ARTIST STATEMENT
Art is my first love. I bring to my work decades of experience observing the natural world and developing skills in drawing and painting. I use what I observe to stimulate my imagination. The result is art that combines realistic and imaginative elements, is colorful, usually joyful, and sometimes quirky. Others have described my paintings as being “unique,” “enchanting” and “visionary.”
EDUCATION
I worked for 30 years as a science educator. I seriously began my art studies in 1998 where I studied drawing and painting at the Austin Museum of Art and Noel Robbins’ Independent Study Group. I have been working on my own since 2004 and have been a resident artist at Austin Art Space Gallery since 2011.
METHOD
Currently, acrylics and ink on clayboard or gessoboard are my materials of choice. I begin with an idea and then see how and where it goes. There is a great deal of problem solving involved in the process.
EXHIBITS AND AWARDS
Since 2001, I have been fortunate to show my work in Austin at various juried exhibits, as well as group/association member shows. I have also been asked to donate my artwork for charitable benefits in Austin. Several of my paintings have won People’s Choice Awards and juror’s awards. My paintings can be found in a local Austin synagogue, a doctor’s office building, and in private residences in Austin, TX, Houston, TX, and Washington D.C.
“My goal as a painter is to create visual images that communicate the mystery and transient beauty of our planet. I rely on visual memory, dreams, and feelings for these images of landscape, and natural organic form which are often based in “reality” but are imaginary to the degree that I only seek to capture a feeling about the subject whether it is still life or landscape, and communicate it to the viewer. My work is representational to the degree that it is based on nature. I paint what I feel about what I see with color and texture as structural design elements. I often refer to my still life paintings as “Still Scapes” due to my natural inclination to include what I think of as earth elements into my work.
After over a decade of design experience in commercial art with companies like SicolaMartin, GSD&M and Harcourt, Reynolds has ventured out into the world of plein air, or on sight painting, and impressionist fine arts with bold color, brilliant light, strong images and a movement and style uniquely her own bold vision of her surroundings. Her work explores spontaneous approaches to expressionistic landscapes and provocative, vivid profiles in portraits she renders.
Work done while faculty at the Austin Museum of Art, AMOA, Laguna Gloria Art School, along with exhibits and membership with Austin Pastel Society and Austin ArtSpace Gallery plunged Reynolds actively into the Austin arts. Viewing her present style preceding her national plein air painting tour this summer will enable the community to gain a deeper sense of the unique characteristics of her art now and anticipate new works at her fall exhibit.
