Lodema sold her first painting to her mother's friend while in high school, a large abstract landscape. She has pursued a lifelong interest in artistic improvement, through practice, education, and traveling to visit musuems and current exhibitions. Pretty standard stuff. Born in Ohio to Amish/Mennonite parents, she spent most of her adult life in the southwest and western United States. While there she earned her Associate degree in Tucson, received extensive training at the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design under Charles Parsons and Jim Valone, then her BFA at Regis University in Denver. After moving to the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia she updated and finished her formal education with a recent MFA from Radford University. She currently exhibits her work locally through select shows. She will soon be joining the Expat community in southeast Spain.
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Artist Statement
I respond to a primal connection with the earth, sun, and water, my physical world separated into just three enduring attributes: its basic elemental matrix, energy, and water. Visually, the matrix becomes observable biological features of my environment. Rocks and plants, painted in muted neutralized tones, rich gem-like colors, and a variety of forms. Energy, the warm light which illuminates and generates life, becomes lively brushwork or broken patterns, with soft pastel tints or radiant hues. Cooling water mirrors light from above or forms nearby. Water, the elixir of life, visible in the sky, in sea or stream, in organic vegetation. This trilogy of timeless qualities in natural environments reflects my source, my life, my inspiration.
I am in the process of moving to Mar de Cristal, Cartegena, Spain
Our new home is behind these trees, and yes, that is the Mar Menor, the largest inland lagoon in Europe. It connects, a few kilometers over, to the Mediterranean Sea.
The promenade in our quiet village on a cloudy winter day.
Below is the busy community of La Manga and the Mediterranean next door. Looks like we won't be alone.