About the Artist
Pastels by Florence is my way of sharing my interpretation of the beauty I see around me. "Dancing Rose," the featured header for my website, was chosen to be shown in the juried Bloomington, Minnesota Art Center's Members' Show in 2007. Another, "The Bird of Paradise," was chosen for the same show in 2008. In 2004 our family had a three-generation art exhibition at Christ the King Lutheran Church Bloomington, MN. My pastels have also been exhibited at the art gallery at St. Olaf College in Northfield MN, as part of a 2004 show of Art in the Christian Worship Experience.
When I was a girl in elementary school, art usually meant that students outlined and colored in coloring book-type pictures on Fridays. There were no art classes in our high school. I had always wanted to paint but didn't find the time until our family was raised, and I had completed my elementary teaching career.
In 2001 our daughter gave me art materials for Christmas with a note saying, "It's time for you to try art yourself, Mom. Go for it! Love, Joy." In the fall of 2002 I took my first formal art class through community education. I wanted to see if I could paint well enough to take classes at an art center. That class opened doors for me to take many classes at the Bloomington Art Center.
I enjoy working with several types of media, including painting furniture with acrylics and handwriting in calligraphy, but I do most of my work using soft pastels over watercolor underpainting. I paint florals, landscapes, and lake scenes. I have also painted portraits. I even used acrylics to paint Yoda from Star Wars on the front of our grandson's chest of drawers!