Press :: Contemporary expressive abstract artist Connie Connally - Plein-air, oil & pastel drawings, paintings, portraits, landscapes

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Connie Connally: Press

	“Familial Faces: Veronica” Atkinson Gallery, Santa Barbara October 4-November 1, 2013 Scene Magazine-October 25, 2013 Santa Barbara News Press By Josef Woodard “A more traditional painting approach, but made intriguing by the tight cropping and “small images”-suitable scale, are Connie Connally’s “Familial Faces” series of in-their-face portraits, cleverly hung so that “Veronica” gazes across the gallery at “Gary.”

	“Six Rising Stars” LewAllen Galleries, Scottsdale May 30-July 7, 2013 LewAllen Galleries Scottsdale presents Six Rising Stars, a selectively curated exhibition of recent paintings by six of its represented artists whose work the gallery believes is of significant merit. Included in this show are pieces by Jesse Blanchard, Connie Connally, Tracy Rocca, Margaret Fitzgerald, Keith Johnston, and Timothy Schmitz. Exhibiting both remarkable creative energy and particular mastery of materials and technique, these younger members of the LewAllen Galleries roster have demonstrated outstanding talent the gallery believes will become increasingly recognized in the art world… Using a palette of color and brushstroke inspired by the natural coastlines and verdure of the California coast and Santa Barbara Mountains, abstract expressionist Connie Connally often works outside, sketching and creating her plein air work before refining the elegant paintings in her studio. Multi-layered surfaces of color morph, coalesce and juxtapose in poetic rhythms that evoke the sense of being in a place of nature’s beauty.

	“Facing Sixty-Shelley” wins Juror’s Award Exhibited in “Small Images” exhibition at Atkinson Gallery, SBCC Juror: Sarah Cunningham, Atkinson Gallery Director Scene Magazine-October 12, 2012 Santa Barbara News Press By Josef Woodard “Connie Connally shows a pair of small, dim-lit portraits, “Facing 60-Mike,” and “Facing 60-Shelley,” a subtle tip of the art-making process toward the theme of graceful aging.


	Installation view of “Full Moon Winter Tide” elemental: WATER Sullivan Goss-An American Gallery Essay by Jeremy Tessmer My painting is included in this exhibition along side mid-twentieth century American legends Lockwood de Forest, Leon Dabo, Betty Lane, Ben Messick, Dan Lutz and Anya Fisher.  Living California legends include Hank Pitcher, Nicole Strasburg and John Nava.


	“Zach at 22” wins Art Council Award The pastel drawing exhibited in “Lift” at Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art Juror: Howard Fox, curator emeritus LACMA Scene Magazine-June 1-7, 2012 Santa Barbara News Press By Josef Woodard "But it’s the hands-on touch that counts with Connie Connally’s pastel “Zach at 22,” a wonderful, ruggedly realized portrait, expressive artistically and in terms of a strong sense of the subject’s personality-whether true or not, we’re inclined to believe."

	Connie has been included in the new publication: International Survey, by Crussell Fine Arts Curated by Pamela Grau, curator, writer and artist.

Interview with Nancy Cohen Israel January 2009	Connie Connally: New Home, New Directions By Nancy Cohen Israel

	CASA Magazine January 29, 2010 Sullivan Goss-An American Gallery Life Like Water By Kerry Methner "Connally does explorative work with an explosive use of color and dynamic brushwork. She communicates the mood of her experiences and layers it with flashes of life." Santa Barbara News Press January 1, 2010 "100 Grand, An Art Spree for You and Me" By Josef Woodard My work was mentioned in the group show write-up as: "Connie Connally's lively and nuanced abstract paintings."

Lemon Lorraine 2007 Finalist for the 2008 Hunting Art Prize	Gallery Guide West January 2008 SPOTLIGHT: MMGalleries presents: Connie Connally "Liquid Line" "Connally has...fearlessly turned landscapes into wonderful abstractions. Her fluid and self-confident stroke, her color palette and expressive gesture make the paintings come alive with movement and energy." Connie Connally: Finalist for the 2008 Hunting Art Prize

	Dallas Modern Luxury, January 2006 Journey Into Abstraction: The artistic evolution of Connie Connally has taken her from figurative to abstract...and the adventure's not over yet By Steve Carter

Thistles and Fire 2002 included in “Finding Your Visual Voice” by Dakota Mitchell and Lee Haroun	Finding Your Visual Voice: A Painter’s Guide to Developing an Artistic Style By Dakota Mitchell and Lee Haroun From Visual to Pure Expression Connie Connally began this painting as she sat by a pond and studied the reflection of a barn. Near the water's edge was a stand of dead thistles which she saw as "thistle bones." When a wind gusted, the pink reflection of the barn on the surface of the pond was stirred into a swirling dance. That transformation inspired Connally, and her painting took on a life of its own. In her words, it "caught fire," and the resulting whirling image is a unique, personal expression of the scene. (Connally had 6 paintings included and described in the book) Austin American-Statesman, September 23, 2000 By Michael Barnes Newer galleries making their mark on Austin Art Scene ...I lingered over Connie Connally's thickly slathered, densely hued oils of sleeping nudes...

	Dallas Observer, Volume 23 Issue 39, 2003 Best Of Dallas Connie Connally named best portrait artist. "Dallas boasts one of the most innovative, creative and most recognized portrait artist in the Southwest. Known for her expressive nature and wide-open personality, Connie Connally paints unique and personal portraits that reveal little nuances and details about her subjects that surprise and delight the people...

People I Know 2000 exhibited in NYC, San Diego, Dallas, Ft. Worth and Midland, TX and Wichita, KS	THE NEW YORK TIMES, June 4 , 2000 Art Reviews/Helen A. Harrison Explorations of the Face, Both Realistic and Fanciful "Face to Face 2"...In contrast to a general approach, Connie Connally examines herself, family members and friends in "People I Know," a group portrait consisting of 12 individual studies in the spirit of Lucien Freud. (Photo of the painting included) Dallas Observer, February 8-14, 2001 Face Time After 25 years of making art for other people, Connie Connally has finally done something for herself By Annabelle Massey Helber

	The Wichita Eagle, Friday, December 7, 2001 By Bud Norman Connally’s large-scale series was a crowd favorite at the opening reception, winning praise from young and old alike. Charles Steiner, juror for the Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art at Wichita State University where Ms. Connally is an alum said his family's favorite painting was "People I Know" His daughter said why it was her favorite, "it is obvious, that it makes us realize we all need each other." He thought that was a nice philosophical reading for the painting.

	Connie Connally has also been reviewed in these publications: The Guide April 7, 2006 The Guide April 2-8, 2004 Review by David Newman: "Portraying Identity," 2002 The Dallas Morning News Guide, May 18-24, 2001 Where Dallas, March 2001 Scene, January 2001 Inside WSU, November 2001 WSU Fine Arts, Winter 2002 The Met, June 2000 The Shocker Magazine, Summer 2000 The Duncan Banner, April 18, 1999 Art Talk, June 1999 TWA Ambassador Magazine, May 1996 Atlanta Homes and Lifestyles, March/April 1993 Featured on TV: WFAA-TV Noon Day News, July 14, 1997 WFAA-TV Good Morning Texas, June 29, 1995 WFAA-TV Spirit of Texas Evening News, June 25, 1994 WAGA-TV Good Day Atlanta, October 25, 1993

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Connie Connally: Press