Every Picture tells a Story
Some pictures capture a moment that we glance at and quickly move past. Others are filled with expression and suggest a potential backstory. Quite often, that creation process is impacted by timing, when everything just seems to come together as a piece is finished successfully. Every Picture Tells a Story by Roxanne Puga, pastel artist and former teacher librarian, is her inaugural solo exhibition, brimming with expressive portraiture and exceptionally rendered still life work. Everyone is welcome to come and meet (or reacquaint yourself with) the artist at her Opening Reception on Thursday, March 6, 2025, from 5pm to 7pm at the FMAAA Art Center located at 825 Avenue G in Fort Madison, Iowa. This exhibition will be on display for the month of March until Saturday, March 29 and is generously sponsored by FMAAA members Carol and John Janosik in support of their dear friend, Roxanne.
When reminiscing about how she has grown into an artist, Puga reflects that she has always been attracted to art fundamentals like color, composition, shape and texture. However, while taking art classes with “some really great teachers over the years,” including Sandy Meyer, John Preston, and Carleen Atwater (the February exhibitor at the FMAAA Art Center) provided opportunity to build a solid art foundation, at that time she rarely finished any pieces. “When the class was over, I never got back to it or I wasn’t happy with my work and threw it away,” says Puga. She continues, “It wasn’t until I was introduced to pastels by Gin Lammert that I felt like I found my medium.” While she continued to be sporadic about painting, spending more time quilting at that point, when she retired from her position as a teacher librarian, she became serious about painting. Puga says, “I’ve been painting regularly for almost three years now. And I actually finish the pieces now!”
Puga’s friend and fellow artist, Carol Janosik, encouraged her to try my hand at portraits during their joint painting sessions. Puga was not ready to give this challenging genre a try. “I love portraits but was overwhelmed by the thought of trying to paint a person and getting a true likeness,” says Puga. “I was never great at drawing people. I always found that still life was easier,” she continues, further explaining that the pear didn’t have to look exactly like the pear in front of you as long as it was recognizable as being a pear.
A few months after Puga retired she received an opportunity to explore portraiture in a class Burlington artist, Cecile Houel, was offering. “I got brave and signed up,” she says. “Carol and I took it together. I was hooked. I love the whole process: the drawing, the underpainting, adding color and watching it come to life. I’ve gone a little portrait happy.” After that class concluded, Houel agreed to give the pair private lessons each month when she is in the country, helping them both to advance considerably over time. The timing has become right. Not only is she finishing her work these days, but she is infusing her pieces with the perfectly captured moment. Roxanne Puga’s pastel work suggests a story full of the emotion, which we can plainly see ourselves, filling the faces in her elegantly rendered subjects.
