I am a visual artist and poet who has been drawing, painting, and writing since childhood. In the past 15 years I have studied watercolor with Leslie Hershfield at the Noyes Cultural Center in Evanston, IL, oil painting with Ann Ponce in her studio in Chicago, IL and portraiture and the figure under the guidance of Gay Riseborough at Studio 1123, in Evanston, IL

Although I paint a variety of subjects, I have a special interest in portraiture and the figure.  At a young age, I developed a fascination for anatomy and the human body from the works of Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci.  A career in nursing and some study of medical illustration give me a knowledge base from which to work.

In addition to rendering a likeness, I am particularly interested in how posture, body language, and color contribute to establishing a mood or feeling.  Whether I capture the mood of the subject or my own mood, I want to validate the range of human emotions and how our bodies give messages about where our feelings lie. I use similar elements for landscapes in order to capture, not only the forms in nature, but also to create an atmosphere or stir an emotion.

I paint from life, photographs, or a combination of both, using a variety of media including pencil, watercolor, or oil and draw on life experiences to write.

I have exhibited work in numerous group and solo shows locally and nationally, including the Chicago Art Open (IL), Woman Made Gallery (IL), Chowan University Juried Exhibition (NC), Open Space Gallery (PA), Lemon Street Gallery (WI), the Illinois Artisans Program (IL), Marilyn Philby Gallery (IL), the Brubeck Art Gallery (IL),  the Northern National Art Competition at Nicolet College (WI) the Art House (IL), Norris Cultural Arts Center (IL), New Trier High School (IL),  and the Glenview Public Library (IL), and the Morton Grove Public Library (IL).  My poetry has been published in Woman Made Gallery’s Her Mark 2006 Datebook, Our Journey, Sermons in Poetry, Voices, and on the RHINO website.

I have been awarded 2nd and 3rd place in Glenview’s Own at the Glenview Summer Art Fair, Glenview, IL , 2nd place in the 3rd Annual Juried Exhibition at Lemon Street Gallery in Kenosha, and 1st place in the RHINO READERS=WRITERS contest, Evanston, IL (2000).

I am a member of the Portrait Society of America, The National Women’s Museum of Art,, and the Glenview Art League.

www.sandysheagren.com

847.272.0637

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