Cheryl Pettigrew

A FEW THINGS ABOUT THE ARTIST

1. What do you do when you’re not making art? (Day job etc...).

I have a job that is 40 hours a week. In my off time I usually paint or sketch and of course find time to spend with my grandkids.

2. Why do you make art?

Like most artists I make art because it is something that is inside me that needs to be expressed. Like hearing your favorite song that you just can’t help but sing to, I just can’t help putting ideas onto canvas.

3. What inspires you?

Some of the things that inspire me the most are the area where I live, the rivers, the lakes, the mountains and forests. I also enjoy poring through old books of paintings and sculptures of artists thru the centuries.

4. What/who are your influences?

My biggest influences I would have to say are the impressionists. Although I learned to draw by copying Rembrandt from a set of encyclopedias I had as a child, the impressionists and post impressionists are the ones who taught me to paint. Degas, Monet, Van Gogh, Cezanne and Morisot have been some of my favorites to learn how to use oil paints.

5. If you could meet anyone dead or alive who would it be?

This is a tough question. There’s so many people I would like to sit down and talk to. Staying with artists I have to choose Degas. I would love to sit and watch him work to see how he managed to make the interesting textures in his works. I love his paintings of the women!