Where ART Lives Magazine Volume 2 Number 5 | Page 68

Rhea Groepper Pettit
August 2016
What is your first memory of creating art?
I don’t have a first memory, but I do remember at about age 7 getting out of swimming at camp
because I announced I was going to be an artist when I grew up, and needed to draw instead.
They let me, which was awesome validation from someone other than my parents that I had
talent.
Do you have a favorite piece that you have created? What makes it special to you?
“Fauve Girl,” because this is the direction that I want to go as a painter. I love the push/pull of
loose and tight rendering.
Do you have a favorite artist you that you admire or that inspires you?
So many contemporary painters inspire me: Lita Cabellut, Mark Horst, Alyssa Monks, Francois
Bard, Casey Baugh, Daniel Sprick, Zhaoming Wu, Mia Bergeron, John Larriva, Eloy Morales,
David Kassan, Margaret Bowland, Malcome Lipke, Michael Carson, Marina Dieul, Diane
Hoeptner, Rebecca Haines, Dede Gold, and so many more! I took a workshop with David Shevlino
and admire his abstract portraits very much.
What do you listen to when you paint?
Bruno Mars, Prince, P!ink, and Darius Rucker are in heavy rotation. I’m a ballroom dancer, and
sometimes take a break to bust a move!
What tool in your studio could you not live without?
My IPad! I don’t have the luxury of painting from life, and animal paintings have to be from
photos.
Do you have a favorite subject matter?
People; wild and domestic animals.
What is your preferred medium?
Rich, buttery oils! I started with acrylics and mixed media, which was cool from a design
standpoint, but for portraits, oils work better for me.

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