Alumna Exhibits Art at Westminster College

A portrait exhibition by Christine Salo Swann, a 1990 Westminster College graduate from Gibsonia, is on display at the Westminster College Art Gallery until Oct. 22.  The gallery is open Monday-Saturday, 9 a.m.-9 p.m., and Sunday, noon-9 p.m.

 "I've always known I would be an artist," Swann said.  "My earliest memory is of drawing crooked smiley faces and putting the nose right between the eyes, and my mother telling me to 'draw what you see.'"

 "This fascination has taken me on a diverse path, and my obsession now is faces," Swann continued.  "Subtle nuances that set one child apart from another, or wrinkles of life in a wise face.  Although I still rely on that first art lesson, 'draw what you see,' I now strive to see beyond a likeness into another soul, another outlook on this visual world and try to recreate the entire union of elements and invite the viewer to stop into see what I have seen from a face to face."

 Swann is an artist and illustrator whose sensitive paintings of children have led her to concentrate full-time on commissioned portraits.  She is an award-winning artist on the regional, national, and international level, and has been featured in the International Artist Magazine as a Master Portrait Painter.  Nominated as Emerging Artist of the Year by the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Swann also teaches workshops on portraiture.  She is a member of the Pittsburgh Watercolor society, Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, and the Pittsburgh Society of Illustrators.

 Westminster College will also host a gallery talk and reception Wednesday, Oct. 13, at 7 p.m., where Swann will talk more about the exhibit.

 For more information, contact Peggy Cox, professor of art and director of the Westminster College Art Gallery, at (724) 946-7266 or e-mail pcox@westminster.edu.