This month at Tomato Head the walls feature a broad assortment of work from artist Sheila Lutringer. It’s an intriguing exhibit that includes mostly acrylics and some pencil, but the subjects are eclectic and run the gamut from self-portrait to pie – all of which reflect the artist’s broad range of interests and inspirations (and a few of our own).
The pieces vary in size, but one near constant is a vivid sense of color and detail. She says “I love color and movement. I’m using a lot of the color spectrum, but at some point, I’d like to work with a more limited palette. Sometimes less is more, but right now, there is a ton of color. It’s part of my current journey to wherever the next visual stop is.“
Her style is generally varied, though Sheila opines that “My work at The Tomato Head really is the best reflection of what I’ve been doing artistically lately. Pieces like “Blue Thoughts” and “Peridot” are my favorites. Mostly I describe my style as “hand-drawn.” Cross-hatching and other shading techniques, as well as the layering of color, are really interesting to me right now. There is a looseness I’m trying to control in a lot of my work. There are some tighter pieces where a face is involved or where there are minute details as in a teeny landscape, but in general, there is drawing in my painting.”
Sheila’s one of those lucky people who’s been certain of her vocation from early on; she recalls that “I was the kid who was praised for her art in 1st grade and so decided then and there that she would be an artist. I felt sure of it all my young life.”
Like several of the artists that we’ve featured on our walls, Sheila is keen on encouraging young interest in art: “Mom & Dad always called me their artist. I appreciate that they built a confidence in that.” And that’s something that’s particularly important to her these days because, she says, her constant companion is her 2 year old daughter.
“She loves coloring with her washable markers and crayons. Play-doh is also a favorite medium. It’s amazing to see her improve in her dexterity and imagination each week. Perhaps she has an artistic future, but whatever she does, I hope to be as encouraging to her as my parents were to me. “
