"My major goal is to evoke a feeling in people who view my paintings:  peacefulness or calmness, happiness or nostalgia.  I want to depict a place that the viewer wants to be, and I do this by trying to concentrate on painting the light or painting the mood throughout my painting process.  I try to capture the moment in time that I felt when I experienced the subject by thinking about it constantly while I paint.  If I can convey the things that I felt when I experienced the subject and convey my excitement, I’m happy about the work and ready to go try to make my next painting an even better one.

As a painter, one of my goals is to produce a well-drawn painting that is arranged so that the viewer’s eye is drawn in to the focal area and moved around the piece. I’ve always loved to draw and I take a lot of time with my initial drawing, because I feel that this is an integral part of every painting.  Without it, the work falls apart, even to a viewer who has had no artistic training. I do not believe that a good painting just “happens;” it is the result of planning, hard work and a lot of practice.  I love to do small thumbnail sketches before I begin a painting, even outdoors.  I also carry my watercolor sketchbook with me when I travel and do small watercolors wherever I am, even from moving vehicles!  These turn out to be some of my favorite paintings, probably because of their immediacy."

Biography

Cecy Turner was born in Dallas, Texas, and received her formal art training at Vanderbilt University and University of North Texas, followed by classes with many nationally known watercolorists and oil painters.  She has been teaching regular watercolor classes for thirty years and also teaches workshops in oil.  She loves to paint a large variety of subjects to continue being challenged with each new painting and she constantly works on her development as an artist.  Her frequent plein air painting sharpens her skills and gives her much pleasure because of her lifelong love of the outdoors. She has been in many solo and group shows in the United States and Japan, and her work is found in many collections, such as Brevard Art Museum, Parry Museum, National Audubon Society and Paralyzed Veterans of America, to name a few.