I have a varied background in the visual arts. I have explored graphic design, printmaking, and a major studio in weaving as a college student. I have a long-time love of photography and capturing the beauty of nature and the surroundings of my native Kentucky and the Bluegrass region of the state. 

 

My return to the visual arts in retirement has led me to working in pastels, a medium with the color, brilliance, and texture that I feel most effectively allows me to interpret the imagery I see in my mind. My inspiration comes from my desire to capture everyday rural scenes and landscapes that have some quality that I relate to on an emotional level. It can be as simple as the way the afternoon light casts long shadows on a newly-mown field, or the feelings conjured by seeing a pastoral scene reminiscent of my days growing up on a working farm. I love the structures associated with agriculture and rural life and the creeks, rivers, country roads, and backwoods readily identifiable with central Kentucky. I have a strong sense of place and find it is always part and parcel of what makes a scene or an image attractive to me. 

 

While a photo can’t fully capture the visual excitement and richness I might see in front of me, I strive to reinterpret it to better reflect the details, colors, light and shadow that drew me to the scene initially. I am striving to be less literal and more expressive in my work as I progress. I am certainly influenced by impressionism. I love a painting that invites you in and I’m particularly drawn to dynamic composition and patterns. I feel I am very much evolving in my technique and how I want to interpret what I see both before me and in my mind’s eye.

 

I enjoy viewers’ reactions to my work. Noting, that while they may not always respond to the subject or technique in the way I myself do, I am intrigued by their responses and what they are moved by. Most important to me is that I am enjoying the process of developing as an artist and being able to more fully realize my vision on paper and the emotion I hope to express when I approach each new work. It is very fulfilling to have returned to my first love. 

 Fran Redmon