JUDITH SOWA

 

"My interest in Vermeer bagan in college. My class was given an assignment to do a pastiche. It was a 2 part project. First we were asked to pick an artist we admired and using that artist's style, make a painting with an original composition. The second part was to pick a painting of another artist and copy the painting in our style of painting. For the first part, I chose Toulouse-Latrec and created my own cabaret scene. For the 2nd part of the assignment, I chose the Milkmaid by Vermeer and began to copy it in my style of painting. This is where my love and appreciation of Vermeer's work began.

I set aside my interest in Vermeer for many years of abstract painting, but was eventually drawn back to Vermeer. I took another look at the Milkmaid and from there, went on to paint most of the figures from Vermeer's paintings.

My work is still a pastiche -- which Webster defines as "a literary, artistic, musical or architectural work that imitates the style of previous work."

 

 

Judith Sowa received her BFA from the University of Illinois (Champaign/Urbana) and her MA from Bradley University in Illinois. Her work has been exhibited in many solo and group exhibitions in New England and is held in many private collections including the Federal Reserve Bank in Boston, MA. She currently resides and paints in Ogunquit, ME.

 

Press:

Judith Sowa: Vermeer Revisited by Rick Agran
Artscope Magazine, March/April 2009.