A descendant of abstract impressionist Joseph Milton Glasco (1925-1996), Realism artist Arleta Pech grew up as the only child in a farming family of limited means. Her art exposure came not from museums or art schools, but from paper, paint, crayons, and an imagination fostered by repeated readings of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, in which she found a kindred, though fictional spirit. 

As Alice yearned to enter the gardens of Wonderland, so the young Arleta was drawn by the small floral garden of her farm, otherwise given over to the usual cows, chickens, and vegetables. She could draw anything she saw, with characters from Alice redrawn to suit her childhood adventures. Caterpillar, who instructs Alice on how to become taller or smaller, reappears in Arleta’s world as a fuzzy worm that rode with her on her backyard swing.

She was soon apprenticed to a commercial artist, eventually becoming an artist for Mill Pond Press. Only after a trip to the National Gallery did she realize her true calling, standing before “Fruit, Fish and Nest” by Dutch Baroque artist Abraham Mignon. This new passion for still life eventually led to floral paintings in which realistic blooms are presented in the balance and symmetry of Classicism, but which remain totally Romantic in spirit. 

Pech achieves an infinite range of hues from a palette of about six colors. The blooms are captured as if still in the garden, glowing with a luminescence, which seems to come from behind the support. Just as Lewis Carroll followed the initial “Alice” book with the sequel Through the Looking Glass, so the artist gradually included highly reflective surfaces in her works.  “Looking glasses” within the paintings are seen in the highly polished surface of a cherry table, the perfect globe of an antique silver vessel, the clear-cut edges of a crystal decanter. 

Now the painting draws the viewer a bit closer, as the detail in those reflections presents a picture within a picture: tiny doorways open onto imaginary gardens, old photos on antique-filled shelves shine forth, the riches of an earlier generation appear from polished metal. Thus, we take in these images, these “Still Lifes with a View”, on several levels.

Pech is at work on a collection in which reflections emanate from a single drop of water captured as it falls through the painting. One might ask if the falling water pushes at the very definition of the term “still life.” The answer lies, as ever, in the sheer luminosity of this artist’s realistic images.

Education
Continuing Education Studies at Art Students League of Denver
Independent Studies
Thomas Owen, Cottonwood Artist School, Colorado Springs, CO
Charles Rogers, Foothills Art Center, Golden CO
Richard Schmid, Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, Old Lyme, CT
Mark Thompson, Golden, CO
Mort Solberg, Spring Hill, FL
Daniel Sprick, Glenwood Spring, CO

Pedagogic Activities
Lecture/Demonstration, “Realism in Watercolor” for Hilton Head Art League at the Arts Center of the University of South Carolina at Bluffton, SC
Lecture/Demonstration, “Realism In Watercolor” The Rankin Art Center Columbus University, Columbus, OH
Conference Round-Table, “Realism vs. Impressionism” for Foothills Art Center at Golden, CO
“Pedagogy of Water Media” for Laramie Junior College Laramie, CO
“Top National Watercolor Instructors” for The Artist Magazine Monterey, CA

Selected Solo US Exhibits
Mary Martin Fine Art Charleston, SC
Gallery One Mentor, OH
Cardinal Art Gallery Vernon, NJ
Germanton Art Gallery Germanton, NC
Picture This Gallery Sherwood Park, Alberta, CA
Aaron Fine Art Denver, CO
Markay Gallery Denver, CO
Maxims Fine Art Greeley, CO

Selected Solo Canadian Exhibits
Alberta: Edmonton, Sherwood Park, Red Deer, Calgary
British Columbia: Vancouver, Victoria, Bragg Creek, Campbell River, Kelowna
Ontario: Windsor, Toronto (5 galleries in Toronto)

Selected Group Exhibitions
International Guild of Realism Exhibits NM, ME, FL
“Birds In Art” Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum Wausau, WI
“Realism Today” John Pence Gallery San Francisco, CA
“Masterworks in Miniature” Gallery One Mentor, OH
“Rocky Mountain National Watermedia Exhibition Golden, CO

Selected Museum Tours

“The New Reality: The Frontier of Realism in the 21st century”
Wichita Art Museum Wichita, KA
The Springfield Museums Springfield, MA
R.W. Norton Art Gallery Shreveport, LA
Owensboro Museum of Fine Art Owensboro, KY
J.Wayne Stark Gallery, Texas A&M University College Station, TX
Museum of Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX
Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum Wausau, WI
Gari Melchers Fredericksburg, VA

“Birds In Art” Leigh Yawkey Woodson Museum Wausau, WI
James Ford Bell Museum, Minneapolis, MN.
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Tucson, AZ
Wendell Gilley Museum, Denis, ME.
National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson, WY
Museum of the Red River Idabel, OK
Arnot Art Museum, Elmira, NY

Private Collections:
Com Raffmjr NJ
Donna Carlson CT
Mr. & Mrs. Stukey CA
Jean Feingold FL
Susan Finch GA
Glenda Smith CO
Casey Heisler CA
Jackie Skinner NY
Dr. &Mrs. Del Curling NC
Mr. & Mrs. John Stevens CO
Kathy Peterson CO
Linda Davies CT
Lucy Manley IN
Maria Mazza NJ
Mr. & Mrs. Mike Morton MA
Mimi Gale OH
Dr. Pam Wash CO
Polly Walner WI
Sharon Mick AZ
Mr. & Mrs. Verner SC
Mr. & Mrs. Witt SC
 
Selected Public Collections
Petro Lewis, Denver, CO
National Bank of Greeley, Greeley, CO
Venice Regional Medical Center, Venice, FL
Mimi Gale Gardens, Mentor, OH

Selected Bibliography:
“Radiant Oils: Glazing Techniques for Paintings that Glow”
     Arleta Pech, F&W Publications, Inc. 2010 (to be released)
“Painting Fresh Florals in Watercolor”
     Arleta Pech, F&W Publications, Inc. 1998
International Artist Magazine “Harnessing the power of light”
Watercolor Magic Special Issue Basics “Creating Form with Glazes”
The Artist Magazine, “Brushing Up’ H2 NO”
American Artist, Realism Today
Australian Artist , “Fixing 4 Common Floral Problems”
International Artist , “Master Painters Of USA”
The Artist Magazine, Cover/ ”Using Glazes to Paint Dramatic Watercolors”
The Artist Magazine, “The Airbrush Alternative”
The Artist Magazine, Cover/”Keys To Commanding Light”

Noted In
Who's Who in American Art
National Museum of Women in The Arts- archives

Publishing Agents:
Mill Pond Press Inc. Venice, FL