” show. Happy New Year to all.
Lots of activity in the last few months.
In June, 2022, I had a second successful solo show of “Memories in Light and Shadow: Paintings Inspired by Willa Cather’s Art and Life,” at which I sold my second portrait of Cather.
Willa Cather
One of the newer paintings from this series, “Prairie Old Timer” was also featured in the American Women Artists fall on-line show.
Prairie Old Timer
Wildfire
Recently, I have started a new series of works capturing the threats posed by global warming. The first of these paintings, “Wildfire”
sold right off the easel. Another of the new fire paintings will be on exhibit at CAVA’s “Later Impressions” show at the Evanston Art Center from October 8 through November 5, 2022.
Conflagration
“Memories in Light and Shadow: Paintings Inspired by the Art and Life of Willa Cather.”
This second exhibit of “Memories in Light and Shadow” features a total of 18 paintings inspired by Cather’s novels and life and 8 paintings of places that Cather lived or visited in her life.
Prairie Guests
The first exhibit in 2021 coincided with The National Willa Cather Center’s Annual Spring Conference in Red Cloud, NB. Five of the paintings in the original exhibit were sold, and I donated one to the Center. While in Red Cloud I visited Willa Cather’s home and the prairie about which she wrote so movingly. On my return home, I began new paintings to fill the void created by the missing 6 works in the original show.
For this second exhibit I created three works interpreting the prairie, another portrait of Cather, and a new work inspired by Cather’s My Mortal Enemy.
Willa Cather
JUNE EXHIBIT LOCATION: North Shore Art League, 620 Lincoln Avenue, Winnetka, IL 60093
For hours call: 847.446.2870
Opening Reception: June 5, 2022 1-2:30 pm – Hope to see you there!