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Cynthia Blair
Spending her childhood summers on an isolated beach house retreat, Cynthia Blair found
her passion in drawing and painting, with a fascination for animals, people, and literary
fantasy. Upon graduating RISD (Rhode Island School of Design) in Illustration, she
experimented and translated her visions in different media, from serigraphs to large scale
interior nightclub murals to computer graphics and web design.
Today, she uses Photoshop to develop and refine painting concepts, often compositing
and manipulating images to bring a heightened sense of reality to her subjects. These are
used as references for the final painting. Pastel remains her favorite medium, for its pure,
luminous color and subtle color variations and texture only achieved through layering.
She has won many awards as a Pastel artist, been published in several prominent art
magazines, and is a signature member of the Pastel Painters Society of Cape Cod and the
Connecticut Pastel Society.
Artist Statement
"Through my paintings I wish to express something more, the intangible center which
transcends the ordinary and illuminates the mythic essence, if you will, which exists
within us, unchanged since we were children. When we were children, we absorbed the
beauty of all around us, touched with a glow of magic conjured by our imaginations. I
wish to bring the viewer back to that time, to experience things, maybe not as they were,
but as we wish to remember them."
Education:
BFA Rhode Island School of Design, Illustration
RISD CE Computer Graphics/Web Design
Awards:
"In Full Bloom" interview, The Artist's Magaine, July 2005
First Place "Affair of the Art" Juried Open Competition, Randall Gallery, Feb 2004, for
"Swept Away"
2nd Place, "Still Life" category, Pastel Journal's Annual 100, out of 3000 entries, for
"Sunflower Solstice I"
Holbein Award for Excellence, Connecticut Pastel Society: "Renaissance In Pastel" for
"Waiting for The Tide", Nov 2002
Juried 3 paintings into PPSCC exhibition "For Pastels Only, on Cape Cod": "Sunset
Sail", "Breakfast on the Patio", and "Reflections", August 2002
Finalist in Pastel International Magazine Competition, "Floral" July 2002 issue for
"Waterlilies"
Juried 3 paintings into Pastel Painters Society of Cape Cod Signature Members Show,
May 2002. "Dinghy Dock II" chosen as exhibition postcard.
Juried into Newport Art Museum Member's Show 2002 for "Koi Pond II"
Memberships:
Signature Member PPSCC (Pastel Painters Society of Cape Cod)
Signature Member CPS (Connecticut Pastel Society)
Artist Member Newport Art Museum
Wickford Art Association
Conanicut Island Art Association
Art League of Rhode Island
cbastudio.com
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