Recently I was interview with Alleen Manning for the Mariemont Town Crier. Below is the Q and A that was published in the newspaper.

Q.  How long have you been making art?
A.  I started in an oil painting class at the age of seven.

Q.Where did you grow up?
A.     Cincinnati Ohio

 
 Q. Did you have an art teacher in school? Did your parents support your artistic leanings? Were there any special teachers that you can remember that encouraged you to continue creating art? What do you stress in your own classes for young people?
A.   An art teacher in Kindergarden told my mother that I put details on people, such as fingers on the hands. She told her she had not seen a student who would put effort in the details, and that she thought I would benefit from art lessons.        
Yes, my parents have always supported my artistic education and career.  A teacher that stands out that had encouraged me was the late Charlie Harper, a teacher I had as a student at the Art Academy of Cincinnati.  The main thing I stress in my students is to not fear making art.  With a learning curve of learning new techniques of oil painting, fear seems to creep in.  Fear becomes the enemy in the creating process.

Q. What do you want people to think about when they view your art?
A.  I want the viewer to find moments of rest while viewing my work.

Q. What is your favorite medium? Your favorite subject matter-why?
A. I enjoy oil painting.  However, I am only an artist because of the variety of mediums and subject matter.  Currently my concentration is on figurative works and portraiture. However I also enjoy plein air landscape painting and still lifes. I believe mastering different subject matters as well as a variety of mediums contributes to making a successful painting as well as a better artist.

Q. Who are your favorite artists from the past? Why?
A. John Singer Sargent, American, Joaquin Sorolla, Russian born artist Nicolai Fechin, and Swedish artist Andres Zorn. All of these painters were value painters.  They had a freshness to their collections of work.  Their style was  brushy realism, the style that I have always pursued.

Q. Where do you see your work and your own personal growth going in the future? New materials, subject matter, etc .
A. I have just finished a collection a work for my solo show titled, " Discovering Peaceful Places." I am currently working on another body of work for gallery representation. In addition, I would like to continue with the recent commissions I have received after my solo show.  I feel like I am always a student, and I have not scratch the surface on the information I could receive from the masters.

Q.  Do you have any thoughts or words of encouragement to give young people who want to pursue art as a career?
.A. Do not shy away from oil painting classes due because you are beginner. Most of the students are beginners. I  teach a three color method of oil painting.  You can achieve all flesh tones and all colors you need from a limited palette.With this method, you can concentrate on getting the values correct. And then a likeness of the subject matter will naturally evolve. I encourage all my students that the only way to learn to master any kind of painting is to paint from life. In my classes, the students paint from a still life set up, a clothed model or plein air painting.  A student can receive so much more information from life painting, rather then relying on the use of photography.