With a degree in illustration and graphic design, Robin was never much of a painter until recently. She studied under oil portrait artist Marvin Mattleson of New York University before discovering that three small children and paint that stays wet for days might not be the best idea. So freelance illustration it was, until her girls were old enough to paint their own canvases instead of mommy's. S
he finally ventured into the world of fine art in the spring of 2014 at the urging of a friend and fellow artist. Since then she has won several awards, including the Mountain Brook Art Association's Best of Show in the Emerging Artist category and the Executive Director's Award in Shelby County's 6th Annual Juried Art Show. Robin snaps photographs constantly, often using her own children as willing (sometimes unwilling) subjects. Artist Statement:
There is nothing like the smell of oil paint, the ritual of priming a canvas, preparing a palette with color that will eventually become that image racing around in your head. That idea that won't rest until it's been brought into the light in great, sweeping brushstrokes. I'd line them up like soldiers, ready to conquer the white space of my drawing pad. Drawing turned into painting. Observing the people around me became my new game. Capturing the sheer joy of a little boy on a swing, the peacefulness of throwing your fishing line in one last time before the sun goes down, sitting absolutely still with your morning coffee watching a pair of birds twitter that Spring is coming. If I can convey these emotions to my viewers, if they feel something when they stop and look at my paintings, I would consider myself a success.
