Over the holidays we will be highlighting a number of members of Buffalo Society of Artists (BSA), so that you might support them by purchasing original works of art. Thanks to Paul Rybarczyk at BSA for helping me put these together. Visit the BSA website to learn more about the institution – one of the oldest continually operating arts organizations in the country. Next up on our list is artist Carol Case Siracuse:
Carol Case Siracuse Bio:
Carol Siracuse was born in Rochester, New York, and grew up in the Northeast, graduating in 1964 with a degree in fine art, primarily printmaking, from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. Moving to Boston, Massachusetts upon graduating, she developed an interest in architecture and was accepted into the Master of Architecture program at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. After 2 ½ years at Harvard, she transferred to Princeton to finish her thesis with Michael Graves.
Her professional architecture practice took many turns over the years since her graduation in 1971, leading her to found her own firm in Northern Chautauqua County in 1980. After 20 years in Chautauqua County, Carol brought her planning skill to Cannon Design where, as an officer and educational planner, she specialized in planning and design for urban public school districts, most notably the Buffalo Public School Reconstruction Projects. Upon retiring in 2010, she has applied her talents to her major interests, creating art with watermedia painting and drawing, and creating in her garden which has been featured in national magazines, on the Garden Walk and in the National Garden Festival. As a leader of the Niagara Frontier Watercolor Society, and as a docent at the Burchfield Penney Art Center, she shares her enthusiasm for all of art and creativity with everyone she meets.
Her work has been exhibited in one-person shows at the Stuyvesent Gallery, EFI, at the Episcopal Church Home in Rochester, NY, and is on display until mid-January, 2013 at the Diva Studio, 1404 Hertel Avenue, Buffalo, NY. Carol also enjoys inviting those interested in purchasing her work to her Elmwood Village home studio. She can be contacted by email at csir@me.com.
Artist Statement:
I have read that our art is a reflection of ourselves and how we “see” life. This means so much more to me today than it would have a few years ago. Since retiring from the practice of architecture, I feel I’ve been reborn as the artist I might have been had I continued with my fine arts pursuits after college. Today I bring 50 years of life experience to my work …What a thrill!… I can express my creative urges and life experience in pen, pencil and watercolor, giving form to my visions and my passions, the landscape of our travels and home environment, especially the City of Buffalo, this amazing place.
I studied printmaking and drawing in college, 50 years ago, under the inspired and gentle guidance of Leonard Baskin. Moving on, I learned to apply my drawing talents to the practice of architecture, studying with Walter Gropius and Michael Graves. I learned that the best ideas from the best architectural talents get nowhere without that architect’s ability to explain his/her ideas on paper for the layman, and for the architectural team.
My challenge today is to create drawings and paintings that combine my love of graphic and linear elements with my new found fascination with color. Today I can “draw on” my background as a printmaker and as an architect, applying these skills to my paintings and journal sketches. This challenge and my creative urges will keep me occupied forever more. What a privilege. My reward is simply contentment.
More Greater Buffalo artists and artisans…
Alejandro Gutierrez, Paul Alico, John Sargent, Deborah Stewart, Pat Pendleton, Kristin Damstetter, Alana Adetola Fajemisin, Sarah and John Cozzemera, Rob Hopkins, Jennifer Seth-Cimini, Elisabeth Strong, Michael Mulley, Patricia Schwimmer, Mikel Doktor, Jerome Greenberg, Elizabeth Leader, Jacqueline Welch, Doreen DeBoth, Joe Cascio, Candace Masters, Iris Kirkwood, Lukia Costello, Michael Morgulis, Julie Leatherbarrow, Chris Liberti, Michael Mararian, Daniel Rodgers, Bruce Adams, Ken Payne, Christina Cooke, Elise Anne Brooks, Frank Cravotta, Jackie Albarella, Gary Melius, Melissa Campbell, Jeff Quigley, Nancy Moran, Vincent Alejandro, Patti Harris, Eileen Graetz, Rita Argen Auerbach