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Kathy Cooper
President/CEO
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As a teaching New England oil painter Kathy brings a 20 year advertising and design background and national fine art show promotion experience to AIS.
Kathy began helping AIS in 2008 as the Cafe Administrator (online entry system) and offering the member Entry Digital Service., and produced the national show prospectus. She became President and Show Chair in 2009 when she revamped the website, and enhanced the AIS corporate image with consistant design in printed materials with a goal to take the organization to the next level.
Previous to her involvement with AIS, she spent three years on the board of Women Artists of the West, (WAOW), a 40 year old national fine art organization. She began as Co-Webmaster and revamped the WAOW website to improve the organization’s national presentation. She then continued with the organization as the 2007 2nd Vice President / Show Chair. She planned and promoted their 38th annual show at Hilligoss Galleries in Chicago, IL, titled, “East to West – Meeting in the Middle.” Her show plan included honoring Nancy Guzik with the WAOW 2007 Award of Excellence, and hosted ten other nationally acclaimed invited artists: Sherrie McGraw, Rose Frantzen, Sandy Scott, Kathy Anderson, Rosemary Ladd, Karen Vance, Ann Hanson, Carolyn Anderson, Carol Guzman and Cheryl McClure.
Kathy is a nationally recognized oil painter who works from life either en pléin air or still life in her studio. She is inspired by the Maine landscape, English roses and reflective textures. She is most known for her reflective florals in her still life, yet paints a wide range of subjects. Kathy also runs a small ateliér in her studio, as well as demos and workshops in New England and across the U.S. She teaches the principals of art in a painterly style. She welcomes inquiries to host one of her workshops in your area.
www.KathyCooperFineArt.com
kcooperfa@aol.com
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Lori Putnam
Vice President
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We welcome Lori to our organization this year as she leads the show committee producing the 12th Annual National Juried Exhibition at Mountainsong Galleries in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California this October.
She is a member of, and has exhibited with, many respected, professional organizations including the national and the eastern regional juried exhibitions of the Oil Painters of America, the prestigious Salmagundi Club in New York City as well as American Impressionist Society, Inc. She is also an active participant in The Chestnut Group, and the Southern Artist Registry. In 2008, Lori was awarded Signature Member status in the International Plein Air Painters and the Plein Air Artist of Colorado, both highly regarded, worldwide, plein air painting organizations; gained membership in the Salmagundi Club in New York City in 2009; and was chosen for Plein Air Painters of the Southeast in 2010. She has participated in several juried and invitational plein air events across the country, and recently won both the Artist’s Choice and the Public’s Choice Awards during the Wyoming Plein Air Festival, an Honorable Mention in the Florida’s Forgotten Coast Plein Air Invitational, and an Award of Excellence in the Southeastern Regional Juried Plein Air Exhibition. Her work is in the permanent collection at The Academy Art Museum in Easton, Maryland, in private collections and galleries worldwide. Lori’s paintings were featured in a recently published book entitled, Painting North Carolina: Impressions in Plein Air, and in several issues of American Art Collector Magazine.
Lori’s most recognized paintings are in oil, although she enjoys working other mediums as well. Her award-winning works are a demonstration of intelligent design, confident brushwork, and masterful color. Her subject matter can be anything. “Seemingly ordinary moments and objects become meaningful when you express their beauty.” Lori says every work is like a “time capsule,” stating, “It’s about interpreting a moment, painting from life, capturing the light’s effects, and translating all of that to the canvas for others to experience.”
Lori teaches workshop around the world in such places as the United States, West Indies, Ireland, and Italy. Visit her website for more information.
www.loriputnam.com |
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Dawn Whitelaw maintains a studio at “The Factory” in Franklin, Tennessee. The opportunity to paint landscape plein air with colleagues adds richness and honesty to her studio work. For over 25 years she taught basic principles of oil painting as an adjunct instructor at David Lipscomb University. Among her influential teachers are Scott Christensen, Cedric Egeli, T. Allen Lawson, Quang Ho and Jim Pollard, but most of her instruction and inspiration comes from nationally preeminent artist Everett Raymond Kinstler. At present, she teaches workshops nationally.
Her ability to capture life in paint has been noticed. Her awards include the Certificate of Merit for her portrait at the National Portrait Convention in 1991, Best of Show at the Portrait Society of America in Washington DC, and the Award of Excellence in the Oil Painter's of America exhibition in 2002. In 2010 Whitelaw was one of ten American women artists invited to participate in the "Inspiring Figures" exhibition at the Butler Institute of American Art.
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Mary Garrish
Workshop Director
Previous President, Show Chair, and Vice President
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Mary has devoted herself to AIS since 2005, as President, Show Chair and currently as Vice President. We cherrish her dedication, as she continues to promote our organization.
"I came to be an artist later in life than some, but with an enthusiasm that more than compensated for lost time. In my prior life as an ENT surgeon, I developed the self-discipline for long hours and for hard work. As I evolved into a full time artist, I have applied myself diligently to the learning and love of painting.
Having the opportunity to work with such great mentors as Albert Handell, Kenn Backhaus, Matt Smith, Doug Dawson and Scott Christensen steered my painting style over several years. More time and contemplation has allowed me to develop my own individual style. I continue to read, to study the work of the great artists, and to spend as much time as possible outside with a canvas.
Nature has provided a multitude of subjects for my palette. I have found the most satisfaction in working with oil and pastels in the Plein Air setting."
www.MaryGarrishFineArt.com |
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