by Bella Erakko

Maybe it all began with Disney cartoons. Maybe a grandparents love of reading to Terri Shay as a young child, but whatever the alchemy, she became a professional illustrator for American Greetings, a major competitor to Hallmark. As Alliance Art Gallery’s guest artist in August, Terri brings a love of color, drenching her canvases with a vibrant Gauguin beauty that literally leaves the viewer breathless.

She is an artist who can move in many directions—from illustrator skilled in pen and ink to watercolor palette to oil. “Pen and ink are a defining look to my art,” Terri admits, “and I wanted to pursue a masters in drawing.” But her professors suggested that for a masters in teaching, painting would be more versatile. “I was not even sure I liked oil,” she recalls. But then she learned ways to manipulate it, and she succumbed. “I really liked it. It sunk in. I love to do landscapes with heightened exaggerated colors.”

Married with children who failed to recognize that their mother as a freelance illustrator had deadlines, today she teaches at St. Louis University—and continues her creative life as an artist. “I love my time in the studio,” Terri explains, “I could easily cubby and just do art, but teaching keeps things moving, ideas bouncing around.” Her vibrant magically beautiful landscapes are intoxicating to the viewer, and she plans to take children into her world with a book in progress, Millie Counts Her Friends in the Sea

An opening reception will be held on Saturday, August 14 from 4 until 7:00.