This feature, published in The Pen Woman magazine, highlights an artist member and her process. We hope it inspires and informs other artists in their own work. Submissions are welcome from members — please send the article, along with high-resolution JPG images (showing the artist at work, progression of a piece focused on process, and finished work) to Art Editor Lucy Arnold at arteditor@nlapw.org.
Sally Stormon, Central New York Branch: Go with the Flow (Fall 2024)
Sally Stormon was inspired by a walk through the Adirondack Mountains on a wet day to create a painting that expresses the power of the boulders, the swiftness of the rushing water, and the beauty of a day spent appreciating nature.
Lidia Tohar, Boca Raton Branch: Whimsical Holiday Cards (Fall 2023)
Lidia Tohar expresses her creativity during the holiday season with original, multimedia cards that she sends to friends and family. The cards feature a dramatic spark and bold colors.
Phyllis Elrich, Boca Raton Branch: Visual Delight (Fall 2022)
Phyllis Elrich’s artistic journey has taken her from painting to baked clay sculpture, bead-making, and wearable art to her current pursuit in mixed media collage. A retired educator, she believes in learning new things.
Geri Huxsoll, Diamond State Branch: The Art of Lithography (Winter 2022)
Geri Huxsoll enjoys the physical labor of graining the stone, drawing on the stone, and printing. Drawing, to her, is “about relationships of tones and the beauty of the lines.”
Mary Ann Miller, Jacksonville Branch: Sketching the World’s Beauty (Fall 2021)
May Ann Miller’s inspiration, curiosity, and experimentation have led her to paint on scarves and teabags, create 3-D watercolors in shadowboxes, learn bookbinding, and try her hand at making art books out of almost anything.
Marcy Von Kohorn, Vero Beach Branch: Studying Chinese Brushwork (Summer 2021)
Marcy Von Kohorn says the quality of brushwork is the primary goal, whether in the linear or mo-ku style. Her teacher, Diana Kan, studied with the great Chinese master Chang Dai Chen.
Heather Sandifer, Greenwich Branch: Extraordinary Botanicals (Spring 2021)
Heather Sandifer’s art combines printing images directly from natural objects with techniques of traditional monotype. Her end product is the result of intense, active collaboration between artist, plant, and paint.
Cheryl Fausel, Southwest Florida Branch: ‘My Number is Three’ (Winter 2021)
Cheryl Fausel’s preferred subject matter is a unique form of cityscapes. She likes reflections of store windows, sometimes creating her own concept of a reflection. For this painting (a 14×20 watercolor), she used two different photos to create the effect she wanted.
Debbie Patrick, Golden Gate-Marin Branch: Painting Tuffy (Fall 2020)
Debbie Patrick was inspired to paint “Tuffy” while working on a series of blues musicians. He seemed to fit her “Study in Blues” theme. Even though Tuffy is basically a brown-and-white dog, she used a range of blues, purples, violets, oranges, golds, and whites in her palette.
Concetta Scott, Virginia Branch: Found Objects (Winter 2020)
Concetta Scott created her piece after forming a bond with an antique shop and all the stuff strewn outside. She realized that she would have to immortalize that antique shop on paper, and it would mean individual sketches, color studies, and a big block of time.
Darlene Yeager Torre, Central Ohio Branch: The Luminous Art of Painting with Light (Fall 2019)
Darlene Yeager Torre creates still life and landscapes “painted with light” — a photographic method that employs extremely long exposures and handheld lights to create what may not exist or to highlight that which does.
Sandra Eliot, Member-at-Large: Carved-Up Inspiration (Spring 2019)
Sandra Eliot assembles sculptures from found objects and fabricated pieces. She’s fascinated by wood that’s been weathered, and uses the other materials to enhance its meaning.
Melissa Woodburn, Golden Gate-Marin Branch: A Day at the Beach (Winter 2019)
Melissa Woodburn uses the beach as part of her studio. After creating clay pots and bisque-firing them in an electric kiln, it’s off to the beach to pit-fire them.
Lucy Arnold, Golden Gate-Marin Branch: Giving the World Wings (Summer 2018)
Lucy Arnold depicts stunning examples of butterfly, as well as other flora and fauna. She feels that the butterflies’ infinite patterns and colors make them ideal art subjects, but they also have symbolic significance.
Linda Mitchell, Atlanta Branch: Narrative Paintings on Fabric (Spring 2017)
Linda Mitchell creates beautiful, sensitive, narrative paintings that have voice and presence. Her work is unique and tells stories through patterns and colors.
Katie Turner, Central New York Branch: ‘Fifteen Minutes’ (Winter 2017)
Katie Turner shares how to use a “15-minute” trick to create art while balancing a busy schedule that includes family, spiritual growth, healthy living, exercise, proper rest, working on commissions, testing new products, networking, developing new business skills, and much more.