Pastel Musings

by Fran Redmon

EXHIBIT STATEMENT

"It can be as simple as the way the afternoon light casts long shadows on a newly mown field, or the feelings conjured by seeing a pastoral scene reminiscent of my days growing up on a working farm."

Fran has a varied background in the visual arts having explored graphic design, printmaking, and a major in studio weaving as a college student. She has a long-time love of photography and capturing the beauty of nature and the surroundings of her native Kentucky and the Bluegrass region of the state.

ARTIST BIO

Fran’s love for the visual arts began at a very young age. From her earliest years and throughout high school she excelled in drawing and painting, won awards, and was encouraged by her high school art teacher and mentor, Rebecca Blair. In high school she learned about commercial printing while working in the cartography division at Rand McNally Publishing in Versailles, Kentucky.

Fran Redmon graduated with a BFA in commercial art and a studio concentration in weaving from Western Kentucky University in 1977. Her first career position was as a graphic artist in the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s Public Information Department. Later, as a marketing specialist, she became one of two employees charged with pioneering the Craft Marketing Program in the newly formed Department of Arts. Fran was promoted to program manager in 1987 and directed the Kentucky Crafted program until her retirement in 2007.

In retirement, Fran has returned to her first love of creating her own art. She was raised in rural Woodford County, Kentucky, the daughter of a tobacco and cattle farmer. Her heritage in agriculture and love of the natural beauty of rural Kentucky is at the root of her inspiration. Looking for a medium suitable for her work setting, she took up pastels, which she feels best enables her to depict her love of nature and the pastoral scenes of Kentucky. Fran has taken classes with several nationally recognized pastel artists. Her pastels have been featured in numerous invitational and juried exhibits, including several with national artists. Her original pastels, prints and cards are available from Completely Kentucky, Frankfort; Art Space, Versailles; ArtHouse Kentucky, Lexington and the Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea.

She is a juried member of the Kentucky Arts Council's Kentucky Crafted Program. Fran Redmon has been elected as a juried Associate Member of the Pastel Society of America (PSA), a 501©3 non-profit educational organization that sets standards of professional excellence in studio practice and educates the public regarding the permanence and beauty of the pastel medium.