LXS Cynthia Brenneman
Fabric of Life
encaustic paintings by CYNTHIA BRENNEMAN, Carson City
February 4 – February 22, 2019
The Fabric of Life features encaustic paintings by Cynthia Brenneman, an artist living and working in Carson City. Her passion for creating works of art began at a young age and has continued throughout her life. Brenneman explains, “My mother loved to sew. One of my earliest memories was standing in my crib holding an afghan of many colors that my mother had made. I don’t sew like my mother, but I love fabric. Fabrics creep into my paintings. I clip and save photos of fabric, I buy fabric, and I make up my own fabric designs when nothing else fits quite right in a painting.”
Despite graduating from Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey with a degree in Fine Arts, she was not familiar with “The Intimists” —French artists who created paintings and drawing of quiet domestic scenes—until she became one. Her discovery of the French lntimist Edouard Vuillard and London-based American artist Kaffe Fassett propelled her in the direction of becoming an lntimists painter. Her use of encaustic painting involves using heated beeswax to which colored pigments are added. The liquid or paste is then applied to the surface—usually prepared work, though canvas and other materials are often used. According to Brenneman, “encaustic painting has allowed me to complete my vision and capture my mother’s love of fabric and sewing. I paint the everyday scenes of life around me expressed in the bold patterns of color that only encaustic paints can conjure up.”
Child of a Navy father, Benneman followed in his footsteps with a 20-year naval career that took her to Spain, California, Virginia, and Florida. Life in the Navy included a variety of jobs from managing a software project, administration of Naval Station San Diego, and commanding officer of a unit on Treasure Island. She has been a professional artist for over ten years following her career as a Navy Line Officer. A past member of the San Diego Watercolor Society, she has received numerous awards for her paintings. Since purchasing the 140-year-old Bliss Mansion in Carson City’s Historic District, her career as an artist has slowed down. She lives there with her husband Steve, a retired engineer and sports car enthusiast, and their three dogs. She currently manages the Carson City Arts & Culture Coalition’s website when she is not gardening, painting furniture, planning a trip, or opening the house for the Arts Coalition, the Jazz & Beyond Music Festival, or the Carson City Historical Society. She has also been on the Board of the Capital City Arts Initiative and has managed three Arts Coalition artist projects: a 50 ft. photo banner displayed in downtown Carson City, a painted parasol project with a Nevada Day Float, and a painted mannequin project. As an arts advocate, her primary goal is to involve other artists in citywide projects.
For more information about Cynthia Brenneman or to purchase artwork, email her at heart_of_a_gypsy@icloud.com
