November 2021     Issue 1         

 

                                      A Not So Tiny Story
 

by Artist Mimi Cernyar Fox

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As an artist I work to arrive at a more intense expressiveness of our times, to get at the depth of things because I know myself to be in these depths.
 

My vision is intuitive and out of subjective feeling. After years of painting and exploring my tools, I have a special feel for the materials I use. I have experimented with a variety of traditional and non-traditional media to encompass formal means of physiological content, subject matter and excitement.
 

My canvases are a dynamic organization of forces, in the plastic relationships of color and space, in the underplay of controlled planes. I use the figure as a volume in space and to confront the viewer head on. The finished painting is an entity in itself of plane arrangement as plastic expression.
 

My life has been devoted to the visual arts. Trained in the traditional sense, I received my bachelor's degree at Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland Oregon. While I was attending the college, I would often sing at the Jazz Quarry with vocalist Neil Diamond and the Eddie Weed band. The experience impacted me and continues to inspire my painting in the form of expressive movement. Teaching included Understanding Art, Art History and studio courses for both Pacific Northwest College of Art and Eastern OR State University. I received a Masters of Fine Arts degree from Washington State University and am well known in the Pacific Northwest as a visual artist and art teacher.

 

After I finished graduate school, I studied with the Benedictine priests of St. Benedict / Mt. Angel Oregon where I was enrolled in studies of Philosophy and Theology. I also taught drawing and painting to the seminarians there.

 

Growing up on a farm had many responsibilities. We had animals to take care of, we rode horses, and I took care of my younger brothers and sisters while my father was at work. The experience left me with a deep respect for nature and a compassionate understanding of creation and this too inspires the art I make. My experiences living and working with the land on the farm and being part of a large family continues to supply me with inspiration.