Nell Bednarz - "Danish Blue"
Web: www.nellbednarz.com or www.wildlifeartgallery.net/nbednarz
E-mail: mike-nell@consolidated.net
Reared on a cotton farm near Lubbock, Texas, Nell O’Briant Bednarz studied wildlife and photography while earning a degree in agronomy from Texas Tech University (1980). She worked as a conservationist (USDA) for several years, and her family lived overseas from 1988-1999. With each phase of life, and with each new community, Bednarz has continually explored the influences of nature and cultural heritage on our lives. The foundation of her style was laid by her training in both middle and high school art classes, but she is primarily self-educated. Her mother, Wilma Garnett O'Briant, introduced her to oil painting by age 16, and that was her medium of choice for about a dozen years. She began commissioned work in the early 1980s.
Having viewed artists' works in museums and galleries around the world, literally hundreds of influences inform her artwork -- the most influential artists include Albrecht Dürer, Gertie Paez Pate, Sofonisba Anguissola, Georgia O’Keefe, J.M.W. Turner, Gustav Klimt, Deborah L. Spiller, Charles Ewing, Julian Onderdonk, and Yves Klein. Life overseas provided her many opportunities for learning and exhibition, but the lifestyle and life-with-babies made working in oils difficult. Photography, colored pencils, pen-and-ink, and pastel pencils became her preferred media. She was a participating photographic artist of the international group Friends of Creative Monochrome and received a merit award for her work. Since her return to Texas in 1999, she also paints with acrylics on canvas or paper, works in pastel on panel, and draws/paints on scratchboard with India ink. She is currently exploring sculpture and assemblage. Bednarz began teaching drawing, painting, and scratchboard techniques in spring 2006.
This artist is committed to creating art that honors the Creator and his Creation. Over the years, her art, photography, and writing have been viewed and published in Europe, the Middle East, Australia, South America, and the US. She currently participates in regional and international exhibitions as an artist member of the Brazos Valley Art League and Katy Area Artists, including area Lone Star Art Guild shows. Bednarz is Founding Director of Katy Area Artists (KAA), and 2009-2011Secretary of Lone Star Art Guild. She teaches private drawing and painting lessons in her studio.
Among her accomplishments, her art was accepted into the inaugural Artisans in Nature Jubilee Art Exhibition for April 2005, the Pastel Society of Southeast Texas 2005 International Exhibition, and the Live Oak Art Center 2006 Exhibition (Columbus, Texas). Nell Bednarz received the H.L.P. Moore Memorial Award from the Brenham Fine Arts League in February 2007. Her art has been featured in solo and dual exhibitions in 2007-2010 at the Brazos Center, Bryan, Texas, and at the College Station Conference Center, College Station, Texas. Her wildlife art was also featured recently at the California Living Museum and the Lancaster Museum/Art Gallery in Lancaster, California. She is now preparing for exhibitions in Ft. Worth, Sugar Land, Katy, Houston, College Station, and Bellville.
Bednarz demonstrates her techniques in the use of Ampersand’s Claybord Black (scratchboard), Aquabord, and Pastelbord, drawing, painting, nature photography and other topics for art leagues in southeastern Texas, as well as judging art events for schools and professional art groups. Her artwork has been featured in membership drives and fundraising efforts for the Arabian Leopard Trust, Audubon Venezuela, VAAUW-International Association of University Women, Nature Conservancy (Texas), Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network, and many local charities. Her work may be found in private collections in the US, Venezuela, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, and Europe, and she is represented by Holland Street Gallery in Bellville, Texas.
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