About Cheryl Anderson
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ARTIST STATEMENT
My goal is to create paintings that cause viewers to stop and recall a similar experience in their lives. I want people to look at my work and say “I’m familiar with that—I know how that feels.” Whether it’s walking down a busy city street, getting lost in the intricate beauty of a vase full of flowers, feeling the immensity of the mountains or observing the give and take of an ocean shoreline, the subject matter isn’t important to me. What’s important is that it allows viewers to reconnect to the emotion I’m trying to create.
What causes me to want to paint something is almost always the quality of the light. If it’s a still life, I get to choose the type of lighting I want—high, low, frontal, backlit, intense, diffused, cool, warm, etc., and I get to move the objects around to create an artistically appealing design quality of light and dark shapes. I like this, because the options are unlimited and I am in control. If it’s a landscape or cityscape, I’m dependent upon nature (and lucky timing) for inspiration. In either case, it’s up to me to use the vocabulary of painting (drawing, values, color, edges and composition) to create the illusion/emotion of the moment. I am usually inclined to do this in a style I would call a soft realism, but if the subject and mood call for a more impressionist approach I am happy to oblige.
My chosen medium is oil. I love it for the intensity of color, the buttery texture and the various ways I can manipulate it. (When you read my biography, you’ll understand how I got hooked on oils at a very early age.) As a consumer, it is important for you to know that I use only the highest artist grade materials, and that your painting will remain in excellent condition for many generations to enjoy.
BIOGRAPHY
Cheryl began her oil painting career at a very early age when her mother, (long before the fear of saturated fats and red dye #2,) would add food coloring to her favorite mayonnaise-only sandwiches. According to Cheryl’s mother, more finger painting was accomplished than eating, and every day became an opportunity to “paint” with a new color.
Growing up happened in California, and although she lived in the city there were many touches of rural life nearby. Horses lived in the field behind her home and would hang their heads over the back fence. The next door neighbors had chickens, pigs and a cow. Around the corner was a chinchilla farm where one of her friends lived. As Cheryl graduated from colored mayo to pencils and crayons, all of these animals proved to be great subjects, and she spent much of her free time drawing.
Cheryl completed her undergraduate work at the University of California Santa Barbara. Graduate work in education at both UCSB and the University of Northern Colorado led to a full career of teaching social sciences and special education. As a break from teaching, she took an art class in the early 1990’s and rekindled her passion with drawing and painting. Cheryl states, “The instructor handed me a palette full of oil paint, and as I started to dip my brush into the paint it was, literally, like finding my way home.”
Needless to say, she was hooked and immediately signed up for evening and weekend art classes at the Art Student’s League of Denver. As time permitted, she took various workshops around the country, studying first with Laura Robb in Aspen, then Tom Beuchner in New York, and Robert Johnson in Colorado. Recently, she has attended workshops with Daniel Sprick, Quang Ho, Jeremy Lipking, and Kevin MacPherson.
Cheryl was able to retire early from education and is now able to pursue her artistic career full-time. Her goal is to create paintings that make people pause and reflect on the beauty in our world. While her range of subject matter extends to landscapes and figurative work, her passion is still life. She feels that in any painting, the most important thing to capture is the quality of the light. “It’s that sense of light that makes viewers connect to the emotion I’m trying to convey, so I often feel that I paint light rather than objects.” Cheryl’s work varies from a more impressionistic style to a more realistic manner, which she refers to as a “soft” realism. Often she injects a bit of humor into her work—either within the composition itself or by suggesting humor through the title of the piece.
Cheryl’s paintings have been juried into several national shows in both Scottsdale, AZ, and in Colorado. Her still life and landscape paintings are in collections across the country. She is a member of the Oil Painters of America, the Impressionist Society, and Plein Air Artists Colorado.
RESUME
Juried National Shows:
June-July, 2010—“Plein Air Artists Colorado” 14th Annual Members Juried Exhibition, Saks Gallery, Denver, Colorado
October-November, 2007—“The Best and Brightest" show, Scottsdale Artists School, Scottsdale, Arizona
February, 2006—“The Best and the Brightest" show, Scottsdale Artists' School, Scottsdale, Arizona
September, 2005—Louisville Arts Festival 2005, Louisville, Colorado
Juried Regional Shows:
November-December, 2005--“Art & Soul,” Art Students League, Denver, Colorado
December, 2005—Lone Tree Art Show, Lone Tree, Colorado
November, 2005—10th annual Artists of Colorado State Exhibition at the Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver, Colorado
November-December, 2004—“Art & Soul,” Art Students League, Denver, Colorado
October, 2004—Westminster Art Show, Westminster, Colorado
Solo Show:
October, 2005—Pzazz Art and Antiques, Denver, Colorado
Gallery Group Shows:
December, 2009—Abend Gallery Holiday Miniature Show, Denver, Colorado
May-July, 2009—“My Favorite Piece,” Art Students League, Denver, Colorado
June, 2009—“Summer Art Market,” Denver, Colorado
July, 2008-- Ed Chasen Fine Art, “Floral and Still Life,” Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
July, 2007—Ed Chasen Fine Art, “Floral and Still Life,” Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
June, 2007—“Summer Art Market,” Denver, Colorado
April, 2007—Ed Chasen Fine Art, Gallery Opening, Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
September, 2006—Gallery Opening, Handmade Colorado, Castle Rock, Colorado
September-October, 2006—"Face It" Portrait show, Denver Art Students League, Denver, Colorado
July-August, 2006—"Myths & Allegories: A Family's History," Denver Art Students League, Denver, Colorado
June, 2006—“Summer Art Market,” Denver, Colorado
June, 2005—“Summer Art Market,” Denver, Colorado
April-May, 2005—“Portraits and Self Portraits," Art Students League, Denver, Colorado
April-May, 2005—Colorado Artists Guild show, Boettcher Concert Hall in the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Denver, Colorado
Professional Memberships:
Oil Painters of America
The Impressionist Society
Plein Air Artists Colorado
Art Education:
September, 1995-May, 2003—Ongoing painting, drawing, sculpture classes and workshops through the Scottsdale Artists School and the Art Students League of Denver, Colorado.
Workshops with Quang Ho, Laura Robb, Daniel Sprick, Jeremy Lipking, Kevin MacPherson, Robert Johnson, Tom Beuchner
Education:
Bachelor of Arts, University of California at Santa Barbara
Masters of Arts, University of Northern Colorado
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