Biography, Education, Selected Exhibitions and Publications

Plein-air painting perfectly incorporates the two loves of my life - art and the outdoors.

Raised in rural Pennsylvania, climbing trees, hiding in hayfields, paddling the Susquehanna River, hunting spiders and wild strawberries, I spent more time under the lilac bush than in front of the TV. More than once I rode my bicycle too far and had to phone my parents to come retrieve me with the car. I still love cruising the back roads... only now, I'm scanning the pastures for a painting spot. When I find the perfect scene, I set up my easel, drag my boxes of pastels out of my car trunk and work intensely for a few hours before the light changes. I love the challenge of painting outdoors; trying to capture a feeling amidst biting insects, easel-toppling winds, blistering sun. These elements of weather and environment, along with the shapes and colors laid out on the landscape around me, come together on my paper to capture the dynamic of the day.

Other days I stay in my quiet studio with a pot of flowers on my drawing board, watercolors and brushes at hand, looking for design, hue, detail, pattern, glow. Trying to make an exciting painting is always a challenge; each one has new problems to solve and teaches me new lessons about art. Whatever the locale, subject or medium, all my paintings come from personal experience.

Influences: Nell Blaine, Georgia O'Keeffe, Fern Coppidge, Emily Carr, Frida Kahlo. Many of the French & American Impressionists as well as Wolf Kahn and John Singer Sargeant. All of my teachers, especially Peter Layman, my gifted high school art teacher who subversively encouraged me to pursue a career in art. It is so important to have those who really believe in you. My husband, Michael Poster, has been a constant source of advice and encouragement in matters both artistic and financial. My daughter, Zoe Poster, unfailingly loves the paintings of mine that I am most enthralled with, too; those that may escape the attention of others.

I have been holding Open Studio shows here for 26 years. They have gradually become my main exhibition venue. I enjoy welcoming people to my studio and garden. Visitors see the places the paintings were created and talk with me about the process. My two regularly scheduled annual events are the week of July Fourth and the long Columbus Day Weekend in October. In 2005, I added a winter exhibit. Upcoming exhibits. photos by Michael Poster

Education back to top

Exhibitons back to top
*solo exhibitions
***award

Affiliations back to top
I am a signature member of International Plein Air Painters and the Pennsylvania En Plein Air Society. I hold associate memberships in Landscape Artists International & Pastel Society of America.

I have been director of the Artists' Open House Weekend:studio tours in Susquehanna County for twelve years.

For three years I was an invited participant in The Central Park Paintout in New York City. In 2008 I have been invited to participate in Door County Plein Air Festival in Wisconsin and juried into the Wayne PA Plein Air Festival.