Artist Spotlight: Cheryl Schlenker

Red Bike

"Last spring Annie Strack was kind enough to share some of your Faux Squirrel 'Liner Aux Reservoir' Dynasty brushes with our group: the Board of Directors of the Philadelphia Water Color Society (PWCS.)  I found that I could actually write the whole alphabet with the point and not have to refill the brush. This is especially handy for signing my name which has 9 letters! ~Cheryl Schlenker

Retired teacher and Pennsylvania artist, Cheryl Schlenker, painted throughout her teaching years as a hobby, but came back to painting full force upon retirement.  Taking classes at the local art center gave Cheryl inclination to try watercolor, though at the time,  she felt more in control with acrylic.  However, Cheryl took time to get to know other teachers and students over several courses and years, and found a mentor-artist in Nancy Barch.  "I was introduced to liquid acrylics and how to stretch both watercolor and acrylic to their advantage, even add the elements of collage, pastel, and pencil.  This suits my style because I love drawing, and the superimposing line on paint is exciting to me, she shares.  "I keep a rolling cart full of watercolor paints, acrylic paint tubes and bottles, pastels, colored pencils, charcoal, collage materials, gel mediums, inks, water soluble pencils and crayons, and gesso.  I love working with different combinations of these items and am always discovering new effects." 

Part of the Tunisia Series

Cheryl works in the values of the composition, abstracting the shapes of her subject, while maintaining their reality.  Her vivid and poignant style reflects the work of master painter Paul Cezanne, while also mirroring modern subjects and the natural world around her, keeping her work beautifully representational.  Cheryl's work lends itself to large flat brushes, for the bright shapes and thin lines as well as loose washes she creates.  

Creekside Again

While Cheryl spends at least 2 days a week painting with others in a group studio, she also fills her time as the current Philadelphia Watercolor Society President, where she is able to meet other great painters and support artists in her community.  She is also active in the Cecil County Arts League, the Chestertown River Arts, and the Pennsylvania Watercolor Society among others, so she keeps busy entering group shows and traveling to paint and exhibit.

Cheryl's work is currently hanging at the Penn Medical facility with the Delaware Valley Art League and at the Brynn Mawr Hospital's Medical Arts Pavilion, and at the Philadelphia professional soccer stadium.  To see more of Cheryl's work online, view her blog at www.cherylschlenker.blogspot.com

Keep Painting,
Karyn

For more brush information, check out the Dynasty Brush website.