Today we’d like to introduce you to Priscilla Whitlock.
Hi Priscilla, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Being an artist was really just a dream, until it came true, one day at a time, taking a deep breath and practicing. .Could you imagine a concert pianist performing at Carnegie Hall without practicing every day? I received my B.F.A. and began grad school, while working as a TA. During this time I applied and was accepted to be an artist in residence with the U.S. National Park Service on the Outer Banks of N.C. The first of several residencies, they have taken me from Acadia, Maine, Cape Cod, MA, and Virginia to France. My most recent residency was as a printmaker in Venice, Italy and one of my first international collections was in a museum in France. Striving to be more accomplished as a painter, I searched out teachers and have always studied. Then I began to teach classes and workshops. I fell in love with painting the landscape, being close to nature and spending hours on the ocean, in the mountains, the woods, and fields. The sounds of birds, deer walking in the woods, the heat coming up from the sand, the sight of an otter popping up in a small stream, the scent of ripening grapes in an orchard, or the stillness of bees asleep on a flower in the early morning sun are magical. Eventually I entered juried shows and plein air competitions, nationally and internationally. During competitions we artists painted next to one another sharing ideas, materials, life stories. My paintings became larger in scale. Now I spend more time in the studio. Galleries, designers, consultants sell and place the paintings so I don’t always know where they will land or who owns them. I am so happy that a piece of this dream has been splashed around the world.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
As a young mother, my husband was starting his own business. We had a two year old and unexpectedly our twins were born! Three boys under the age of three with no affordable childcare available, I began painting during nap time and painted their portraits. Word of mouth spread to commissions. Wanting to be a better artist I searched for other painters who could teach painting from observation. I was introduced into community of artists whose support and friendship continues to grow today, professionally, intellectually and internationally. My entire focus as an artist changed and I became a landscape painter.
More recently I was in a biking accident and broke my right hand and fingers- the painting hand! Determined not to quit, I bought a big roll of paper and taped it to the wall and drew and painting with my left hand. So lucky, months after surgery I regained the flexibility, and in the meantime had learned to become more abstract. I am grateful for every show, gallery, sale, collector, visitor who comes to see a show and all of my studio time. Creativity comes from work. Galleries go out of business, the economy fluctuates, who knows what will happen next. Celebrate each day and don’t give up.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Today I am working as a professional contemporary landscape painter. When you see my paintings I want you to step into them. I want you to feel as if you are standing right where I am and looking out at a field or the ocean, or in my little garden. Viewpoint is important. I like to paint something that looks fresh, immediate and colorful. Big chunky oil sticks, swipes of paint from the tube, chalk, graphite, fingerprints; all types of marks can all go into the painting to reflect the flow and energy of our earth. Layered with paint, they can take a deeper dive by looking.
When I need a change of pace I have a small Blick press in my living room for monotype printmaking.
I am fortunate in so many ways and a dream that was realized, was being accepted recently, as a printmaker at a residency in Venice, Italy. I am happy to have found the ability to make paintings that bring people joy.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Success is measured in so many ways. One day an unbelievable “pinch me” moment came, when I was one of five women invited to show paintings with the internationally famous artist, Joan Mitchell*. Her work, borrowed from a museum, for our show, was accompanied by guards. Other moments of unexpected happiness were paintings chosen for the U.S. Ambassador’s residence in Latvia, a recent invitation to show with other artists in a gallery I admire, an out of the blue magazine photoshoot sharing my paintings in a designer home, I’d never seen. Big moments come and go, and I gauge success on a day I can solve problems in my studio and continue to love what I do every day.
But I always cry when I receive an email from someone thanking me for my paintings they spent time with, when they were undergoing treatments at a cancer center, or surgeries with their child or loved one.
My future delight is looking forward to being part of a juried show at the Virginia Contemporary Museum this fall and finishing the next painting on my studio easel.
*The show catalogue from “Lady Painters” is archived with the Joan Mitchell Foundation.
Pricing:
- 1. Painting oil on canvas, “Water, Colors” 48×60″ $8000
- 2. Monotype framed $900
Contact Info:
- Website: https://priscillalongwhitlock.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/priscillawhitlockstudio/
- Other: https://www.artworkarchive.com/profile/priscilla-whitlock
Image Credits
Photo of Priscilla by Jen Fariello
