About the Artist:

I was a military ‘brat’. Constantly moving away from friends and family creates a disconnection that the government finds useful in its indoctrination and focusing of the soldier’s loyalty on country – ahead of local community or family. This disconnect from personal roots also provides a closer connection to ‘country’ as an abstract concept. As a shy child I loved being outdoors and moving frequently pushed me to observe my environment closely, perhaps encouraging me to forge bonds with place that other children might not have. As an adult working in camps for kids, guiding on rivers in the Southeast and Idaho, and taking trips on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon and in New Zealand also gave me a unique sense of moving through the landscape. In my landscape projects, I feel compelled to translate ‘moments’ of recognition of powerful places into an accessible and even intimate format. 

As I age, cultural expectations become choices instead of assumptions. Perhaps because of the insinuation of the political into my early life, I take the political more personally. My ‘day job’ as a child mental health therapist working with victims of abuse forces me to continue to regard how the political distills itself into the lives of children, families, and into my own daily life. Lately I am inspired to make art because of how political situations affect me personally. This year at my professor’s suggestion, I am searching for ways to bring these two artistic interests into conversation with each other. 

In my recent work, political pieces have taken on more earthy tones and the layers relate less to text and more to supporting other visual elements within the work. I want others to relate to a piece on its own terms without having to know the history that inspired it. The process of making political pieces is soothing to me – while the process of making the landscapes is often anxiety producing and brings my most critical voice into awareness. In the small landscapes I want to convey the moment, the visual hook that I recognize and use as a starting point. I continue to need to focus on this in the political. The process of producing each type of work induces internal dialogue and I continue to look for ways that the works inform each other.   

Solo Shows:

·       Pilgrimage to the Dark Star and Other Works – works inspired by paperwork at Swain County Center for the Arts in February/March 2008, opening February 17, 2008.

·       Water Works – Papou's Wine Shop located on Main Street in Sylva, NC, May 2008. 

·       “Stream of Consciousness” – paintings and drawings inspired by Kephart Prong, a stream in the Smokies, at Nantahala Outdoor Center Relia’s Garden Restaurant, April – May 2007.

·       Stream: Connotations paintings from the Little Tennessee watershed, at Spring Street Café in Sylva, NC, April 2006. 

Selected Group Shows:

·       Fragile Earth: Reflections on the Environment – Juried by Martin DeWitt, museum director; at Western Carolina University Fine Art Museum, July 13- August 15, 2008. 

·       Participated in the Community Art Show at Swain County Center for the Arts Fall 2008, 2007, 2006.

·       Group exhibit (rotating pieces from 2004 through 2007) juried by Debra Mills at Everett Street Café and Gallery in Bryson City, NC.

·       Metropolitan Art Market 2005 – Art flea market juried by Nancy Jean for local and emerging artists in the Twin Cities – Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota.

·       1989 Group Exhibition of Staff Artists at Nantahala Outdoor Center; Watercolors done on extended trips to the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon and Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

Awards:

·       Oil and Water Don’t Mix, Second Place Painting Prize in 2004 WCU Student Art Exhibition juried by Dian Magie, Executive Director, UNC Center for Craft Creativity and Design and Brad Thomas, Director and Curator of the Van Every/Smith Galleries at Davidson College.

·       Dogwood in the Smokies watercolor, Second Place Prize in a 1989 juried emerging artists show in Bryson City, NC.

Classes and publications:

·       Accepted to Western Carolina University Master of Fine Arts program Summer 2007.

·       Presented demonstration Reading Water and Painting Transparent Water at the Blue Ridge Watermedia Society annual meeting on Sept. 11, 2007 in Haywood County, NC.

·       Developed class in Reading Water for the Visual Artist offered through Southwestern Community College continuing education program Fall 2006. Gave the presentation to Swain County Center for the Arts member meeting September 2006.

·       Featured in article, Stream of Consciousness – Therapist’s Paintings Explore Water as Metaphor for Life by Teresa Killian, in Summer 2007 issue of The Magazine of Western Carolina University.

·       Drawing published in LIMINAL 2005 – University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Student Fine Art publication Reclining Nude II, charcoal.

·       Drawing published in NOMAD 2004 – WCU Student Fine Art publication River, pen and ink repeating border design.

·       Drawing published in NOMAD 2003 – WCU Student Fine Art publication Nude, charcoal figure drawing.

Galleries:

·       City Lights Bookstore in Sylva, NC carries cards of painting images.

·       The Cottage Craftsman, and Folkestone Inn, Bryson City, NC carry cards of painting images.

·       The Oaks Gallery in Dillsboro, NC carries cards of painting images.

·       Website: www.phyllisjarvinen.com.