Artist Statement

 

Growing up in the Mississippi Delta has a strong impact on my art. The Delta is expansively flat and yet complex, with linear planes created by farmland, wooded areas and open fields that repeat, one after another, toward the horizon. My work reflects this complexity, but the Delta does not limit my art.  As I travel, whether in the United States or abroad, I capture experiences and feelings of place. Once in my studio, I express these experiences in a spontaneous and fluid manner, often beginning with just a basic idea. As I incorporate design elements, images, shapes, and layering techniques, the work itself guides me and I find the journey of discovery personally fulfilling. Just as my relationship with each piece is drawn from my experience, I invite the viewer to arrive at his or her own interpretation of the work.

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Resume

 

Education

· Mississippi Delta Community College, Associate of Arts, 1968

· Delta State University, Cleveland, MS, Bachelor of Arts Education, 1970

· Delta State University, Cleveland, Master of Arts Education, 1976

Professional Experience

· 1970-1975 - Art teacher at Coleman Junior High, Greenville, MS

· 1975-1986 - Art teacher at South Natchez High School, Natchez, MS

· 1977-1985 - Adjunct art instructor at Copiah-Lincoln Community College, Natchez campus

· 1977-1985  - Adjunct art instructor at the University of Southern Mississippi, Natchez campus

· 1986-1996 - Art teacher at numerous junior high and elementary schools with Jackson Public Schools, Jackson, MS

· 2002 Adjunct art instructor at Mississippi College - graduate level

· Presented at more than 225 U.S. and international schools and educational conferences advocating literacy and creativity

· Artist in residence with Jackson Public School’s “Ask 4 More Arts” program for four consecutive years.

· Included on Mississippi Art Commission’s Artist and Teaching Artist Rosters multiple years

· Selected as artist in residence with the Mississippi Alliance for Arts Education

· Art instructor for numerous painting/drawing/mixed media and teacher in-service workshops for professional and non-professional artists and educators 

Earlier Honors

· Received an Artist Fellowship from Mississippi Arts Commission in 2011

· Featured as an artist and art educator on Walt Grayson’s Look Around Mississippi and Mississippi Roads television programs

· Interviewed by Diane Williams for the Mississippi Public Broadcasting Arts Hour in 2011

· Presented the Mississippi Book Award at inaugural Mississippi Delta Children’s Arts and Letters Festival in 2007

· Selected as one of thirteen artists to participate in a two-week art experience, sponsored by the U.S. National Park Service in the Outer Banks of North Carolina at Cape Lookout and Monmouth.

· Participated in a group art exhibit in Beaufort, NC, to show the results of the two-week experience at the Outer Banks.

· Featured in Delta Magazine, March/April issue 2008.

· Exhibited at the Mississippi Picnic in Central Park, New York, NY, 2014 & 201

· Exhibited in the Mississippi Pavilion at 1984 Louisiana World Exposition, New Orleans, LA

· Won more than 250 art awards in national, regional, and local art exhibitions and competitions

· Included in THE DELTA: Landscapes, Legends and Legacies of Mississippi’s Most Storied Region, by Coopwood Publishing Group, 2012

Earlier Juried Exhibitions

· Annual Southern Watercolor Society Juried Exhibition – multiple years

*Virginia Watercolor Society Award recipient - 2016

· Annual Bi-State Juried Art Exhibition, Meridian Museum of Art,

· Meridian, MS – multiple years

*Best of Show Award recipient – 2016

*Award of Excellence recipient - 2015

· Mississippi Watercolor Society Grand National Exhibition –

*Multiple awards – Signature member

· Rocky Mountain National Watermedia Society Exhibition, Golden, CO

· Rutgers National Drawing and Craft Juried Exhibition, Camden, NJ

· Arkansas Print, Drawing and Craft Juried Exhibition, Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, AR

· 9th Annual Louisiana Watercolor Society Juried Exhibition

· 14th Annual River Road Show, Louisiana Art and Artists’ Guild

· Tennessee Watercolor Society Juried Exhibition

· Kentucky Watercolor Society Juried Exhibition

· American Artist Magazine 1st National Art Competition – Semi-finalist

· Gum Tree Festival, Tupelo, MS, 1975-current

*Best in Show and numerous awards

· Crosstie Festival, Cleveland, MS, numerous years

*Numerous awards

· Ridgeland Arts Festival (formerly the Renaissance Art Festival),

multiple years

· Threefoot Arts Festival, Meridian, MS

*Best in Show

· Cottonwood Art Festival, Richardson, TX

· Three Rivers Art Festival, Covington, LA

· Piedmont Park Arts Festival, Atlanta, GA

· Bluff Park Art Show, Hoover, AL

· Boardwalk Art Show, Virginia Beach

· River Arts Festival, Memphis, TN

· Pink Palace Arts and Crafts Festival, Memphis, TN

Earlier Solo & Shared Exhibitions - Partial Listing

· Delta Arts Alliance, Cleveland, MS, 2017

· Retrospective One Man Show, 90 works-1970 to Current,  Meridian Museum of Art, Meridian, MS, 2017

· Caron Gallery, Tupelo, MS

· Southern Breeze Gallery, Ridgeland, MS

· E.E. Bass Cultural Arts Center, Greenville, MS

· Sam Gore Art Gallery, Mississippi College, Clinton, MS

· Gulf South Gallery, McComb, MS

· Gail Keenan Gallery, Long Beach, MS, 2012

· Mississippi Library Commission, Jackson, MS

· Columbus Art Association, Columbus, MS

· Copiah-Lincoln Community College, Wesson, MS

· Attic Gallery, Vicksburg, MS

· Cassidy Bayou Arts and Culture Center, Sumner, MS

· A2H, Memphis, TN

· Bradley Gordon Gallery, Clarksdale, MS

· Gulf South Gallery, McComb, MS

· Bryant Gallery, Jackson, MS

 

Gallery and Art Consultant Representation

· Caron Gallery, Tupelo, MS

· Mississippi Art & Design Consultants, LLC, Jean Whitehead

· Attic Gallery, Vicksburg, MS

· Turnrow Gallery, Greenwood, MS

 

Books Illustrated

· M is for Magnolia: A Mississippi Alphabet Book, Sleeping Bear Press, 2003

· 1 Mississippi, Two Mississippi: A Mississippi Numbers Book, Sleeping Bear Press, 2004

· P is for Passport, A World Alphabet, Sleeping Bear Press, 2003

· N is for Natural State: An Arkansas Alphabet Book, Sleeping Bear Press, 2003

· Natural Numbers: An Arkansas Numbers Book, Sleeping Bear Press, 2008

· Racecar Driver’s Night Before Christmas, Pelican Publishing, 2008

· Christmas Stories from the South’s Best Writers, Pelican Publishing, 2008

· Eucharist: A Catholic Alphabet Book, Mockingbird Press, 2010

· My Mississippi: Pictures and Poems, e-book, author and illustrator, 2012