Artist's statement

I work in the tradition of representational modernism. I've always been committed to this beautiful work which reached its height of achievement in mid-century with Bonnard and Hopper, and has been continued into the present day by James Weeks, Richard Diebenkorn, William Bailey, and Stanley Lewis. In this tradition, painting aspires to poetry: a fully realized world constructed from abstract elements – which always discloses itself as paint. There will be strangeness – strangeness as being, strangeness as beauty arisen from contact with a different kind of consciousness than our own, with motion, depth, openness, rhythm, and emotional color.

I am dazzled with the feeling of light and the mystery of ordinary things that call up fleeting and treasured memories of my childhood.

My paintings of houses begin with a walk in my neighborhood. I find—a bicycle in the weeds, a signpost, a bright pink house with a mermaid over the door. I set myself up on the street, beginning with charcoal drawings and then pastels. Then, in my studio, I use the information for the big paintings and work back and forth revising the drawings, making endless revisions of the paintings. This can go on for years until each painting is a visual poem: a beautiful, mysterious process that unfolds over time.

Cooper Union

Biography

I’ve been a painter all my life. Creating the illusion of space and light with paint is what thrilled me from the beginning, and it is what thrills me now.

After Cooper Union Art School in New York, I moved to Durham, North Carolina, where I raised 4 kids and taught art at Duke University. I drew, painted, exhibited and sold my work nationally and internationally.

I taught painting and drawing at the Corcoran College of Art and Design, where I developed a curriculum that weaves color theory and composition into the practice of painting. With my radio partner, I have a bi-weekly show: Art as Experience, on WOWD LP FM. We have produced over 100 podcasts, giving context and thought-provoking ideas arising from museum exhibits, movies, articles and books.

Since we are both artists and teachers we have a unique perspective, different from critics and art historians – and we have more fun.

I work in my studio at my home in Takoma Park, Maryland, trying to keep the demands of life down to a minimum so that I can continue painting until I can’t lift the brush.

Resumé

SHEILA BLAKE

Member, Foundry Gallery: https://www.foundrygallery.org/artists

Education: Goddard College, M.A. in Painting 1978

Cooper Union Art School, 1957-60

Teaching: Host of “Art as Experience”, Podcast and radio show on WOWD-LP FM 94.3,

from July 2016 to present

Corcoran College of Art and Design 2003- 2010

Duke University Department of Art, 1971-80

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte,

Carolina Friends School, Durham Arts Council, The Art School of Chapel Hill

Related Work: I was the owner and manager of Sheila Blake, Painted Signs, specializing in fine lettering and murals, 1980-84; Juror for many regional shows, including the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities

Awards:

Montgomery County Individual Artists’ Grants, 2014 and 2017

Juror’s Choice Award, Strokes of Genius, Annapolis, MD, 2012

Tunnel Vision, Public Arts Project : Merit Award, International Downtown Association, Pedestrian Metro Tunnel, Bethesda, MD 2012

Finalist, Bethesda Painting Awards, Bethesda MD, 2011

Finalist Bethesda Painting Awards, Bethesda, MD, 2010

Semi-Finalist, The Trawick Prize, Bethesda MD, 2010

Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award, Excellence in Painting, 2010

Images of Washington Purchase Award, D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities., 2003

45th Annual Competition for Painting and Sculpture, Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Honorable Mention, 1977

11th Annual Piedmont Graphics Exhibition, Juror’s Commendation, 1977

Friends of the James River Juried Exhibition Purchase Award, 1973,

Friends of the James River Juried Exhibition Purchase Award,1972

Friends of the James River Juried Exhibition Purchase Award, 1971

Ball State Drawing and Small Sculpture Award, 1972

Durham Arts Council Annual Exhibition, Honorable Mention, 1970

Durham Arts Council Annual Exhibition, Painting Award, 1968

Solo Exhibitions:

Foundry Gallery, Windows Shine Dark Sky, 2021

Foundry Gallery, Painting in Place of a Place, 2020 (2 person show)

Solo Exhibition, Arts Club of Washington, 2014

10 Pastels, Sam Abbott Gallery, Takoma Park, MD, 2013

Solo Exhibition, Anne Cooper’s Gallery, Albuquerque, NM, 2013

Solo Exhibition Takoma Historic Society, 2012

Solo Exhibit Sam Abbott Gallery, Takoma Park, MD, 2009

Solo Exhibit, Glenview Mansion Art Gallery, Rockville, MD, 2008

Duke University: April, 1977

The Art School, Chapel Hill, NC, 1976

The Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston Salem, NC, 1972

Northeast Gallery, North Wilkesboro, NC, 1972

Duke University, 1969, 1970,1971

Group Exhibitions:

Strathmore Mansion Arts Center, Washington DC. Home, 2021

Washington Arts Association, National Competition, Washington CT, 2015, William Bailey, juror

MFA Gallery Strokes of Genius, 2012, Annapolis MD (Mark Karnes, juror)

2012 Annual Juried Art Competition, South Arkansas Arts Center, (Manuela Well-Off-Man, juror)

MFA Gallery, Strokes of Genius, Annual juried show, Annapolis MD, 2011

Permanent collection, US Embassy, Phnom Pen, Cambodia

Studio Visit Volume 3, a juried selection of international visual artists. Carl Belz, juror, 2008

9th Annual All-Media Exhibition, Touchstone Gallery, Washington D.C., Jack Rasmussen, juror

2007American Landscapes, 6th Annual National Exhibition, MFA Circle Gallery, Annapolis, MD, Ed Ahlstrom, juror, 2006

OPTIONS 2005, Emerging Artist’s Biennial, WPA/C, Washington, D.C., Dr. Libby Lumpkin, curator Biennial Faculty Exhibition, The Corcoran Museum of Art, Washington, D.C. 2004 and 2006

d’Art Center, Juried exhibition, Newport News, Va, (Thomas Xenakas, juror) 2003

Durham Arts Council Annual Exhibit, Durham, NC (Barbara Haskell, juror), 1987

University of Georgia, Athens, Ga, 1977

Leigh Gallery, Birmingham, Al, 1977

Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC, 1977

45th Competition for Painting and Sculpture, SECCA, Winston Salem, NC, (Marcia Tucker, juror), 1977

Green Hill Gallery, Greensboro, NC, (John Myers, juror), 1977

University Art Teachers Invitational, University of Southern Illinois, Carbondale, IL, 1975

37th North Carolina Artists’ Annual, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC.(Thomas Armstrong, Albert Christ Janer, jurors), 1974

11th Annual Piedmont Graphics Exhibition, Greenville County Museum of Art, Greenville, NC, (Sigmund Abeles, juror), 1974

James River Juried Seventh Annual Artists’ Exhibit, Newport News, Va. (Dan Christenson, Kenworth Moffatt, jurors), 1973

Forum Gallery New Talent, New York, NY, 1973

Gallery of Contemporary Arts, Winston Salem, NC, (Paula Cooper, juror), 1973

Ball State Drawing and Small Sculpture Exhibition, Muncie, IN, (Steven Propokoff, juror), 1973

36th Annual North Carolina Artists’ Exhibition, NC Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC, (Bengt von Bonsdorff, Ben Kamihira, James Pilgrim, jurors), 1973

Davidson National Print and Drawing Exhibition, Stowe Gallery, Davidson, NC, (Clement Greenberg. juror), 1973

35th North Carolina Artists’ Annual, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC, (Ilya Bolotowsky, Alice Neel, jurors), 1972

James River Juried Sixth Annual Artists’ Exhibit, Newport News, Va. (Ray Parker, Linda Shearer, jurors), 1972

36th Southeastern Artists’ Exhibition, Winston-Salem, NC, (Thomas Leavitt, juror),

34th North Carolina Artists’ Exhibition, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC (Adelyn Breeskin, Will Garnet, Dean Swanson, jurors), 1972

Ball State Drawing and Small Sculpture Exhibition, Muncie, IN, (Dore Ashton, juror), 1972

School of Public Health 9th Annual Art Exhibition, Chapel Hill, NC, (Robert Fry, juror), 1972

James River Juried Fifth Annual Art Exhibit, Newport News, Va., (Kenneth Noland, Robert Doty, jurors), 1971

Gallery of Contemporary Arts, Winston-Salem, NC, (Philip Pearlstein, juror), 1971

Ball State Drawing and Small Sculpture Exhibition, Muncie, IN, (Philippe de Montebello, juror), 1971

National I, Atlanta GA, (Philip Pearlstein, juror,) 1970

Gallery of Contemporary Arts, Winston Salem, NC, (Grace Hartigan, juror), 1970