I began to work outside in the mid-sixties, finding a renewed meaning in life walking
and drawing in the winter fields of Colorado. Since then I have traveled, finding rare
islands in Maine, Canada and Scotland, following the brilliance of fall in Colorado, the
Sierras, and the red canyons of Utah. Closer to home I watch the subtle changes on the
coast and hills of Marin. Each of these places in the different seasons and times of
day becomes a metaphor for aspects of myself I need to experience more deeply.
I never get enough of being in nature; it is a connection with a larger, more abundant
reality, at once austere, radiant and gentle.
Waking up in this last decade to the vulnerability of the earth, I adapted my work for use
in the peace and environmental community. The urgent concern for the earth remains,
but under all and most enduring is the deep satisfaction I feel simply being in natural
places. This has led me to work even more outside; the once preliminary studies begun in
the field for larger paintings in the studio are now more often completed on location.
I have come to see this way of working as another way of healing the earth - being
there, seeing it, and loving it. The intimate connection inherent in the process of drawing
and painting becomes more intense as I stay longer in a place. Distinctions in natural
forms become clearer - the changing shape of the creek in fall and spring, the gradual
emergence of buds on bare branches, the poignancy and privilege, day after day,
of watching the last rays of sun give way to twilight.
Painting outside is as exciting and demanding as any other intimate relationship -
the joy of connection, the pain when this connection is lost, and the search for new ways
to communicate. Communication involves not only being there, but finding the equivalent
in paint for the forms and light conditions in each place: the silvery light on the bay
has different requirements than the dense light in the redwood forests. Relative to
each place and time of year I alternate between oil on canvas and mixed media: acrylic
and crayon on paper. Finding the appropriate media, while staying true to my own
necessities of form in the midst of unexpected conditions and overwhelming choices
is constantly challenging, a continuing and vital engagement.
Connie Smith Siegel
Woodacre, California
1990
Pastel
12 x 30 inches, $1200
13 x 41.5 inches, $2200
15 x 40 inches
Pastel
$3000
Pastel
15 x 42.5
$2500
Oil on Board
20 x 15 inches
19 x 22 inches
$1200
Pastel
25 x 18 inches
$1300
Pastel
35 x 17 inches
Born: 1937 Colorado Springs, Colorado
1976 Came to California
EDUCATION
1962 M.F.A., University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado
1958 B.F.A., University of Colorado, Boulder
1959-60 San Francisco Art Institute
1968-90 Long-term work in Sensory Awareness with Charlotte Selver and Charles Brooks
1971 -90 Zen Studies: Naropa Institute, Tassajara , Genjo-ji, Insight Meditation West
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2000,2002 Fairfax Public Library, Fairfax, Ca.
1998,2000 Marin Art Festival, Marin Civic Center, Lagoon Park
83,92,2000 John F. Kennedy University, Orinda, California
1994 Harleen and Allen Gallery, San Francisco
1989 American Zephyr Gallery, San Francisco
1994,1988 Marin County Civic Center, San Rafael, California
1987,84,81, William Sawyer Gallery, San Francisco, (79, 77)
1984 Dominican College, San Rafael
1984 Art and Wholeness Conference, Ft. Mason, S.F., John F. Kennedy University
1984 Steps Toward Sustainability Conference, Ft. Mason, S.F., World College West
1983 Walnut Creek Public Library, Walnut Creek, California
1983 Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, Benefit Concert for PSR
1983, 82 Meeting of the Ways Conference, Ft. Mason Ctr., San Francisco, Stanford University
1981 Mill Valley City Hall, Mill Valley, California
1976 University of Iowa, Iowa City, lowa
1975 Santa Rosa City Hall, Santa Rosa, California
1975 University of California, Santa Cruz
1971 Washington State College, Cheny
1964-71 University of Colorado, Boulder and Denver
1963 -65 Amarillo College, Amarillo, Texas
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2000 What is Art For ?, Oakland Museum, Oakland, Calif.
1992 In the Landscape, Claudia Chapline Gallery, Stinson Beach, Calif.
1992 California Vistas, Syntax Gallery, Palo Alto
1989 20th Century American Landscape Drawings from the Achenbach Foundation
for Graphic Arts, DeYoung Museum, San Francisco
Landscapes from the William Sawyer Gallery, Art Corridor, Menlo Park, CA
Seasons and Places - Six Artists Paint Marin, Jan Holloway Gallery, San Francisco
and San Geronimo Valley Center, Marin County
Works on Paper, William Sawyer Gallery, San Francisco
San Geronimo Valley Artists, Marin County Civic Center and College of Marin
A Decade of Women's Art, Boulder Center for the Visual Arts, Colorado
Response, Artisans Gallery, Mill Valley
Images of Land, Images of Life, Ecology Center, San Francisco
and San Geronimo Valley Art Center
1989 1989
1988
1982,84 1984 1983 1982 1981 1981 1978 1978 1980
The Gift of the Magi, Palo Alto Cultural Center, California
Works in Miniature, Walnut Creek Center Gallery, California
Paintings of the City, Intersection Gallery, San Francisco
American Landscapes, Allport Associates, Larkspur, California
1979 Works of Marin, Allport Associates, Larkspur
1977, 80, 81, 89 Falkirk Annual, Falkirk Cultural Center, San Rafael
1977, 79, 81 San Francisco Art Festival
1973 Landscape into Art/ Six Artists from Colorado, United Bank of Denver
1972 First Colorado Biennial, Denver Art Museum
1966 Ninth Midwest Biennial, Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska
1966 Midwest Annual Exhibition, Nelson Art Museum, Kansas City, Missouri
AWARDS/ COMMISSIONS
1986, 1981, 89 Merit Award, Falkirk Annual, Falkirk Cultural Center, San Rafael
1970 -72 Faculty Fellowship in Painting, University of Colorado
1985 Banner, Peace Center of Marin, Commission from Interarts of Marin
1987 Landscape triptych, 4'x24', Commission from American Savings & Loan, San Jose
1984 Painting, Commission from Crocker Anglo National Bank, San Jose
TEACHING
1978 -90 John F. Kennedy University, Orinda, California
1976 -90 California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco
Ongoing Private Classes: Color Theory, Perception and Drawing
1965 -72 University of Colorado, Denver Center; Assoc. Professor and rotating Chairman
1962 -65 Amarillo College, Amarillo, Texas
1972 -90 Part-time and Visiting Artist positions: Sonoma State University;
University of California, Santa Cruz; Esalen Institute; University of Iowa
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Connie Smith Siegel - CREATION MAGAZINE, "Experiencing and Drawing Nature, 1988
"Drawing and color: A Language of the Natural Self," 1987
AWAKENING IN THE NUCLEAR AGE JOURNAL, "The Artist as Activist,"
ARTISTS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY NEWSLETTER, 1985
LOMI JOURNAL, "Drawing: From Perception to Form," 1983
SENSORY AWARENESS BULLETIN, "Classes in Drawing, I & ll," 1973
Nancy Cushing - MILL VALLEY RECORD, "Art Without any Mannerism," 1987
Phyllis Bragdon - INDEPENDENT JOURNAL, "Messages Put into Canvases," 1984
Jan Markle - POINT REYES LIGHT, "Woodacre's Siegel, Painter with a Cause," 1985
Vicki Groninger - BOULDER DAILY CAMERA, Feature Article, Focus Section, 1982
Andre Marechal Workman - ARTWEEK, "Impressionism & Formalism Integrated", 1981
Phyllis Bragdon - INDEPENDENT JOURNAL, "Siegel's Detail Spawns Beauty," 1981
Thomas Albright - SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, At the Galleries Section, 1979
Alfred Frankenstein - SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, At the Galleries Section, 1977
Robert MacDonald - ARTWEEK, "The Look and Feel of Place," 1977
Beverly Cassell - ARTWEEK, "Land, Water, Sky," 1975
Duncan Pollock - ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, "Landscape Painting, It's an Art in Itself," 1974
Duncan Pollock - ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, "Contrasting Two Artists," 1969
Rena Andrews - DENVER POST, "The Fine Arts: Connie Siegel," 1969
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco
San Francisco International Airport
Oakland Museum, Oakland, California
Hastings College of the Law, San Francisco
Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, Santa Rosa and Oakland, California
Private Collectors: Duncan Pollock; Olga Dollar; Natalie Rogers; Roger and Keiko Keyes
REPRESENTED B
Robert Allen Gallery, San Francisco, Switzer Gallery, Tiburon, Calif.