Cheryl's Bio
Cheryl painting at Art in the Garden
Cheryl Peterson Rau has been an artist since childhood. From her grade school painting of the Golden Gate Bridge with five exuberant spans to a more recent painting of a parade of flamingoes, her vision has always been unique and impressionistic. Her work matured as she as she took cover photographs for Young Children and as she pursued her degree in Art, experimenting with printmaking and other media, before graduating from Humboldt State University. After a career in Early Childhood Education, during which she continued to produce watercolors and show her work, she retired, created a studio, and began in earnest her true career as an artist.
For a period her focus was landscapes, painting en plein aire, a French phrase which means “in the open”. Her subjects have included the trees, rivers, beaches and mountains of Humboldt County, California. Weekend workshops through the Mendocino Art Center advanced her exploration of techniques for achieving atmosphere and natural light. She got her first easel and enjoyed painting weekly with a plein aire group.
She considers herself a landscape painter though not all her paintings are landscapes. An interior, a bouquet of flowers, an arrangement of objects or figures, all have the form, value and texture of landscape. Focus on a single flower and it can appear to be hills, valleys and rivers.
Cheryl says, “I feel I am in good company when I am out on the bay or out in my garden with my brushes, paper and paint. These are the times when I am most likely to lose track of time and become wrapped up in the spirit of my subject. I get good painting in these moments.
Her work has appeared at venues including Garden Gate in Arcata, Redwood Art Association in Eureka, Humboldt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Bayside, and at the offices of Stokes, Rowe, Hamer and Kaufman. A show is slated for Plaza in Arcata in 2016.
For a period her focus was landscapes, painting en plein aire, a French phrase which means “in the open”. Her subjects have included the trees, rivers, beaches and mountains of Humboldt County, California. Weekend workshops through the Mendocino Art Center advanced her exploration of techniques for achieving atmosphere and natural light. She got her first easel and enjoyed painting weekly with a plein aire group.
She considers herself a landscape painter though not all her paintings are landscapes. An interior, a bouquet of flowers, an arrangement of objects or figures, all have the form, value and texture of landscape. Focus on a single flower and it can appear to be hills, valleys and rivers.
Cheryl says, “I feel I am in good company when I am out on the bay or out in my garden with my brushes, paper and paint. These are the times when I am most likely to lose track of time and become wrapped up in the spirit of my subject. I get good painting in these moments.
Her work has appeared at venues including Garden Gate in Arcata, Redwood Art Association in Eureka, Humboldt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Bayside, and at the offices of Stokes, Rowe, Hamer and Kaufman. A show is slated for Plaza in Arcata in 2016.
