Artist’s Bio

Sherry Lynn Felix

Creative artist with a background in Digital Art, photography, cartography, web design, fine art, and commercial art.

Freelance Graphics, Photography, Web Designer and Tutor. New York City, 2012 – Present

  • Photography:
    • Portraits, interiors and more for individuals and businesses.
    • Processing and enhancing digital photographs.
  • Create graphics for individuals and businesses
  • Website designer and webmaster
    • For The Linnaean Society of New York, my own sites and others.
  • Tutor/Tech:
    • Teach how to use PC and applications; i.e., Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop.
    • Computer repair, and software installation.

AECOM’s Environmental Division, New York City, 1998 – 2012

Graphics specialist and cartographer (GIS) for the environmental division of this global engineering and architectural consulting firm. Responsible for development of graphics, cartography, web design and creation, and displays. Utilizing my artistic talents derived from a career in fine arts.

  • Applying creative graphic design to original graphics, layouts and typography for covers, illustrations, and brochures for, proposals, and projects.
  • Award-winning PowerPoint presentations and display boards.
    • Original design concepts, layouts, sometimes with multimedia.
  • Creative digital image enhancement and 3D visualizations.
  • Produce functional and elegant Website Designs.
    • Conceptualize elegant solutions for websites that meet or exceed client needs and expectations.
  • Map creation using GIS to show geographic, demographic, and scientific data.
  • Artistic talents derived from a career in fine arts, commercial art, and photography.

Adjunct Lecturer, and Tutor, 1989-1998

Hunter College, CUNY and C. W. Post, LIU, New York

  • Adjunct lecturer teaching college students introductory Earth Science
    • Geology lab and Geography.
    • Designing own curricula, creating exams and reports.
    • Make grade charts.
    • Test and grade students.
  • Secretarial Assistant and Lab Assistant
    • Maintain the geological collections and displays.
    • Filing student’s records with light typing
    • Assistant publisher of the “GeoNews” newsletter.
    • Designed newsletter using Office and Corel Draw.
  • I worked as a tutor and computer tech.

Park Ranger, Gardener, and Physical Science Instructor Summers of 1989 – 1994

Urban Park Ranger New York City Parks Department

  • Planned and leading nature and historical tours with a partner.
  • Provided information, patrolling, working at events, and radioing for assistance, when required.

Grounds Technician and Gardener in Central Park Conservancy, NY

  • Planting, mowing and park maintenance

Physical Science Instructor at the summer programs for educators at Audubon Education Center, Greenwich, CT.

  • Teaching educators hands on methods using nature to incorporate into the classroom.

Freelance Fine Artist, 1982-1987

  • I made and sold original paintings in acrylic on mostly large canvas, some triptychs.
  • Kept personal and business records, filed business taxes, and purchased supplies and hired assistants as needed.
  • Sold paintings to Robert Aaron Young, Catalda-Ravel, and Circle Fine Arts and private clients.

Murals for Mrs. Jeanne Austin, Atlanta, Georgia, 1987

  • A commission to paint surrealistic landscape murals in Jeanne Austin’s house in Atlanta (wife of the president of Coca-Cola).
  • In addition, some of my paintings hung in the boardrooms of Coca-Cola’s Headquarters, Atlanta.

Circle Fine Arts Gallery, New York City, 1980 –1986

They purchased and sold my paintings.

Writeup for an exhibit at Circle Fine Arts: 

I paint realistically, blending nature and geometry. I enjoy seeing color and subtlety, with a brilliant splash of one hue to catch the eye, and I enhance the color and depth with shadow and light. Using natural objects, I redesign them to flow within the space they’re in… Though I never ‘copy’ nature, I try to capture its exuberance. We all have secret places, gardens of the mind. The painting is like having a “garden” to enter. Nature’s designs may seem chaotic, but I strive to show nature’s forms combining, its balance and symmetry. I never finish exploring any one area of my painting. I am always striving for perfection.

“The paintings of Sherry Felix are beautiful studies of nature, suffused with light that casts intricately patterned shadows of the surrounding environment. With consummate skill, Felix creates subtly balanced and harmonious compositions contrasting the soft curves of natural forms with the precise geometry of manmade objects.

The artist was born in Bethesda, Maryland, in 1948. As a child she traveled extensively throughout Europe and Australia with her mother, also an artist. In 1964, she attended the London School of Fine Arts and, at the age of 16, she had her first showing in a gallery in Chiswick, London. During 1965-‘69, she studied at the Art Students league in New York.”

I served my apprenticeship during my early career working for commercial establishments.  My fellow artists were my best teachers. They taught me art history and explained techniques of ancient as well as modern artists. Painting full-time in many styles and mediums has given my hand the ability to paint what my mind sees.

“Felix attributes her interest in detail and realism to the influence of the paintings of Edward Hopper, Caravaggio, and Andrew Wyeth. However, her subject matter, portraying luxuriant foliage and animal life, is uniquely her own. She achieves her rich, three-dimensional, intricate paintings by building up layer upon layer of acrylic paint on her canvas.”

Exhibit at Pioneer Square Gallery, New York City, 1983

By Lisa Allison, Gallery Director, Pioneer Square Gallery, 314 First Avenue South, New York, NY”

“Pioneer Square Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of paintings by seven artists from New York’s Soho district, which shares Pioneer Square’s avant-garde spirit and enthusiasm for the arts. The artists selected for this show were Elba Damast, Sherry Felix, Kenneth Kaye, Jochen Labriola, Peter Mackie, Michael J. Griffin, and Paul Rogers. Innovative young artists, currently exhibiting their works in Soho and beginning to secure museum credentials. We feel that they are particularly important, and that their works complement the artistic vitality of Pioneer Square. Each approaches his or her subject with unique sensitivity to make a major artistic statement. We believe that, in the coming years, they will continue to exemplify Pioneer Square’s and Soho’s pioneering artistic spirit.”

Robert Aron Young Gallery, New York City, 1983

Robert Aron Young Gallery’s Bio:

“Sherry Lynn Felix is a young woman Artist who was born in Bethesda Maryland. She got her start painting at the Art Students League in New York, then went to London to continue her studies. She spent several years there experimenting with various media at different art schools and was given exhibitions regularly at their annual shows as well as at local London galleries.

Now living in New York, she paints a variety of subjects, reflecting the many facets of her interests and range of her activities.”

I advanced my career in New York by selling my works through commercial companies. I sold about 100 paintings a year at Karl Mann Associates (1970-1977) and Mackie Demast (1978-1982).

I painted realistic plants in stylized rooms, with a play of light and shadow. Light streams across the painting and the shadow of the plant on the wall assumes as much reality as the plant.

My interest in Native American cultures led me to paint detailed renditions of baskets, sometimes placed on tables using the shadows they cast to emphasize their substantiality.

I love classical art and painted dogs and horses, emulating the style of Stubbs and Dutch style floral paintings. I devised a method, and antiquing mediums, to imitate the three-dimensional quality of the oil paint and the patina of age on acrylic paintings.

I also make paintings of cars; I love the flowing lines and reflective qualities.

In addition, I painted backdrops and designs for department stores, such as Bloomingdale’s, with my mentor, Bill Skilling, I design wallpaper, silkscreen paintings, signs, and murals for private clients.

Fine artist at Mackie-Damast Associates, New York City, 1979-1982

  • Created fine art paintings for customers.
  • Reproduced some of my work as silkscreen and lithographic editions.
  • Stretched canvas and ordering and inventorying supplies.

Mackie-Demast helped sell my paintings.

Designed and executed a stage backdrop for the rock band “Steppenwolf”, California, 1977

Fine and commercial artist at Karl Mann Associates, New York City, 1968-1977

  • Made original and “in the style of” paintings:
    • Classical works (antiqued using a method Bill Skilling and I devised), impressionist, tromp-l’oeil, early American, abstract, and modern-realist paintings.
  • Antique signs,
  • sculptures,
  • painted frames, i.e., faux bois, gold leaf, tromp-l’oeil, and mock tortoiseshell. I devised a method for making a mock tortoise-shell finish on paper frames.
  • Working in many different mediums
    • Casein (tempera) on Masonite, oil paint with brush and/or palette knife, and acrylic on canvas.
  • Expertly matching colors.
  • Translating designs into silkscreen reproductions.

As second in command to the principal designer and supervisor, Bill Skilling, I trained new employees in the methods we used. Teaching requires diplomacy as artists may feel their own ways are better. And assessing the individual’s talents to assign the appropriate job.

Art Catalogue, Karl Mann Associates, 1974:

“Art Decoratif is a collection of decorative and fine art; more than 400 subjects of all types, including traditional, contemporary, and abstract paintings and, prints; from a miniature to a mural. For Karl Mann Associates, 232 East 19th Street, New York, NY 10022.

The Art Decorotif Collection was designed by William Skilling, with the assistance of Sherry Felix.

William Skilling: Born 1939, Clyde Valley Scotland. Academic training at The Glasgow School of Art, where he was stimulated by the school’s strong Art Nouveau tradition (the building was designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, one of the early, important Art Nouveau designers). Mr. Skilling spent several years in Paris and Amsterdam, studying and working. His works have included stage design in London and New York as well as commissioned murals for many public areas around the country. Now divides his time between New York and Marbella, Spain.

Sherry Felix: Born 1948, Bethesda, Maryland. She studied at The Art Students League, New York, and London but is mostly self-educated. Before focusing on painting, she led the usual eclectic New York life, working as an artist’s model, made hat racks that looked like trees, and was a Broadway dancer.”

Skills

Artist, Photographer, Graphic artist/designer, and Web Designer. Fine art painter, commercial artist, computer graphics, digital image enhancement, 3D visualizations, Website design, cartographer [GIS], illustrator, brochure designer, presentation designer, sign painter, sculptor, department store displays, and photographer.

Using acrylic, oils, tempera, brushes, and airbrush. Digital art with computer tablet and pen. Adobe CC: Photoshop, Lightroom, Dreamweaver [for websites], Illustrator, InDesign, Corel Painter, Microsoft Office: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and ESRI’s ArcGIS.

Organizations and Interests

  • Art, photographic art, and digital image artistry.
  • Member of The Linnaean Society of New York, NYC Audubon and Sierra Photo NYC.
  • Participation in and teaching bird watching, orienteering, geology, natural science, environmental preservation, and restoration.
  • Birdwatching

Education

  • BA in Geology and graduate studies in Geography, Hunter College, CUNY, New York, NY.
    • Graduated Magna Cum Laude. Dean’s list for six semesters. Phi Beta Kappa member.
    • Completed masters’ courses in Geography with outstanding academic record.
  • Attended Art Students League, New York City and Art classes in London, UK

Sherry Felix artist bio – PDF

Statement