Purely Spectral by Brenda Benson
Our May guest artist, Joy Yarbrough cuts paper. Our featured member artist, Brenda Benson, also cuts paper—but in a very different way. Her intricate compositions consist of complex cut, colored, folded squares assembled into a large brilliantly constructed grid—in a shadow box-like format that draws you into their story.
A Hannibal native, Truman University art graduate, teacher for 26 years, and mother of four, Brenda and her family went, in 2006, to see the Dale Chihuly blown glass exhibit at the Missouri Botanical Gardens. Seeing glass, art, sculpture, architecture, plants, water—all intertwined into exquisite beauty—she hardly wait to get home to launch a wholly new form of art.
Today, combining watercolor, paper, intricate cuttings, folding, she opens doors to a new world, not only for herself but for those who simply love her work. Recently she won third place in a national competition held annually by the Cloth Paper Scissors magazine, where her work was featured. On May 3, Brenda was notified by the prestigious Watercolor USA competition that her painting, Purely Spectral, pictured above, had been awarded the top prize of $3000. Her other accepted entry was presented with an Award of Execellence. Both works will be on exhibit at the Springfield Art Museum in Springfield, MO opening with a reception on June 2 from 5:30 until 7:00 and running through August 27.
Congratulations Brenda!