Artist Statement:   In 1969 I moved from Chicago, IL, where I had lived all my life, to Hamilton, NY, a small, rural college town in upstate New York.  I was immediately drawn to the rolling hills, forests, cultivated fields, sprawling farms, wetlands and lakes.  My joy in the beauty of this region, and the values it represents, continues to inspire me and fuel my artwork. 

I started photographing the landscape long before I began painting.  This photographic archive serves as a reminder of the many locations that inspire me.  When I’m ready to begin a new composition, I revisit my favorites and take more pictures.  The majority of these sites are close to home so that I can travel there easily when questions arise.  I then strive to represent through painting the essence, if not the exact fact, of a particular location.

I prefer to work in a series.  Ideas for future paintings invariably arise out of on-going ones.  The first in-depth series I completed was a series of 18 drawings and paintings of a decaying apple tree in an long-abandoned orchard behind my house.   For several years I worked exclusively on these tree studies.  I have also created 13 compositions of a location atop Hamilton Hill Road, near Eaton, NY.  I try to capture the changes in color, light, and atmosphere that occur over time.  Both of these sites, like others I am drawn to, are secluded.  They invoke in me a strong spiritual response and a feeling of closeness to nature.  I strive to reflect this in my work. 

I would like to comment briefly my working methods.  I began working in the medium of soft pastels over 15 years ago.  All my paintings are done in the studio.  I’ve found that this is the best way for me to render the fugitive effects of light and color while also articulating complex detail.  When I begin a piece, I establish the composition lightly with hard pastel on unsized, heavy-weight paper.  As the composition develops, I use softer pastels and work more heavily.  In the early stages I use spray fixative to stabilize the layers and build surface tooth and texture.  The final image is not sprayed so that the colors remain bright.  High-quality soft pastels, once properly framed under glass, are extremely durable and will not darken or fade over time.  

Artist Biography:

Margaret Brenner graduated in 1989 from State Univeristy of New York at Albany where she recived her MFA in studio art in 1989. She studied art at Hamilton College from 1982-86 and has a BS in jouranalism and commications from the University of Illinois, 1965.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

Upstate Landscapes, Smithy-Pioneer Gallery, Cooperstown, NY, August, 2005. 

Invitational Group Exhibition of Madison County Artists, Joseph Scala Gallery, New Woodstock, NY, 2004. 

Upstate Landscapes, Smithy-Pioneer Gallery, Cooperstown, NY, 2003. 

Survey of Contemporary Realism,  Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center, Auburn, NY, 2001

A Survey of Contemporary Realism, Cooperstown Art Association, Cooperstown, NY, 2000 (Curator:  Mary Walsh).

A Rainbow Spectrum of Drawings and Paintings in Pastel, Old Forge Arts Center, NY, 1999 (Curator:  Mary Walsh).

Pastel Landscapes, Smithy-Pioneer Gallery, Cooperstown, NY, 1999.

Invitational Group Exhibition, New Directions in Pastel, Chenango County Council for the Arts, Norwich, NY, 1999.

Artistic License, First Regional Exhibition, Central New York Arts Council, Utica, NY, 1998 (Juror:  Catherine Gottlieb)

Invitational Group Exhibition, Drawing: Thought’s Visible Expression, Gallery of the Department of Art & Art History, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY, 1996  (Curator:  Jim Loveless).

Cooperstown 59th Annual Art Exhibition, Cooperstown, NY, 1994  (Jurors:  Walter Dusenbery, Sondra Freckleton,

and Timothy Sheesley).

Two Person Show (with Vincent Clemente), Kirkland Art Center, Clinton, NY, 1993.

Cooperstown 57th Annual Art Exhibition, Cooperstown, NY, 1992  (Juror:  Rita Dibert).

59th Arnot Art Museum Regional Exhibition, Elmira, NY, 1992  (Jurors:  Sherry French and Ronald Kuchta).

Invitational Group Exhibition, Gardens: Real and Imagined, University Art Gallery, State University of New York,

Albany,  NY, 1992  (Curator: Marijo Dougherty).

One Person Show, Chapman Art Center Gallery, Cazenovia College, Cazenovia, NY, 1991.

One Person Show, Edith Barrett Art Gallery, Utica College of Syracuse University, Utica, NY, 1990.

GRANTS AND AWARDS

Best of Show, Works on Paper, Munson-Williams-Prottor Institute Sidewalk Show, Utica, N.Y., 2003.

Second Prize in Graphics, Cooperstown 59th Annual Art Exhibition, Cooperstown, NY, 1994.

Purchase Award and Best Work on Paper, Chapman Foundation Annual Exhibition, Cazenovia College, Cazenovia,

NY, 1994.

Wright Memorial Prize and the Popular Vote Award, Cooperstown 57th Annual Art Exhibition, Cooperstown, NY,

1992.

Best Representational Work, 59th Arnot Art Museum Regional Exhibition, Elmira, NY, 1992.

Award of Merit in Drawing, Cooperstown 56th Annual Art Exhibition, Cooperstown, NY, 1991.

Individual Artist Grant, Artists Space, New York, NY, 1991.