About the Artist
Bio
Terry Rafferty has had a lifelong interest in art, with childhood memories of attending museum shows with her father, and entering her first competition at the age of 8. Setting art aside to have a family and career in nursing, she ultimately returned to art, training in metalsmithing at the California College of Arts and going on to get a BA in Visual Arts in Vermont. She has had the pleasure of studying painting and drawing with contemporary artists Cindy Procious, Chris Groves, Mia Bergeron, and Tony Ryder. Her work ranges from highly detailed realism using ‘Old Master’ techniques to urban abstraction, mixing cold wax into the paint and working with industrial tools rather than brushes. Her love of telling stories in her art currently has her exploring myths and fairytales, playing with life beyond the ordinary. Terry is represented by Bowersock Gallery in Provincetown MA and Cole Gallery in Edmonds, Wa. She has received awards for her work, including Best in Show from Oil Painters of America.
Artist's Statement
While at first glance my still lifes may seem to be simply charming vignettes featuring vintage animal figurines, each piece explores the difficulties and experiences of being human and the ethical challenges we face in the modern age. Using real-life issues, I use my paintings to comment on situations through a visual narrative. The objects and creatures I include are treasures I’ve picked up along the way - a particular head tilt or lifted paw can inspire a number of paintings. Once I find the story I want to tell, the challenge of getting the concept from my head onto the canvas remains the most satisfying part of the process. Each painting has personal meaning, but I hope viewers will pick up a thread of the story and weave it into their own experiences.
From a creative point of view I find the intensity of the detailed narrative paintings is best tempered with work that is looser and more poetic in nature. The old buildings and manufacturing facilities that can be found in every community have their own stories to be told, and using completely different tools (cold wax, brayers and palette knives instead of tiny brushes) gives me a way to give them life.
Most recently I have combined the two ways of working into a new series that considers the interactions between humans and animals. I draw on my own experiences to create the narrative, sometimes using the absence of humans to comment on our negative impact, other times using children to show more balanced, hopeful possibilities.
Selected Exhibitions, Invitationals, And Juried Shows
2022 Townsend Atelier Annual Holiday Show, Chattanooga, TN
2022 Anderson Fine Art Holiday Exhibition St. Simons GA
2022 Art & Soul Chattanooga TN
2022 Baylor Uncorked, Chattanooga TN
2021 Townsend Atelier Annual Holiday show, Chattanooga TN
2020 Still Women Run Deep/ Bowersock Gallery, Provincetown MA
2020 Townsend Atelier Annual Holiday Show, Chattanooga, TN
2020 Connections/Townsend Atelier, Chattanooga TN
2019 American Women Artists Spring Online Juried Show
2018 Oil Painters of America National Exhibition/Steamboat Art Museum, Steamboat Springs, CO
2017 Oil Painters of America Eastern Regional Exhibition/Anderson Fine Art, St. Simon, GA
2017 Spectrum, The Hunter Museum, Chattanooga TN
2017 Cats vs Dogs, Robert Lange Studios/The Vendue, Charleston, SC
2017 Under a Vast Sky, Tucson Desert Museum/American Women Artists, Tucson, AZ
2017 Art and Soul, Chattanooga, TN
2017 Artists on the Loose!, Exum Gallery, Chattanooga, TN
2017 Homage Exhibition, Robert Lange Studios/The Vendue, Charleston, SC
2016 Holiday Show, Artists On The Loose, Chattanooga, TN
2016 Lions and Tigers and Bears Exhibition, Robert Lange Studios/The Vendue, Charleston, SC
2016 Annual Still Life Show, Susan Powell Fine Art, Madison, CT
2015 Oil Painters of America Eastern Regional Exhibition, Ekert & Ross Fine Art, Indianapolis, IN
2015 Fur, Feathers and Friends, Haynes Galleries, Nashville, TN
2014 Wings, Chattanooga Tn
2010 Solo Show “Shadow Voices” District 3, Albuquerque, NM
2010 Encantada, Albuquerque, NM
2009 MasterWorks, Albuquerque, NM
2008 Encantada, Albuquerque, NM
Awards
2015 Gold Medal/Best in Show, Oil Painters of America Eastern Regional juried exhibition
2010 Honorable Mention, Encantada, New Mexico
2009 Award of Excellence, MasterWorks of New Mexico
Memberships
Oil Painters of America
American Women Artists
Gallery Representation
Bowersock Gallery, Provincetown, MA
