When it comes to my art, I am a late bloomer. The path has been a long and crooked one. I was raised in St. Louis, where I took every art course offered by my high school. I went to the University of Missouri- Columbia with a declared major in art. However, when I saw what the other students could do I gave it up, thinking I was not artistically talented. I was 19 years old. I could not see it then, but now, I consider this one of the biggest mistakes of my life!

I took a long break from college and worked as an administrative assistant and bartender. I had a successful wallpapering business also. It was during this time that I learned photography, which would later contribute to my return to painting and drawing. My father, Jasper Forrest McFarland, who was a gifted artist, passed away in 1993 and I inherited all of his art supplies. Tucked away in storage in the years after his death, they were calling to me, but for various reasons, the time was just not right for me to nurture my artistic side until later in my life.

When I was in my thirties I followed my love of birds and wildlife and returned to school to earn a degree in Wildlife Management. I worked as a natural history biologist seasonally for 8 years. Because I was not able to find permanent employment as a biologist, I again returned to school to become a physical therapist assistant. I worked as a PTA until my mother-in-law, Bertha, who had Alzheimer's disease, became unable to live alone. Bertha came to live with me and my husband in 1998 and I quit my job to spend the next 8 years caring for her in our home. The decision to stop working and stay home with Bertha was a scary and agonizing one, but it turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made because it was during the time I cared for her that I took up art again. I was 47 years old. It had been 28 years since I gave up. What now?

My father always told me I could learn everything I needed to know to be a good artist by reading and practice. Although our relationship was strained at best, I do remember feeling close to him when I sat by his side, watching him paint a mural on the wall of our living room, asking endless questions, and getting insightful answers that stuck in my mind. So, while I was home caring for Bertha, I took his advice to heart and started reading a lot about art history and technique. I pulled out the supplies he left me from their hiding place in the basement and began drawing and experimenting. By this time, the internet had emerged as a valuable resource and I started using it too. Slowly, steadily, and with increasing excitement, I applied what I learned. I took some drawing classes and a watercolor class, but it was when I took a pastel class at the local vo-tech that things really began to happen quickly.

To my surprise, I had brief "eureka" moments of seeing like an artist - moments that I thought were not in my ability 28 years before. I partially attribute this to my experience with photography over the years. Those moments came more and more often. Over the next few years, I began attending more in-depth workshops with pastel masters and entered pieces in the local juried shows and accumulated some honorable mention awards. In September of 2006, Bertha passed away and my dear husband, my biggest supporter, did not press me to get a job but encouraged me to work as an artist. I was off and running! Norm is a great husband!

I especially enjoy competing in plein air competitions and am proud to say I have taken home a respectable number of awards from them over the years. I also love painting portraits of people and pets and have won awards for my work in that genre also.

I give private lessons in my studio and teach workshops too.

ARTIST STATEMENT

I feel a responsibility as an artist to evoke an emotional response in the viewer of my work. I choose subjects from nature that move me in a way that allows me to proceed from instinct rather than rational thinking - that is, in a visceral way. By using this visceral reaction to render what I see, I hope that the leap we must make from 3 dimensions to 2 becomes a non-issue and will put the viewer in that particular place at that particular moment in time. Nature's grandeur and creatures provide me with beautiful form, color, and light. I experience joy while painting with pastels in particular because those colors and light are so impeccably achieved by layering and juxtaposing different pastels on various surfaces.

AWARDS AND HONORS

2019  Honorable Mention, Gateway Pastel Artists Summer Show - "Thank You Morning Sun" - Pastel

2019  Honorable Mention, Golden Hills Plein Air - "To the Land of Lincoln" - Pastel

2019   First Place, Quick Paint - Steelville, Missouri Plein Air - "Wildflower Country Road" - Pastel

2018  Honorable Mention, Arts Rolla Annual Juried Show - "View to the Gravel Bar" - Pastel

2018  Honorable Mention, Nocturne Category - Fairfield, Illinois Plein Air - "Not Dark Yet" - Pastel

2018  Best Other Media, Fairfield, Illinois Plein Air - "325 Million Years" - Pastel

2018  Second Place, Sainte Genevieve, Missouri Plein Air - "Dappled Door"- Pastel

2018  Second Place, Quick Paint , Dexter Michigan Plein Air - "It Flows" - Pastel

2018  Honorable Mention, Steelville Plein Air - "View to the Gravel Bar" - Pastel

2018  Second Place, Nocturne category, Steelville Plein Air - "Good Night at Milt's Place" - Pastel

2018  Third Place, Callaway Plein Air, Portland River View - Pastel

2018  Best In Show, White River Artists Plein Air Event - "After the Rain" - Pastel

2018  Second Place, Mixed Media, Augusta Missouri Plein Air Festival - Moo Are You? Moo moo, Moo moo, Mixed Media

2018  Honorable Mention, Gateway Pastel Artists Annual Show - Over the Creek - Pastel

2017  Purchase Award, Fairfield Plein Air, Fairfield, Illinois - Albion Sunrise - Pastel

2017  Best Pastel, Fairifield Plein Air, Fairfield, Illinois - Albion Sunrise - Pastel

2017  Dot Uding Memorial Award, Ste. Genevieve Plein Air, Before Sunrise - Pastel

2017  Purchase Award, Riverfront Paintoff, St. Charles, Missouri - Morning by the River - Pastel

2017  Honorable Mention, Ste. Genevieve, Missouri Plein Air - Entitlements After Dark - Pastel

2017 Purchase Award, Steelville, Missouri Plein Air - River Time - Pastel

2017  First Place, Steelville, Missouri Plein Air - Meadows Meander - Pastel

2017  Third Place, Steelville, Missouri Plein Air - Good Morning Perkins Farm - Pastel

2017 Honorable Mention, Steelville, Missouri Plein Air - Sunset at Milt's Place - Pastel

2017 FAVE15%, February -Bold Brush Competition - FASO - Sophie's Snowfall - Pastel

2017 Best in Show, Gateway Pastel Artists Annual Show - Brooks Williams, Fret Monster - Pastel

2016 Jury Member - Best of Missouri Hands

2016 Honorable Mention, St. Peters Cultural Arts Center Pastels Show, St. Peters, Missouri - Coastal Twilight

Meditation - Pastel

2016 First Place, St. Peters Cultural Arts Center Pastels Show, St. Peters, Missouri - Oklahoma Beauty - Pastel

2016 Best Pastel, Fairfield Paint Out, Fairfield, Illinois, Take Me Home Country Road - Pastel

2016 First Place, Riverfront Paintoff, St. Charles, Missouri, Main Street Paint - Twilight on Main - Pastel

2016 First Place, Riverfront Paintoff, St. Charles, Missouri, Old St. Charles Quick Paint - Barges at Old

St. Charles - Pastel

2016 Bette Geraghty Memorial Award, Ste. Genevieve, Missouri Plein Air, Twilight in Ste. Genevieve - Pastel

2016 Honorable Mention, Ste. Genevieve, Missouri Plein Air, Works on Paper -Twilight in Ste. Genevieve - Pastel

2016 First Place, Ste. Genevieve, Missouri Plein Air, Twilight Quick Paint - Twilight in Ste. Genevieve - Pastel

2016 First Place, White River Plein Air, Cotter, Arkansas - Bed, Breakfast, and Beauty - Pastel

2016 Third Place, Steelville, Missouri Plein Air, Cedar Spring Farm - Summer Road - Pastel

2016 Third Place, Steelville, Missouri Plein Air, Nocturne - Daybreak at Milt's Place - Pastel

2016 Outstanding Pastel, January Bold Brush Competition - FASO - Max, Lit - Pastel

2015 Award of Excellence, Arts Rolla Annual Juried Show - Brooks Williams, Fret Monster - Pastel

2015 Juror/Judge of Awards, Paint Your County Parks - Foundry Art Center, St. Charles, Missouri

2015 Third Place, Riverfront Paint Off, St. Charles, Missouri - Walkin' with Lewis and Clark - Pastel

2015 Honorable Mention - Cook Station Paint, Steelville, Missouri - Art Goes Better with Coke - Pastel

2015 Honorable Mention - Sunset Quick Paint, Augusta Plein Air Art Festival - Politte's Missouri - Pastel

2015 Second Place (National), Pastel Category - Art Show at the Dog Show National Fine Art Juried

Competition, Sponsored by Purina - Rare Still Moment - Pastel

2015 Jury member - Best of Missouri Hands

2014 Award of Excellence, Arts Rolla Annual Juried Show - Spirits' View - Pastel

2014 First Place, Annual Paint Webster Event - Blackburn's Secret - Pastel

2014 Second Place, Pastel Category (Overall) Augusta Plein Air Art Festival - Dogwood Path

2014 Third Place, Augusta Plein Air Art Festival (daily) - Missouri River Rollin' - Pastel

2014 Third Place, Pastel Category (Overall) Augusta Plein Air Art Festival - Missouri River Rollin'

2014 Third Place, Callaway Plein Air - Ousley's Lake - Pastel

2014 First Place, Sainte Genevieve Plein Air - Goin' to the Chapel - Pastel

2014 Honorable Mention, Steelville Plein Air - Park View of Highway 8 Bridge - Pastel

2014 Honorable Mention, Steelville Plein Air - Red Bluffs - Pastel

2013 Award of Excellence, Arts Rolla Annual Juried Show - Bachelor Dog - Pastel

2013 Second Place, Steelville Plein Air - View from Marsh's Gate - Pastel

2013 Artists' Choice, Riverfront Paint Off, sunset paint - Main Street Gazebo - Oil

2013 Honorable Mention, Augusta Plein Air Art Festival - Jackie's View - Pastel

2013 Honorable Mention, Pastel Category (Overall) Augusta Plein Air - Femme Osage Spring

2012 Best in Show, Arts Rolla Annual Juried Show - Noboleis Vineyard Sunrise - Pastel

2012 Third Place, Arts Rolla Annual Juried Show - Skye - Pastel

2012 First Place, Riverfront Paint Off, water theme paint - Bird Bath - Pastel

2011 Honorable Mention, Gateway Pastel Artist's Show - Purple Mountains Majesty - Pastel

2011 Best in Show, Arts Rolla Annual Juried Show - Down on the Farm - Pastel

2011 Second Place, Arts Rolla Annual Juried Show - McGee - Pastel

2010 Honorable Mention Arts Rolla Juried Show - Fruit Bowl - Colored Pencil

2007 Honorable Mention Arts Rolla Juried Show - Summer’s Bounty – Pastel

2005 Honorable Mention Arts Rolla Juried Show - Mt. Haleakala Summit – Pastel

MEMBERSHIPS AND AFFILIATIONS

Pastel Society of America

International Association of Pastel Societies

Gateway Pastel Society

Best of Missouri Hands

In 2008, Lorraine became an elected member of the Bella Arts Group of award-winning working artists. The leader of this group is the noted watercolorist, Mary Lou Corn of St. James, Missouri.

Solo show 2009, Arts Rolla, Rolla, MO

Solo show 2012, Arts Rolla, Rolla, MO

Bella Arts Group Show - 2013 - Framations Gallery, St. Charles, MO

Bella Arts Group Show - 2014 - Arts Rolla, MO

Illinois River Salon Show - 2015 - Cave Springs, AR

Bella Arts Group Show - 2015 - Arts Rolla, MO