artist bio

I am a documentary portrait painter.  I use portrait painting to document the impact of social issues on people.

I told my website designer to write, “The artist refuses to provide a bio.  My apologies.”  He guilted me into writing something. (Original bio below next bit.) But first…

I’m interrupting this bio to give you Chapter 2 on the bio saga. My web guy says that I’ve gotten you all the way to this page, I’ve PIQUED YOUR INTEREST, and my original bio does not reward you for your interest when you get here.  AND he says that my gentle spoof on bios with my original bio…well, sorta isn’t that “spoofy.”  There’s an age difference between us.  You see, I’m playing, and he’s trying to build a great website.  Gotta love him.  SO, I’m going to give you the conversation we had.

ME: Look, I don’t want to write a blah, blah, blah, I did this then and blah that on that date, blah, blah, blah.

HIM: You’re not even telling people how you got the idea Art As Social Inquiry. They don’t care if you don’t like your beverages cold.  You are telling them NOTHING!

ME: (I’m thinking he is right.  Yet I did say exactly what I was in the moment I wrote it.  That was all true. But that’s not a bio.  That’s a diary?  playfulness? So I said… ) You know, I, like most people, have had opinions all my life.  And nothing changes because of them, not the world, not the problems, not other people.  My opinions change as I change.  What role do opinions play in finding solutions to problems?  There’s got to be something more and I wonder what? Art As Social Inquiry invites opinions on social issues.  It’s a project that doesn’t pretend to have solutions.  Somewhere in this vast maze of opinions must lie a way out of the divisiveness of “right and wrong.”  And so, why not use art as a “collector of opinions.” And see what happens?

HIM:  Well, that’s a lot more interesting than your bio.  Write that.

P.S. My son-the-web-guy gives me the thumbs up on the above, wants me to delete below.

ORIGINAL BIO BELOW. Reading it, optional.

I don’t like my beverages too cold. When I get “stuck” I look at Alice Neel’s paintings and remember, “O yeah, just paint and everything will work out.”  I have always wanted to do the the voiceover for Frontline.  I lost 1/2 inch in height since I was a teenager.  I love hanging wash on a line to dry.  It reminds me of my grandmother.  And, when I take it down I like looking at the sky and being reminded that I am a microcosm of the Universe.  And if planets and stars and black holes and infinity and oceans and volcanoes and lightning bugs and lilacs and snow and air and modern plumbing can exist then I should be able to do something as simple as…fill in the blank.  TIME IS AN ILLUSION.  I got that.  Does that mean that my memories make me a figment of my own imagination?  So much for this bio. I loved playing field hockey in high school.  I love and like my husband and kids.  I like my dog too but I have issues with her old-aged barking (nagging).  Is that bad?  I am very grateful to my teachers at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.  They always set the bar high and then provided a knee on which to stand to reach it.  (And they managed to do this despite my haphazard attendance through the Continuing Ed department.)  Favorite smelling herb, cilantro.  Favorite eating herb, basil. Favorite smells while walking, honeysuckle & lilac.  Favorite paint color, cadmium green (for the moment). A favorite artist (among many) I thought I’d paint like, and am as far from her as I am to throwing the javelin in the Olympics (or anywhere else for that matter), Elizabeth Louise Vigee LeBrun. Favorite movie, Babette’s Feast.  Favorite Christmas movie, It’s A Wonderful Life… Yes, it is.

Done.