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.
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 2016 to 2023
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
