Loon Feather | Mixed Media on Yupo Paper | 11" x 14" | 2016
Flying Beetle | Mixed Media on Yupo Paper | 11" x 14" | 2016
Artist Statement: I am interested in drawing as a way of studying and enjoying a subject and using pencil lines as the initial structure for painting. In my work, drawing also represents a way of inventing, planning, creating and engineering new hybrid “creatures”—little flying worlds of human construction mixed with nature. I like to ask the question, “What would it look like if God designed power lines or if airplanes had moth wings?”
Gretchen Warsen grew up in rural Maine where the weather and raw landscape made their impression on her and continue to be a source of inspiration. In 1996, Gretchen graduated from Bates College as a Studio Art major and spent part of her junior year at the Tyler School of Art in Rome. After the birth of her first daughter in 2002, she left a graphic design job to become a full-time mom, but made painting more of a priority in 2012. Last year, her mixed-media painting, “Foggy Morning” won Best in Show at the 2016 Westford Parish Center for the Arts Regional Art Event. Also in 2016, her acrylic painting, “Nantucket Sails” was accepted in the first-annual juried exhibit of the Milton Art Center, and she had her first solo show at the Epsom Public Library. Now, as an abstract painter, freelance graphic designer, and full-time mom, she lives in Westford, Massachusetts with her husband, two girls, and several pets.